The year is 1919. As he makes his way through the dark streets of Crowford, Roderick Briar knows that he is being followed by ghosts. Every night, he works on the death masks he casts from the faces of the town's dead, and every night he tells himself that eventually he will make the breakthrough he seeks.

Determined to protect her father at all costs, Victoria Briar watches over Roderick in case one night he might go too far. She has heard the masks whispering and she knows that he’s engaged in a dangerous game, but she also knows that she can't change his mind. At the same time, she finds herself increasingly drawn to her father's greatest rival. Matthew Stourbridge is Crowford's leading photographer, and he has asked several times for Victoria's hand in marriage.

But a daughter can't abandon her father when he needs her most. And Victoria knows that while Roderick's methods might be unusual, he seems to be edging ever closer to a discovery that will change humanity's understanding of death itself. Can she keep her father safe, or will her love for Matthew lead her astray when she is needed the most?

The Masks of Roderick Briar is another stand-alone book in the long-running Ghosts of Crowford series, about a spooky English town where the ghosts outnumber the living and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

First published: March 2026
Genre: Ghost / Horror
Series or Standalone: Anthology Series