The Vanishing Corpse
(2025)(The first book in the Detective Hugo Graves series)
A novel by Stone Patrick
A storm lashes Ravenwood Manor, a lonely estate perched on a cliff above the sea. Within its shadowed halls, a glittering heiress disappears without a trace. By dawn, whispers spread through the guests—murder, deceit, betrayal. Yet when the body is sought, it cannot be found.
Detective Hugo Graves, once the pride of Scotland Yard, is summoned to unravel the enigma. A man scarred by failure, Graves knows this case is more than duty'''it is a chance for redemption. But at Ravenwood, truth is treacherous. Each guest hides secrets, each alibi trembles under scrutiny, and every locked room conceals more than dust and silence.
Vivienne LeClair, the missing heiress, was adored, envied, and despised in equal measure. To some she was a savior; to others, a ruinous temptress. Around the firelight of Ravenwood gather her cousin Eleanor, bitter with envy; Lord Charles Ashworth, a recluse masking ruin; Alistair Kane, ruthless industrialist with ambitions fixed on Vivienne’s fortune; and a host of others whose polished manners barely disguise the malice that seethes beneath.
When Graves begins his interrogations, the polite mask of civility soon cracks. Accusations spill. Old wounds reopen. Ravenwood itself seems to turn against him—its shuttered windows rattling, its corridors echoing with phantom footsteps. And still, there is no corpse. How can one solve a murder when the evidence itself has vanished into thin air?
The storm outside mirrors the storm within. Trust dissolves into paranoia. Each revelation leads not to clarity but to darker shadows. Graves must untangle a web spun from greed, betrayal, and long-buried sins before the truth is lost forever. For someone at Ravenwood is not merely hiding a body—they are hiding a past steeped in blood.
As the hours bleed into days, alliances shift like sand. Vivienne’s enemies prove as numerous as her admirers, and her survival—or her death—becomes a riddle that gnaws at the detective’s very sanity. Is she the victim, or has she orchestrated the cruelest game of all?
In a final gathering before the dwindling fire, Graves lays bare the truths each guest fought so desperately to conceal. The revelations shatter reputations, sever bonds, and expose motives as jagged as broken glass. Yet even as justice looms, the question lingers—can redemption be found in exposing the darkest truths, or does every revelation wound the soul beyond repair?
The Vanishing Corpse is more than a tale of a missing body—it is a meditation on human frailty, on the masks we wear to survive, and on the dangerous allure of power when it slips into desperate hands. With echoes of Agatha Christie and the chilling suspense of Daphne du Maurier, this is a mystery steeped in atmosphere, brimming with conflict, and driven by characters whose every glance might conceal a dagger.
Perfect for lovers of classic whodunits, gothic suspense, and twist-laden thrillers, The Vanishing Corpse invites readers to step into Ravenwood Manor, to sit beside the dying embers, and to ask the question no one dares to voice aloud:
If the corpse has vanished, did a murder ever occur—or is the true crime something far more sinister?
Prepare yourself for a story of secrets wrapped in shadows, where every answer births another question, and where the final revelation will leave you breathless, haunted, and desperate to turn back the pages once more.
Genre: Mystery
Detective Hugo Graves, once the pride of Scotland Yard, is summoned to unravel the enigma. A man scarred by failure, Graves knows this case is more than duty'''it is a chance for redemption. But at Ravenwood, truth is treacherous. Each guest hides secrets, each alibi trembles under scrutiny, and every locked room conceals more than dust and silence.
Vivienne LeClair, the missing heiress, was adored, envied, and despised in equal measure. To some she was a savior; to others, a ruinous temptress. Around the firelight of Ravenwood gather her cousin Eleanor, bitter with envy; Lord Charles Ashworth, a recluse masking ruin; Alistair Kane, ruthless industrialist with ambitions fixed on Vivienne’s fortune; and a host of others whose polished manners barely disguise the malice that seethes beneath.
When Graves begins his interrogations, the polite mask of civility soon cracks. Accusations spill. Old wounds reopen. Ravenwood itself seems to turn against him—its shuttered windows rattling, its corridors echoing with phantom footsteps. And still, there is no corpse. How can one solve a murder when the evidence itself has vanished into thin air?
The storm outside mirrors the storm within. Trust dissolves into paranoia. Each revelation leads not to clarity but to darker shadows. Graves must untangle a web spun from greed, betrayal, and long-buried sins before the truth is lost forever. For someone at Ravenwood is not merely hiding a body—they are hiding a past steeped in blood.
As the hours bleed into days, alliances shift like sand. Vivienne’s enemies prove as numerous as her admirers, and her survival—or her death—becomes a riddle that gnaws at the detective’s very sanity. Is she the victim, or has she orchestrated the cruelest game of all?
In a final gathering before the dwindling fire, Graves lays bare the truths each guest fought so desperately to conceal. The revelations shatter reputations, sever bonds, and expose motives as jagged as broken glass. Yet even as justice looms, the question lingers—can redemption be found in exposing the darkest truths, or does every revelation wound the soul beyond repair?
The Vanishing Corpse is more than a tale of a missing body—it is a meditation on human frailty, on the masks we wear to survive, and on the dangerous allure of power when it slips into desperate hands. With echoes of Agatha Christie and the chilling suspense of Daphne du Maurier, this is a mystery steeped in atmosphere, brimming with conflict, and driven by characters whose every glance might conceal a dagger.
Perfect for lovers of classic whodunits, gothic suspense, and twist-laden thrillers, The Vanishing Corpse invites readers to step into Ravenwood Manor, to sit beside the dying embers, and to ask the question no one dares to voice aloud:
If the corpse has vanished, did a murder ever occur—or is the true crime something far more sinister?
Prepare yourself for a story of secrets wrapped in shadows, where every answer births another question, and where the final revelation will leave you breathless, haunted, and desperate to turn back the pages once more.
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Stone Patrick's The Vanishing Corpse