Death by Silver

Ned Mathey is a metaphysician in an alternate London, where magic runs through ordinary objects and he is trained to read it. A wealthy banker, Edgar Nevett, hires him to examine the family silver for curses. Ned accepts, even though Nevett's son bullied him throughout their school years.

One of the pieces then kills Nevett, and Ned is left tied to a murder committed with a magical weapon. He asks for help from Julian Lynes, a private detective who was his schoolmate and, at times, his lover.

The two work the case through the city's criminal underworld. Each lead also drags them back toward what happened between them years ago, and toward whether they can rebuild it.

This is a gaslamp fantasy mystery with a male same-sex romance at its core, built around a murder investigation. It includes a historical murder and flashbacks to school bullying, so the tone has weight alongside the detective work.

It is the first of two novels about Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey; the sequel is A Death at the Dionysus Club. Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold wrote it, Lethe Press first published it in 2013, and the Lambda Literary Award honoured it in the category for LGBT science fiction, fantasy and horror.