When Frost Was Spectre Grey
by Nicola Italia
Release date: August 30th 2026
Genres: Adult, Historical, Mystery
Blurb:
Yorkshire, 1881. Imogene York has one job: authenticate a dead man’s signature and witness the reading of his will. It should take an afternoon.
But the moment she arrives at Trelawney Grange, she can tell the people gathered to hear Lord Alaric Trelawney’s final wishes aren’t waiting on an inheritance. They’re waiting on something they’ve spent fifteen years hoping would stay buried.
Every person in that house-the doctor, the solicitor, the reverend, the aristocrat, the household staff who move through it like they were never there at all-is bound together by a secret from one terrible summer years before, and no one will say what it is. As the snow closes in and the will’s true purpose comes to light, Imogene realizes she wasn’t hired to verify a signature. She was hired to witness a reckoning fifteen years in the making, and there is no walking away from the past.
A gripping Victorian mystery about the debts the past never stops collecting, and the lengths people will go to keep a secret buried or to finally bring it to light.
Purchase:
Amazon: https://link.amazon/
Excerpt:
Walking upstairs, she wanted to fall into bed and forget the night, but then remembered the message she had asked the maid to relay to Fidelia. She would poke her head in and if the older woman was asleep, she would leave it for the next morning. But when she knocked on the door and entered, she saw Fidelia sitting by the fire seemingly waiting for her.
“What a lovely surprise!” Fidelia said in greeting. “The maid told me you wished to see me and I was quite excited. I never have callers.”
Imogene beamed at being described as a caller. A caller was a person making a formal social visit to an acquaintance and she supposed she was minus the calling card.
“Miss Fidelia,” Imogene closed the door behind her and entered the room. “Is it too late for you? I was thoughtless not thinking of the hour. You may wish to retire. I can come back in the morning.”
“Nonsense,” she was quick to respond. “I wouldn’t hear of it. Come sit next to me, child.”
Imogene almost smiled at the term. She was hardly a child but she imagined that to someone who had lived seven decades on the earth, she must seem terribly young. She took the seat next to her and the fire warmed her. She noticed that Fidelia was wearing a dressing gown that was a bold rust color with orange flowers. It was a garment not worn outside the home so she was not surprised to see her in it.
She must have changed from her normal attire not deeming a nightgown fit to receive Imogene, she chose this one instead. She was suddenly touched at the thought behind the garment.
“How was the dinner?” the older woman asked her.
Imogene didn’t want to offend the woman but she answered honestly. “The meal was delicious. The company seems at odds with one another.”
Fidelia laughed sharply. “Well, they would be, wouldn’t they?”
“But why should they be?” Imogene pressed.
Perhaps of all the people residing in this house, this woman before her, whom everyone deemed so frail and senile would be the one to set things straight.
But Fidelia merely shrugged. “They have all known each other too long. They know how to irritate and annoy one another.”
It was similar to what Juliana had said; they squabble like children.
“Did I tell you about the baby elephant?” she asked out of the blue.
“The baby elephant?” Imogene was certain she would remember such a story. “I don’t believe so. I think I would remember that story.”
Fidelia laughed a high, girlish laugh. “It was for Monty. His eighth or ninth birthday as I recall. He wanted a baby elephant. A ridiculous sort of request. Silly boy.”
“And what happened? Did he get the elephant?”
“Father made the neighbor farmer bring his oxen to the party.” Fidelia shook her head. “He had everyone tell Monty that the oxen were baby elephants and their trunks grew in later. Imagine?”
Imogene did laugh at the thought and Fidelia joined her.
“He spent the entire party walking around asking to pet the baby elephants.”
The two women stared at the fire together, the silence between them comfortable.
“I am having what my doctor calls a ‘clear day’ today,” Fidelia said and her eyes were clear and focused.
“I’m glad of it.”
“If I say things to you that may seem strange or confusing, don’t mind them,” she said. “Those are my cloudy days.”
“I take everything said to me with a grain of salt. Especially when I’m working,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Yes, you mentioned having a job before. What do you do, my dear?”
“I’m a detective. I own my own agency in London.”
“Fancy!” Fidelia’s eyes grew wide. “My goodness!”
“You’re not going to be disparaging?” she asked warily.
“By no means,” Fidelia breathed out. “How did that happen? Your agency?”
“I fell into it, actually. I was looking for my sister and detective work came quite naturally to me. I opened up the firm afterwards,” she told the older woman.
“Did you find your sister?”
Imogene folded her hands in her lap. “I did.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,” Fidelia said perceptively.
Imogene gazed into the fire as the old woman studied her.
“Anne would have liked you.”
“Anne Knight?” Imogene recalled the name from her conversation with Juliana.
“How do you know the name?” Fidelia’s eyes looked wide and surprised.
“Juliana spoke of her.”
“Of course.” Fidelia nodded. “Then you know all about my past as Juliana loves nothing more than to gossip about other people.”
“I know very little actually.”
“Well, it’s no tale for the stage. She probably told you about a man who wanted me as his wife.”
“She did.”
“She probably left out the part that I refused him. When I did, he struck me across the face with his fist.”
Imogene felt a knot form in her throat. “No. She didn’t mention that.”
“When I met Anne Knight, I was adrift and lost,” Fidelia said, caught up in her memories. “I had never met anyone like Anne. You see, she thought something remarkable.”
“What was that?” Imogene whispered.
“She thought she could change the world.”
Imogene was silent.
“I was young and impressionable. Anne was so unique and different and she did change the world,” Fidelia added. “It was an exciting time. It was then that I realized what I wanted in life was to use my position to help others.”
“It’s very commendable.”
She watched Fidelia’s face shutter closed. “I wasn’t always successful though.”
Imogene felt a shift in the air and the mood, which had been joyous, was suddenly not so.
“I’ve tired you,” Imogene said.
“The past is a double-edged sword, Imogene. It can be filled with such happiness but also despair.”
“I agree,” Imogene said, wistful. “Memories are the same. Happy ones, sad ones. I’ll bid you a good night then.”
Imogene stood.
“One moment.” Fidelia turned from her and went to the large chest of drawers, rummaging through them.
She returned carrying a fan with painted paper and guards of mother-of-pearl. It was probably more than forty years old and a delicate thing of beauty.
“A gift for you, my dear,” she said, placing the fan into Imogene’s hands.
Imogene was startled. “I – I can’t accept this. It’s far too valuable.”
“It is valuable,” Fidelia agreed, “and it’s yours.”
Imogene didn’t open the fan but clutched it to her breast. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“Off to bed you go, child.”
GIVEAWAY
Blitz-wide giveaway (INT) ends October 1
- $25 Amazon gift card
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AUTHOR BIO:
Nicola is a Los Angeles native. Early in elementary school, Nicola had a great fondness for reading and began to write creatively. She graduated from university with a degree in communications and has held a variety of positions in journalism, education, government and non profit.
Nicola has traveled extensively throughout Europe, China, Central America and Egypt and loves all things historical.
She has nineteen historical romance and mystery novels on Amazon.
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