Part of Series
*Each Sunday for ten years, the young and prominent Maidens of Mapleton club have met in the town schoolhouse and told each other all. A town with a violent past, now-booming Mapleton dotes on its favorite Christine, a performer at the town's beautiful music hall, Mina, the daughter of the newspaper owner, Esme, a ward of the church and Lucy and Elizabeth, daughters of the widower Mayor-one ladylike, the other a hellion. Slowly, the truth begins to cloud. The pieces of the past don't add up, and familiar tales and faces fail to comfort. In this five novella series from Marie Piper, comprised of Old West adaptations of gothic/horror tales, the Maidens find their friendships tested, fall in (and out) of love, and are forced to unravel the mystery of that one terrible day. What really happened on the day of the Mapleton Massacre?* In this third installment, Lucy Carew has had enough of being perfect. In the aftermath of MINA Lucy stood up to her Papa and has taken over as the schoolteacher after Miss Thorpe's commitment to Whitby Asylum. Now engaged to Henry Jekyll, Lucy is finally experiencing life as an independent woman. As the Governor's railroad representative arrives in Mapleton to make his decision, more strange things begin to happen. Innocent people are attacked and hurt, and it seems Henry might be the main suspect. In this old-west-set take on THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, it's up to Lucy and the Maidens to solve yet another mystery in Mapleton before more innocent blood is spilled, even as they get closer to finding out the truth about the Mapleton Massacre!
Author
MARIE PIPER is a graduate of Michigan State University, a former actor/director, and a lover of stories. She’s especially interested in writing stories set in the weird and wild history of America. The steamy western trilogy, FIRES OF CRICKET BEND, is available from Limitless Publishing. The five-part dime store serial, MAIDENS & MONSTERS, can be found on Amazon. Marie's short stories, ranging from erotica to sci-fi fairy tales, can be found in a variety of collections. Marie lives in Chicago with her husband, kiddo, and three cats. In non-pandemic times, she goes on adventures with her zany family, reads everything she can get her hands on, loves visiting all the museums Chicago has to offer, and tweets too much. (Tweets have increased because, you know, pandemic.) Currently, she is wearing a mask like a responsible citizen while working on a romance set during the Salem Witch Trials, as well as the third and final book in THE GILDED BRIDES. Find her on Twitter/Instagram at @mariepiperbooks and say hi!
