Mysterious Devices
4 primary works
Book 1
Book one of the Mysterious Devices series of clockwork cozies set in the Magnificent Devices world!
Daisy and Freddie were supposed to be her bridesmaids. Now they’re solving her murder. In the steampunk Wild West, it’s what friends do.
Margrethe Amelia Linden (Daisy to her friends) is a young woman of gentle upbringing, some talent as a watercolorist, and firm opinions that often get her into trouble. Determined to find her missing father, in the summer of 1895 she sets out for the last place he was seen: the Wild West. It’s a rude shock when her younger sister stows away on the airship—such behavior no doubt the result of her unsuitable friendship with Maggie Polgarth and the Carrick House set.
On the journey, friendship blooms between Daisy and Miss Emma Makepeace, who is traveling to the Texican Territories as a mail-order bride. When Emma begs the girls to delay their search by a day or two in order to stand with her at the altar, Daisy is delighted to accept.
But the wedding day dawns on a dreadful discovery. Within hours the Texican Rangers have their man—but even in her grief, Daisy is convinced he cannot have killed her friend. She must right this terrible mistake before he hangs ... and before the real culprit realizes that two very observant young ladies are not going to allow him to get away with murder ...
“Shelley Adina adds murder to her steampunk world for a mysteriously delicious brew! You’ll love watching her intrepid heroine (and unexpected friends) bring justice to the Wild West while pursuing a quest of her own.” —Victoria Thompson, bestselling author of Murder in the Bowery
Book 2
Book two of the Mysterious Devices series of clockwork cozies set in the Magnificent Devices world!
Daisy Linden and her sister Frederica arrive by airship in Santa Fe, capital of the Texican Territories, determined to search for their missing father. But two surprises await them--the authorities’ baffling refusal to help, and a not-so-chance meeting with snake-oil salesman William Barnicott. To their joy, the Lindens find that their father has indeed been seen in Santa Fe. To their horror, it was an assignation with a cancan dancer in the dead of night. Now the dancer is missing--and their father seems to be the only suspect. There is nothing for it--Daisy and Freddie must find the girl, for only she can clear his name, and tell them where he might be now.
But there are forces arrayed against them in Santa Fe ... men in the shadows who have bet too much on a dancer’s disappearance to let two young ladies interfere and raise the stakes ...
Book 3
Book three of the Mysterious Devices series of clockwork cozies set in the Magnificent Devices world!
Daisy and Frederica Linden have tracked their missing father to Bodie, the most dangerous town in the Wild West, where bad men murder without guilt and single ladies are as rare and valuable as gold. Here they must depend upon the help of the society of absent friends, that secret network of boardinghouse keepers who know everyone’s business—and make secrets their stock in trade.
But some secrets are fatal, and when the local matchmaker pays the price with her life on the night of the Autumn Ball, the ladies of the society beg Daisy and Freddie to help them find the killer of their fallen sister. Aided by Miss Peony Churchill, an intrepid family of aeronauts, and a Rocky Mountain Detective, the Linden sisters must see justice done and unmask a deadly conspiracy. But in a town where murder is more common than spiked absinthe, will they find themselves in the killer’s sights instead?
Book 4
Book four of the Mysterious Devices series of clockwork cozies set in the Magnificent Devices world!
An earthquake strikes. A prince is missing—a victim of disaster or foul play?
Hot on the trail of their missing father, Daisy and Freddie Linden step off the airship Iris in San Francisco de Asis. At the moment they discover their best clue to Papa’s whereabouts, an earthquake levels the city—and a disaster is the best time for a political coup.
The forces of evil have two targets: May Lin, the river witch, and Carlos, the country’s handsome young ruler. She is sucked alive into a crevasse, having never told the prince she loves him. Carlos is abducted—with Freddie the only witness. The kingdom will descend into chaos unless someone can find them both—and Daisy and Freddie seem to be the only ones left standing.