The Starseekers
A Murder and Magic Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jan 6, 2026
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Indiana Jones meets Hidden Figures in this brand-new stand-alone historical fantasy set in the world of The Conductors, in which the space race of the mid-20th century will be determined by magic...if not murder.
In the 1960s, the world was caught up in reaching beyond our planet and into the cosmos. It felt impossible—but there was nothing science, math…and magic couldn’t make possible. The race to space was on, and the Moon was what everyone had their eyes on.
Including Cynthia Rhodes, a brilliant arcane engineer at NASA’s Ainsworth Research Labs. Talented in math and magic, she hosts a magical educational show... a job she took mostly for a chance to regularly see the dashing Theodore Danner, a professor of arcane archeology.
She is also an amateur sleuth—something that has run in her family for generations.
When a cursed museum curator nearly interrupts a broadcast of their show, Cynthia finds an eager sleuthing partner in Theo. Pairing up, they begin investigating the strange behavior of the curator and a mysterious theft at the arcane history museum—until one of Cynthia’s own coworkers perishes right in front of her in a major lab accident that endangers Ainsworth’s role in the space race.
Certain it was murder instead of an accident, Cynthia sees this as a separate case at first. However the more she and Theo investigate, Cynthia uncovers a surprising link between the two incidents. The museum theft and murder are part of a larger equation—one that includes deadly enchantments, rumored pirate treasure, a peculiar plant, and a dire threat to the space program as well as everything she holds dear.
The Starseekers is another rip-roaring adventure for the Rhodes family, who have been using magic to aid their community and solve mysteries since before the Civil War. The times may have changed, but a Rhodes once again finds themselves thrust into a world of murders, theft, sabotage, and curses, and this time the stakes extend to the stars themselves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Weaving celestial magic into the history of the first crewed NASA flights, the elaborate fourth installment in Glover's Murder and Magic series (after The Improvisers) pits Black aerospace engineer and mage Cynthia Rhodes against a conspiracy to stop the latest space launch. Super-genius Cynthia, who sleuths in her spare time, is game to tackle the mystery and enlists the investigative help of Prof. Theo Danner, an eminent marine archaeologist and her cohost on a children's educational magic program. Cynthia and Theo pry into the secret labs at her NASA research center as well as "the most enchanted house in D.C." to figure out who is responsible for a recent museum theft, what is making a new rocket fuel synthesized from a legendary alchemical mixture fail explosively, and how these things may be connected. As this central mystery grows ever more tangled, readers may have difficulty following along. Fortunately, Glover fills out the stage with domestic drama, the civil rights protests of 1964 America, and budding attraction between Cynthia and Theo, all of which keep the pages turning even in the more convoluted moments. Fans will be pleased to see Glover's alternate history expanded into a new era.