Miss Mephistopheles: A Novel

A rain‑soaked Sunday in 1890s Melbourne sets the stage, where bleak clouds and a relentless wind drive umbrellas inside out and force worshippers to trudge through the storm. Inside a modest boarding‑house, the glow of a coal fire throws red shafts across a cramped room, illuminating a battered piano, a half‑empty bottle of whisky, and walls crowded with photographs of famous musicians. Here, journalist Ezra Lazarus fills the air with fragmented melodies while his companion watches, the room humming with the promise of stories yet to be told.

Against this atmospheric backdrop, the narrative begins to pull together the lives of strangers who gather around the fire, each harboring secrets that the flickering light threatens to expose. As Ezra’s fingers dance over the keys, whispers of intrigue stir, hinting at a mysterious woman whose presence will soon upend their quiet routine. Listeners are invited into a world of Victorian intrigue, where music, journalism, and the looming storm intertwine to spark the first sparks of a compelling mystery.