by Jayne Castle
Part of Harmony
First published 2000
Lydia Smith needs her para-archaeology license back. A traumatic experience in an alien tomb has left her working part time at Shrimpton's House of Ancient Horrors, a budget museum that barely pays the bills. She has developed a strategy to rebuild her career, but obstacles keep appearing. First she discovers a dead body inside one of the sarcophagus displays at work. Then she learns that her new client Emmett London ranks among the most dangerous people in the city. These problems pile up in a single day as Lydia tries to navigate her precarious situation. The story unfolds in the shadows of Old Cadence's Dead City, where the real action begins when darkness falls. Lydia must balance her professional ambitions with the growing threats around her while dealing with the psychological aftermath of her archaeological trauma.
Genres: science-fiction, mystery, fantasy, adult, adult-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, gritty, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, dangerous-love-interest, found-body-mystery
Setting: Old Cadence, Dead City, Shrimpton's House of Ancient Horrors
332 pages · Hardcover · Jove
Content warnings: death, medical-trauma