One Reporter. One Cat. One Mystery.
The Fully Story is Here!
A series of deadly calling cards . . .
Find the complete series of tarot mystery short stories, now titled The Silver Deck, below. And for the previous short stories and background info on Leo (as well as her appearances in the Alchemical Tales), scroll down to the end.
The Silver Deck
A tarot card shows up in a small town reporter’s office. The case it kicks off will lead from the highest mountains to the deepest caverns, and no one will emerge unscathed.
This is a collection of short tales, each one a piece of the puzzling tarot card mystery. Also includes a bonus short story and a quiz!
You can also download the story in any format you need on Bookfunnel (click here!).
And if you want an extra short story and a bonus quiz, check out the illustrated print edition!
Who is Leo?
Leo has been in and out of Belville from day one, but it’s usually her paper–or rather, her sometimes gossipy articles–that get all the attention. Not much is known about Leo herself. But here’s what we can say for sure:
- full name: Mary Jane Leonine, prefers the nickname Leo
- human, in her early thirties, and has spent most of her life in town
- she has curly auburn hair, piercing green eyes, and an overall look that Red describes as “tawny”
- her right hand, and arm up to her elbow, is prosthetic
- she seems to be most happy when directing her printing machines, which work through a combination of magic and technology that no one else quite understands
- as such, she’s often seen with a printer’s apron, overalls, and/or smudges of ink on her person
“Who’s to say what’s enough?” Leo asks Red during an Alchemical Tales investigation. Well, wrapped up in a mystery of her own, she may find out the answer!
But before all that, here’s a roundup of Leo’s appearances so far. 😉
The Local Paper
Currently, Leo is reporter, editor, and printer of the one newspaper in town, Belville & Beyond. We once featured an article from her very early days at the paper here on the website; you can find that below!
Stirring up Snow
In book two of The Alchemical Tales, Leo butted heads with Red and Luca when she reported a salacious story about a newcomer to town, Snow. While Leo certainly wasn’t helping keep the peace, she did provide a few helpful clues in the end!
An Aquarium of Trouble
Leo also showed up in “Spines of Omission,” where murder linked to a traveling aquarium briefly threw suspicion on her. In the wake of the tragedy, she vowed to uncover an illegal fish trade supplying aquariums across Beyond, and left town for a while to pursue her investigation. We still haven’t heard the results of her inquiry . . .
. . . And a Dash of Drama
Notably, it was one of Leo’s articles that caused a bit of a confrontation for Mel and Ryu on their rocky road to romance. (The reporter insists she acted for the greater good in this case, though other parties may disagree.)
