Ghost Writer (ePub)

Wren Fallon has a love for the written word, a passion for prose, and a skill for weaving webs that rival that rival the prowess of the most manipulative of Black Widow spiders. While her spoken tongue is awkward, words flow from her pen like water rushing from a fresh spring. She is a ghost writer. A voice for the voiceless. An author without a face. A nameless narrator telling tales for another. She didn't write for just anyone, though. Wren Fallon had the tremendous feat of penning new material for the reigning queen of the twisted mystery, herself, Welsh-born Morven Ainsley.

The press assigned Morven many names.

The Maven of Mystery

The Duchess of Suspense

Queen of the Cliffhanger

At the ripe old age of 92, Morven Ainsley had pulled one hundred and nineteen full-length novels. 

Morven Ainsley is an enigma. A mystery in and of herself. Despite the awards, the critical acclaim, and the leagues of adoring fans, Morven Ainsley's greatest mystery cannot be found in the shelves of a bookstore or in the archives at the Portland Library.

Morven's most tremendous mystery to date is her own disappearance. The author vanished from public view in 1983. No one, not even the ever-prying journalists at the South Maine Gazette, have gotten a glimpse of Portland's famed Mystery Maven. Despite this, Lorcan Press still releases five Ainsley novels per year. Her text never tired. Her writing never showed signs of her advancing age.

The back cover of all of her novels feature the same photograph. Copyrighted in 1946 by Robert Cairnes of Philadelphia, Morven posed for the camera before a lush garden wall with a faint smile painted upon her flawless face. Her lips were painted a deep red, and her long red hair was braided neatly under a wide-brimmed hat. She appeared to be in a state of deep reflection, her eyes half-mast as her hands rested upon the edges of her hat.

Other photographs of Morven can be found on the internet and in archive records, showing a glamorous lifestyle of opulence and decadence. Regardless of how deep you search though, none of the photographs will post-date August of 1983. As far as documentation went, Morven Ainsley ceased to exist in the early '80s.

Only two people know how to reach the esteemed author. Not in person, of course. Never in person. Not even by telephone. Written correspondence was her chosen method of communication. Only Wren Fallon, Morven's ghost writer, and Marcus Withering, her estate manager, were privy enough to receive her messages. The author's floral scrawl wound gracefully over cream, perfumed stationary pages. These letters were the only proof that Morven was actually alive. But then, one day, the letters stopped, removing the last shred of evidence that the Maven of Mystery was still among the living.

This is the story of two women. One, a struggling writer, the other, no more than a ghost. Like the willowy bend of phrase tossing to and fro, the sharp gust of wind whooshing through the plain, the subtle flicker of a candle's ember in a damp and dreary room, the hammer of a heartbeat in a body presumed to be dead. This tale has more than its fair share of surprise. Morven would have it no other way.

When the weaving of a web comes undone. When all clues slip loose and fall into oblivion. When the silent can send the loudest message of all. Only one person can unravel the truth.

Enter: The Ghost Writer.