Description
Some crimes are whispered. Others refuse to stay buried.
London, 1862. Fog coils through gaslit streets, and the dead are not always silent.
Thaddeus Priest is a spiritualist by trade—or so the world believes. Haunted by his own reputation and shunned by polite society, he makes his living listening to voices no one else dares acknowledge. But when a brutal murder rattles the city’s underbelly, Thaddeus discovers the spirits are no longer content to merely whisper. They are calling him.
The dead know the truth. They know who killed them. And they will not rest until justice is done.
Dragged into a web of corruption, aristocratic immunity, and secrets buried beneath silk and stone, Thaddeus must navigate a London where the law bends for the powerful and the living are often more dangerous than the dead. With the police watching his every move and a vengeful noble lurking just beyond the fog, Thaddeus races against time—guided by ghosts who demand retribution at any cost.
But every séance exacts a price, and every truth uncovered pulls him closer to the grave.
In a city ruled by shadows, can a man who speaks with the dead survive the living?
Theater of Spirits is a Victorian Gothic mystery steeped in atmosphere, spiritualism, and dark intrigue—where justice may come from beyond the veil, and redemption is paid for in blood and whispers.
Meet the Characters
Thaddeus Raynsford
aka Thaddeus Priest
Thaddeus Priest, given name Thaddeus Raynsford is a London investigator whose reputation rests on cases others refuse to name aloud. Educated, methodical, and outwardly rational, he was shaped by the rigid logic of Victorian society—and quietly undone by the things that logic cannot explain. Priest moves through gas-lit streets, theatres, and private chambers with a surgeon’s precision, cataloguing evidence while carefully ignoring the implications that lurk behind it.
Haunted by past encounters with inexplicable phenomena, Thaddeus occupies the uneasy boundary between reason and belief. He does not seek the supernatural, yet it finds him nonetheless—leaving behind disturbed witnesses, censored reports, and questions the authorities are eager to bury. Reserved, introspective, and morally exacting, Priest is a man who understands that London keeps its secrets well… and that some truths, once uncovered, exact a permanent toll.
Detective Michael Barnes
Hot on the Case
Detective Michael Barnes is a seasoned officer of the Metropolitan Police whose strength lies in discipline, loyalty, and an unshakable belief in order. Broad-shouldered and steady-eyed, Barnes is a man shaped by the streets of London—practical, direct, and intolerant of nonsense. Where others speculate, he demands facts; where rumors spread, he looks for motive, means, and opportunity.
Though skeptical of superstition, Barnes has worked closely enough with Thaddeus Priest to recognize that some cases refuse tidy explanations. He does not like what he cannot name, but neither does he turn away from it. Acting as both counterweight and shield, Barnes navigates the bureaucratic pressures of the force while quietly ensuring that certain investigations are allowed to continue. In a city thick with fog and secrets, Michael Barnes stands as a bulwark of grim resolve—determined to hold the line, even as the line itself begins to blur.
Detective Edgar Dickman
Works with Detective Barnes
Detective Edgar Dickman is a methodical and sharp-eyed officer whose true power lies not in force, but in observation. Lean, quiet, and habitually underestimated, Dickman possesses an exceptional memory for detail—names half-heard, dates misfiled, inconsistencies others dismiss. He thrives in records rooms, court transcripts, and witness statements, where truth often hides in plain sight.
Reserved and cautious by nature, Dickman serves as a vital intermediary between the official machinery of the Metropolitan Police and the more delicate investigations undertaken by Thaddeus Priest and Michael Barnes. He understands how information can be buried, altered, or quietly erased—and how to retrieve it without drawing notice. In a city where silence is often enforced, Edgar Dickman listens carefully, knowing that what is not said may prove far more dangerous than what is.
Lord Horace Raynsford
Thaddeus's Father
Lord Horace Raynsford is a man born to power and determined never to earn it. A peer by inheritance rather than merit, Raynsford carries his title with the weary entitlement of one who has never been refused anything of consequence. Overweight, balding, and perpetually displeased, he embodies the stagnant core of English aristocracy—comfortable, insulated, and faintly cruel, not from passion but from boredom.
Raynsford is neither charming nor impressive, yet his influence is extensive. He understands precisely how society bends around rank, and he exploits that knowledge with quiet malice. He funds causes he does not believe in, hosts gatherings he barely tolerates, and cultivates associations not out of curiosity but control. His interest in spiritualism and forbidden knowledge is not driven by wonder, but by ownership—the belief that all things, even the unseen, ought to be possessed, catalogued, and bent to his convenience.
Judith Raynsford
Thaddeus's Mother
Judith Raynsford is, at first glance, everything her husband is not: gentle in manner, soft-spoken, and impeccably gracious. She moves through drawing rooms and dinners with quiet warmth, offering kindness where it is least expected and smoothing over discomfort with practiced ease. Many mistake her sweetness for fragility. They are wrong.
Beneath Judith’s calm exterior lies a will forged of steel. Years of living beside Lord Horace Raynsford have taught her precisely when to yield—and when never to do so. She understands power not as domination, but as endurance, patience, and timing. Nowhere is this more evident than in her devotion to her son, whom she protects with unwavering resolve. Where Horace belittles and controls, Judith intervenes, deflects, and shields, often without raising her voice or betraying her intent.
Jackson Chambers
Jackson has served the Raynsford household for decades, long enough to know that silence is often safer than truth. Impeccably dressed, spare of speech, and rigid in posture, he embodies the ideal Victorian butler—efficient, invisible, and unfailingly correct. Few notice him until something goes amiss, and fewer still consider how much he sees.
Jackson understands the rhythms of the house intimately: which doors must never be closed, which conversations are meant to be overheard, and which are best forgotten entirely. He harbors no affection for Lord Horace Raynsford, though he serves him without overt defiance. His true loyalty lies with Lady Judith and her son, whom he quietly protects in the only ways available to a man of his station—misplaced letters, delayed messages, and a watchful presence at critical moments.
Dark Muse Press LLC
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