Inkbound City Nights: a Cozy Mystery and Urban Fantasy Novel

A body discovered before dawn, a book humming with forbidden power, and a city built on forgotten names-nothing about this mystery stays quiet for long. Inkbound City Nights opens its doors in a Denver neighborhood where brick storefronts and light rail tracks hide a secret history written not just in ink, but in lives. June Calder, owner of the small bookstore Ink & Ember, has always known that words carry weight. She can feel it in the margins, sense it in the bindings. When a young document conservator is found dead among her shelves, June is drawn into an investigation that turns everyday books into dangerous artifacts and familiar streets into a living spell. As the police search for a conventional killer, June follows a different trail-one of hidden magic, erased people, and bargains made in silence. With the help of a guarded archivist, a charming antiquarian, a skeptical detective, and a poet whose words unlock more than metaphor, June uncovers a secret society devoted to binding memories, identities, and even people inside books. What begins as a cozy puzzle quickly deepens into an urban fantasy where justice, preservation, and power collide. Each revelation tightens the web, and a shocking twist forces June to reconsider everything she believes about the crime, the victim, and the cost of protecting secrets. The truth demands more than cleverness-it demands courage, accountability, and a willingness to let the past speak out loud. Set against real Denver streets, libraries, and neighborhoods, Inkbound City Nights blends the warmth of a community mystery with the unsettling wonder of magic hidden in plain sight. Rich with atmosphere, morally complex characters, and a story that rewards attentive readers, this novel invites you to linger over every page while pulling you relentlessly forward. Step into a world where books remember what cities forget, and discover how one woman‘s choice can rewrite more than a single ending. Open the cover, follow the ink, and let the story claim you.