Midnight Special
(2026)(The tenth book in the O'Malley Investigations Mystery series)
A Story by Daniel Pelfrey
Three hundred guests. One locked room. A holiday gala where murder is on the guest list.
Chicago, December 1925. The Palmer House hotel is hosting the most exclusive New Year's Eve masquerade of the season. When society matron Dorothea Crane receives an anonymous threat directed at one of her prominent guests, she hires O'Malley Investigations to ensure the party goes off without a hitch.Patrick O'Malley takes his position guarding the ballroom doors. Catherine "Kit" Ashworth dons a plain mask and a clipboard, slipping seamlessly into the high society world she was forced to abandon five years ago.
But the killer does not wait for the midnight countdown.
Hours before the confetti falls, industrialist Reginald Voss is found dead in his fourth floor suite. The door is locked from the inside. A glass of poisoned whiskey sits perfectly placed on a side table. The police are ready to close the book on a tragic accident or a neat suicide, but Kit and Paddy know better. The room is a perfectly staged lie, and the murderer is downstairs celebrating with the rest of Chicago's elite.
For Kit, the case is dangerously personal. Reginald Voss is the man whose business dealings triggered her father's financial ruin. Setting her ghosts aside, she must work with Paddy to unravel a timeline full of holes, missing documents, and society lies before the police arrest the wrong suspect.
With a corrupt system ready to look the other way, Kit and Paddy must dismantle a meticulous alibi and expose a killer who believes they have orchestrated the perfect crime.
Midnight Special is the next installment in the O'Malley Investigations series. If you enjoy atmospheric 1920s historical mysteries, sharp amateur sleuths, and a slow-burn partnership set against the gritty backdrop of Prohibition-era Chicago, you will love Kit and Paddy's newest case.
Genre: Historical Mystery
Used availability for Daniel Pelfrey's Midnight Special