A Walking Shadow
In 1871, Lillian Nolan accepts a small role in Macbeth, and finally fulfills her dream of becoming an actress. That is until the renowned, but venomous, female star of the production is murdered onstage opening night. When her enraged spirit haunts the theater, Lillian is shocked to discover she can communicate with her. Offered a Faustian bargain in which she will be given talent and expertise way beyond her ability in exchange for uncovering the killer, Lillian can’t resist.
Her quest for the truth causes her to descend into the Underworld, the den of inequity below the streets of Chicago. What Lillian finds soon embroils her in a battle between her passion for performing and control over her own body as it all plays out in a supernatural game of good and evil.
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THE BACKSTAGE MYSTERY SERIES
Tagline: Life upon the wicked stage can be deadly.
Set against the backdrop of the Gilded Age, the Backstage Mystery Series stars Lillian Nolan, an unconventional member of Chicago’s upper class who dreams of a career of fortune and fame in the theater. Talented and ambitious, she possesses a hidden skill which she is extremely reluctant to use—the ability to communicate with those who have died and now live in the world of “The Beyond.”
The series chronicles her adventures in which she continually becomes enmeshed in solving mysteries which often require her accessing the realm of the paranormal. Filled with an incredible cast of characters—factual, fictional, and sometimes non-physical—who either help or hinder her quest for the truth, the stories take place during a period considered to be the golden age of both acting and spiritualism in America.
Read an Excerpt
After the renowned actress, Irene Davenport, is murdered onstage in 1871 on the opening night of Macbeth, Lillian Nolan, protagonist and reluctant sleuth, unexpectedly connects with Irene's spirit:
I dreamt about Irene. As I lay sleeping, I fell into so deep a state of unconsciousness that it was almost a form of paralysis, for I felt as if I could not move a single muscle. I looked up and there she was, floating above me. She was as I had seen her last in the theater but there was such a look of fierce intensity upon her face that it scared me. She was whispering something but I could not make out what she said.
Fear coursed through every vein in my body. The dream was so real; I felt as if I could have touched her, for she was complete in every detail and appeared whole and alive. I desperately wanted to scream, but not a sound emerged from my throat. I could not move at all and I felt helpless, a prisoner of the spirit of Irene Davenport. It was not possible to look away. I wanted to wake up, but was unable to do so. My mind screamed it is only a dream, only a dream, but I could not awaken.
Then, I heard her say in the softest breath, murder. My entire body went cold, but still I could not awaken. She seemed to drift above me and then over to my right side where she stood and remained by my bedside. She whispered again.
You must avenge me.
Author Bio
Elizabeth Ireland discovered her passion for theater early. After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in Theater, she accepted a teaching position in a vibrant performing arts department at a college in northern Illinois. For ten years, she taught, directed and ran front-of-house operations. American Theater History—particularly that of the 19th century—has always been of particular interest to her.
She has been a quarter-finalist and a semi-finalist for the Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Two of her screenplays have been optioned, but remain unproduced. Her nonfiction work, Women of Vision: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives, was published in 2008. Her work has also been published in a collection of paranormal short stories, Paramourtal: Tales of Undying Love and Loving the Undead. She lives in metro Atlanta with her ever-patient husband, and two quirky dachshunds.
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