Description

The Puppet Master’s Secret: A Cozy Mystery

When reclusive gothic author Vera Blackthorne commissions marionettes based on characters from her latest novel, Elena Webb expects an unusual but straightforward artistic project. What she discovers instead is a woman trapped by thirty years of manipulated memories and a psychiatrist who will kill to keep his secrets buried.

Elena has built a successful therapeutic arts foundation using traditional marionette making to help people process grief and trauma. But Vera’s commission feels different from the start—the twin sister puppets she’s asked to create seem less like fictional characters and more like portraits of real people. When Vera’s assistant Miranda is found murdered in the estate’s puppet theater, clutching Elena’s preliminary sketches, Elena realizes she’s stumbled into something far more dangerous than art therapy.

Working alongside her husband Detective Marcus Webb, Elena uncovers a decades-old conspiracy that began with the suspicious death of Vera’s twin sister Vivian in 1968. Dr. Edmund Thornfield, Vera’s longtime psychiatrist, was the mysterious young man courting both twins the summer Vivian died. When Vivian discovered his manipulative psychological experiments, she threatened to expose him—a threat that cost her life.

For thirty years, Edmund has used his professional authority to suppress Vera’s memories of that night, keeping her dependent on his “treatment” while building a practice based on exploiting vulnerable trauma survivors. But Elena’s marionette therapy breaks through his carefully constructed barriers, allowing Vera to remember the truth about her sister’s murder.

As Elena and Marcus race to find Vera before Edmund silences her permanently, they’re aided by the Black Box Marionette Theatre company and Mrs. Cordelia Ashford, whose seventy-year-old memories hold the key to solving the case. The investigation reveals not just one murder, but a pattern of predation spanning decades, protected by family connections in law enforcement and the respectable veneer of medical authority.

Set in the atmospheric world of traditional British craftsmanship, this second book in the Dollmaker’s Apprentice series combines gothic mystery with psychological insight, exploring how art can both heal trauma and reveal dangerous truths. Elena must use all her therapeutic expertise to help Vera break free from a puppet master who has controlled her life since she was eighteen.

Perfect for readers who love the character-driven mysteries of Louise Penny and the craft-centered investigations of Miranda James, “The Puppet Master’s Secret” delivers a compelling blend of traditional skills, modern psychology, and small-town secrets that will keep you turning pages late into the night.

A haunting exploration of memory, manipulation, and the courage required to speak truth to power.