The Redbone Chimera: Historical Horror Suspense Detective Series (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798245589428)

Merritt Blackwood hates humidity and family myths, but when a rusted gate, a decrypted ledger, and a humming violet harpoon lure her into Louisiana's hidden "Blood Parish," she finds a living garden that farms people. The Vanes-an old French family-didn't cultivate crops; they engineered a containment system that grafts coral to flesh, building an entire hive that broadcasts a song through roots and bone .

With hacker-Gator Gaudet at her side and Julian Vane half-salvaged from a courthouse bed, Merritt slips into a labyrinth of red trees, rusted ironclads, and subterranean laboratories. Each misstep risks calcification or recruitment-outsiders turn to living statues, locals accept the crown, and the Gardener waits in a velvet coat for a successor .

When Merritt's own hand begins humming, she must decide whether to sever the song with the Dissonance Rod or surrender to a lineage that will never let her go. If she loses, the Heart will feed-and the parish will spread. If she wins, she may break the only thing keeping the swamp alive.