Colleen Gleason

Colleen Gleason writes historical fantasy, mystery, and romantic suspense, often placing resourceful women in stories where the supernatural complicates practical problems. The Shop of Shades and Secrets opens her Modern Gothic Mysteries sequence. Fiona Murphy unexpectedly inherits an antiques shop from a man she barely knew, then encounters unexplained lights, a cold breeze scented with roses, an intruder, and a disturbing discovery in a closet. Gideon Nath III, the attorney handling the inheritance, becomes both a cautious counterweight to Fiona's interest in palmistry and a partner in the emerging mystery. The romantic-suspense plot carries supernatural elements, and The Cards of Life and Death follows it in the sequence. Gleason has also written the Gardella Vampire Chronicles and Stoker & Holmes books. The Shop of Shades and Secrets shows the modern-gothic side of her range, making the uncanny feel immediate and domestic while letting an inherited business become the doorway to danger, attraction, and unanswered family questions.