The Spiritglass Charade (36 page)

Her question took me by surprise. “It's my father's, I would guess. Or I suppose it could be Uncle Sherlock's. I found it in our library at home. I discovered it one day—I've read every volume in there. It was tucked in the back behind another book, and it appeared interesting.”

She was still looking at me strangely. “I don't think it's your father's.”

“What do you mean?” I felt an odd sensation inside me. What was wrong with her? But my heart was pounding, my insides were in an upheaval. There was something unsettling about the way she was staring at me.

“Why do you have a picture of my mentor, Siri, on the shelf above your fireplace?”

I stared at her and the whole space seemed to tilt and then right itself. “That's not your mentor,” I said stupidly. “That's my mother, Desir
é
e.”

As before, the number of people to whom I owe gratitude for their support for
The Spiritglass Charade
, and the entire realm of the Stoker & Holmes series, is amazing.

I'm always thankful for the never-ending work by Maura Kye-Casella, her support for my ideas, and her willing ear.

Kelli Chipponeri is an editor extraordinaire and constantly blows me away with her attention to detail, creativity, and determination to make these books the absolute best they can be. They are so much better for her efforts, and for that I'm truly grateful. Her assistant Ariel Richardson is a huge, behind-the-scenes rock of support and surely knows the books as well as Kelli!

The entire design, marketing, and publicity crew at Chronicle Books continues to stun me with their ideas, responsiveness, and tireless hours spent on this series—especially Kim Lauber, Ali Presley, Lara Starr, Amber Morley, Jen Tolo Pierce, and Kelsey Jones. I couldn't be more pleased and proud to be part of the Chronicle Books family.

I'm indebted to my foodie friends Gary and Darlene March, MaryAlice and Dennis Galloway, and Renee Chodkowski for helping me “stock” the bar at the Pickled Nurse—I look forward to trying all of your creative pickle flavors at some future gathering.

A big thanks to my dear friend and colleague Mara Jacobs for doing a last-minute read of an early version of this manuscript, and for the subsequent discussion over our favorite cheesecake at Tomato Bros.

A special hug and so much love to Darlene March for being there for me in the last year, in so many ways, and for helping me always delve ever deeper.

LeeAnn Louis-Prescott, Jana DeLeon, Liz Kelly, Erin Wolfe, and my mother, Joyce, have all helped me along the journey with this book through love, support, and other creative processes—and I adore you all. Thanks to my other writer friends for listening: Trish Milburn, Kate Cross, Holli Bertram, and Deb Holland.

And finally, I am blessed to have such a supportive, loving husband and children, especially during those crazy weeks approaching deadline. You have no idea how much your love, sense of humor, and intelligence affects my creativity. Thank you, and my love always.

Colleen Gleason
is the award-winning,
New York Times
bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including the Stoker & Holmes series and the international bestselling Gardella Vampire Chronicles. She currently lives in the Midwest with her family and loves to hear from readers. For updates and sneak peeks about her next project, visit her website at
ColleenGleason.com
.