The Twice Dead Man

In Jess Armstrong’s The Twice Dead Man, American heiress Ruby Vaughn heads back to the ancient Cornish countryside that started it all for this series. A great entry point into the world, this short story takes place between The Devil in Oxford and The Lost Souls of Saint Oda's.

January, 1923: Ever since the occult came into American heiress Ruby Vaughn’s life, it’s as though she’s had no moment of peace: murders involving curses, mediums, and antiquities. Ruby no longer resents the incursion of the arcane into her world, because it also brought her Ruan Kivell. The folk healer Pellar is her partner in both sleuthing and romance, and they are spending a few weeks in his Cornish village of Lothlel Green. Relaxing with Ruan and her books, in the place they first met, is the perfect remedy for a girl who cannot help but find herself in tight scrapes.

But Ruby soon realizes that peace and quiet can be boring. And when a storm hits Cornwall, it brings a dead body to Ruan’s door. Ruan recognizes the dead man as Iwan Richards, someone who supposedly died over a decade ago. Someone Ruan helped bury. Iwan’s first death in 1912 was a mining accident. . . but this time it’s murder. Ruby and Ruan must untangle the mystery of the man who died twice, before a killer strikes again.