Three Can Keep A Secret If Two of Them Are Dead.
"In 1998, conservationists discovered 1200 bones buried in Benjamin Franklin's Craven Street home. While most assumed these came from medical/anatomy studies...I wondered if a more sinister explanation was afoot."
-Marie Lestrange, Author
Crimson Cobblestones is a chilling gothic thriller that weaves together the perspectives of Charlotte and a serial killer in a twisted tale of love, deceit, and murder. Set in colonial Philadelphia circa 1739, the novel delves into the city's elite circles, where a string of grisly deaths haunts its residents-- and is somehow connected to Benjamin Franklin.
Charlotte, still reeling from her mother's violent death, falls in love with the enigmatic Ben, only to discover the dark secrets that surround his high society life. As the cobblestones once again run red with her family's blood, Charlotte is drawn into a world of depraved cults and dark magic, haunted by the occult and shadows of her past. Meanwhile, the killer must complete a hunt of their own, murdering five people as an initiation into a Luciferian cult of the elite, with Charlotte being one of the five.
As she peels back the veil shrouding the city's upper crust, she plunges deeper into shadowy catacombs echoing with ancient incantations, inching closer to a bloodthirsty cabal and a cunning murderer (or murderess?) hiding in plain sight. To stop the depraved killings and seek justice, she must challenge oppressive conventions and reclaim her power before she, too, falls prey to the sinister plot.
With the twisted history archetype of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and the whodunnit nature of What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris, while also dripping in the atmospheric and gothic tone of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow-- this spine-tingling gothic thriller will keep you guessing until its shocking finale.
Crimson Cobblestones weaves an intoxicating tale of mystery and imagination against the backdrop of Edwardian Philadelphia. Marie Lestrange deftly transports the reader to a shadowy world where forces of good and evil collide along gaslit streets and crumbling cemeteries. There is a hypnotic quality to the prose that pulls you in deeper with each turn of the page.
"Murder and cults and sex and mystery and history, this book has it alllll. Deliciously dark."-Christy, Goodreads Review
"Easily the most twisted book I've ever read. Marie Lestrange has a gift for the macabre, and this intertwines American history and American horror as good as anything I've read. If you love horror, this is a book you need!"
-Joel Brigham, Author and Editor
"Checks all the boxes: historical figures, intrigue, suspense. A thrill ride that I couldn't put down! It kept me thinking long after I had finished the book." -Molly Carroll, Goodreads Review
"Lestrange's novel introduces a mysterious serial killer linked to a rich family--which, though not necessarily a new concept, is a premise that ultimately will shock readers given the plot's depth." --BookLife Prize Critic's Report
Also by Marie Lestrange:
T is for Torture
S is for Serial Killers
Carving Croatoan: Letters from The Lost Colony of Roanoke (Coming 2025)
