The 6-part Gaslamp ghost mystery series is now done! I just wrapped up the finishing touches to Ghastly Mistake #6, the last book in the adventures of Elinor Chalamet, a medium in a 1900’s French-inspired fantasy world.
The book releases April 24th! ARCs have gone out. If you requested an ARC and didn’t see my email, check your spam folder.
Elinor Chalamet is a spiritualist, a medium who talks with ghosts, and she uses her talents and wit to solve crimes. It was inspired by my love for Sherlock Holmes and my fascination with ghosts. This series does include a slow-burn romance between the main characters.
It seems that Nash has created her own genre with Ghost Talker. Part alternate history, supernatural, gaslight fantasy, and mystery, there are so many unique aspects to Madame Chalamet’s story that make it hard to relegate it to just one category. That makes it trailblazing fiction.
Goodreads Review
This is the first series I’ve written that had so many books (College Fae series has only three books) and I learned a lot. Keeping track of characters and making sure the plot points stayed consistent was huge! There were easily over a 100 characters to keep track of, multiple cases that were referred to by Elinor at later points in the series, that all need to be cross-checked.
By book #5, I discovered One-Stop-for-Writers and their website blew me away! I highly recommend them if you are writing a series. The provide wonderful author prompts to make you really think about your characters and help develop them into three dimensional people.
I went back to Ghost Talker #1 and worked my way through all of my notes, putting them into one central area. Keeping it all in one spot can really improve your worldbuilding and keep things on track. It was really important to make sure that all the lose plot points I had brought up in previous books were wrapped up in Ghastly Mistake #6.
A screenshot of what folders I made for the Madame Chalamet series
But what really helped me was their timeline feature. Book timelines have always been a bit tricky for me as tracking a plot by linear year isn’t how my mind works. However, once I got to working on it (spoilers hidden in screenshot below) it really helped me better understand some things. For example, how young Tristan and Minette were when they married.
A screenshot of how the timeline feature works. You can view it two ways.
It is also my first attempt at Rapid Release Publishing. While I did falter at book five, the process showed me what worked for me and what did not. The publishing process was a real eye-opener as these books continue to gain new readers and is almost breaking even on my expenses (not quite, but getting there).
I publishing the series in October of 2022, and had planned for it to be finished before now. However, life got in the way with the death of my mother-in-law, the work of resolving her estate, selling a house of 25 years, buying a new house, a change in husband’s work, and unfortunately, some health issues.
Would I do rapid release again? Yes, but I won’t start releasing books until I’m working on the fourth one. I don’t want their to be a gap between the books launching again.
The books in this Gaslamp ghost mystery fantasy series
All the books:
Ghost Talker 1 – introduces Elinor Chalamet who uses her talent at speaking with ghosts to help solve crimes in a 1900s’ French inspired city called Alenbonne.
Delicious Death 2 – Elinor goes on holiday and an attempted poisoning cements her working relationship with Tristan Fontaine, Duke de Archambeau.
Spirit Guide 3 – The Morpheus Society that trained Elinor is involved in the mysterious disappearance of a society lady. Elinor has a harrowing confrontation that will change her life.
Gray Lady 4 – Resting at a seaside resort, Elinor investigates a family legend while being romanced by Tristan Fontaine. From here on out, the books must be read in order to fully appreciate them.
Haunted Grave 5 – (the next two books need to be read together as they are two halves) Her beloved city is under siege by some walking-almost-dead creatures. Elinor gets too close to a plot to overthrow the king.
Ghastly Mistake 6 – Elinor and Tristan work (and maybe do a lot more 😉 ) together to capture who murdered Elinor’s father.
I love these characters. It is as if the author mixed Eve Dallas and Roarke (of JD Robb fame) with Virginia Dean (Amanda Quick’s ‘Quicksilver’) and Wulfric Bedwyn (Mary Balogh’s Slightly series) and transplanted them to a Victorian milieu, dropped them in the middle of a royal murder and left them to spin.
Goodreads Review
My feelings about writing a series
I’ve enjoyed writing this series more than I thought I would. First, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about being tied down to the same characters for such a long period of time. Honestly? I prefer playing with different ideas, characters and worlds, so wondered if I would be happy.
To answer that question, I was! It seemed to work because I had a clear idea of what the end would be. I knew the series would be about Elinor’s journey as a woman deciding how to have happiness despite the confines of the society in which she lived.
Sometimes the plots in the books leading up to the end (notably Haunted Grave #5) didn’t go as I had initially planned, but in the end, it was better. Originally, Haunted Grave was to be about zombies living in catacombs, and have a lot to do about trains, but since the city was below sea level I realized that wouldn’t be logical.
I also didn’t know if I would have enough to say?
For me they were. Probably because I wanted to explore the Sherlock Holmes style of writing – Spirit Guide #3 is my ode to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, while Ghost Talker #1 is to Houdini’s work to expose fake spiritualists.
Mostly it was Elinor which made it easy for me. It was simple to find her “voice” and to translate that to the story. Whenever I was stuck, I asked myself, “what would Elinor do? How would she act? Say?” and because she was such a strongly defined character it helped me travel her journey.
Thank you Byrd Nash for writing Madame a little vulnerable, but still a strong woman.
Goodreads Review
The dynamic between Elinor and Tristan was also one that flowed easily. I know some readers wanted me to hurry up and get them together but I also knew if they became partners too early, I would be forced to do Noble Idiocy, where characters separate over some misunderstanding or other stupid reason. That I did not want to do. Once they got together they would stay together.
It surprised me to see a reader think Tristan was the baddie, or that something bad would happen to him to make a bittersweet ending. No! I don’t write those types of stories (yet), so they were going to end up together at the end. How they maneuver the society rules and achieve a Happily Ever After is an integral part of how Ghastly Mistake #6 ends.
This book is a fun adventure mixing historical vibes, paranormal and mystery with a one of a kind tough heroine and her male counterpart, who needs to have his head bashed from time to time.
Goodreads Review
Top book review comments from NetGalley and Goodreads readers
- a flat-out guilty pleasure read for me.
- – fast becoming one of my favorite series.
- kept me enthralled from beginning to end.
- I quickly found myself enamored by the whirlwind that is Elinor Chalamet.
- I picked up the first of this series on a whim and fell in love immediately.
- [Elinor] is a fun character to follow, letting no one demean her. With quips and a quick mind she disarms her adversaries, yet her heart is sweet to those in need.
- this book has all the formal aspects of a Sherlock Holmes novel: curiosity, formality in the protagonist, and high wisdom.
- Original and fresh.
- Byrd Nash has done it yet again.
- I’m loving Byrd Nash novels as they’re always solid, funny, and well written.
- I ended up reading late into the night as I couldn’t put it down. Always the sign of a good story.
Want to know more? Go to the Madame Chalamet page to read excerpts, read the Q&A, and see the book trailer.
