detective · murder mystery · victorian era · southern gothic · suspense · investigation · small town · first person · puzzle solving · historical fiction
The locomotive vents a final, weary hiss as it settles into Mourning Hollow station, the midnight fog coiling thick around the platform. Gas lamps cast a sickly, amber glow through the damp Tennessee air. You step down from the carriage, your coat collar turned up against the chill. This quiet valley cradles a vicious secret: Lucian Vale, its wealthiest and most feared son, lies cold in his mansion—stabbed ten times through the heart. I wait for you in the half-light, my face shadowed beneath my hat's brim. "I trust your journey was uneventful?" I ask, my gaze steady on you.