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Specter Inspector

by C. Rae D'Arc

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Romance

Publisher

Bursting Box Publishing

Series:

Dead and Back Again

Book #

1

Point of View

Single First Person (one main character)
amnesiabillionairedangerdetectivefantasy worldfish out of waterhidden identityhidden pasthistorical settingmysteryorganized crimeredemptionrevengeroyaltyscarred heroshe falls firstforbidden romance

Found a trope you love? → Tap it to explore more ❤️

Content Guide

This guide helps readers understand the content of this book.
Click the ⓘ icons to see how each level is defined.

Intimacy Level

Level 1: Basic Kissing

Innuendo Level

None

Swearing Amount

Zero

Violence Level

Moderate

Age Recommendation

Adult

LGBTQ Content

None

Trigger Warnings

Abuse (Past), Self-harm, Alcohol Abuse, Panic Attacks, Injury, Blood, Murder, Death

Synopsis

Nothing is as it seems in the land of Mystery
Welcome to sleazy Shigaqua, capital of Noir, where the line blurs most between friend and foe, mentor and monster, and victim and villain.

Among the dense population of law enforcers and private investigators, Aeron Spade has a unique edge to solve crime: he can visit the dead in his dreams. With the help of his ghostly friends (including Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Auguste Dupin), Aeron is determined to use his gift to bring justice against the city’s most elusive criminals. He’s on track to become the newest recruit of Noir’s most prestigious private investigations agency, but first, he must prove his mettle by solving the dead-end case of a young boy’s murder in a haunted theater.

Lacking support from the police or his potential employer, Aeron must use his own resources to defend the accused and find the real killer. However, Aeron’s few living contacts are occupied with treacherous cases that dredge up his paralyzing fears and threaten to expose his true identity. In a city teeming with mobsters and sleuths, keeping his own secrets may be more challenging than uncovering those of a vengeful poltergeist.

Join Aeron’s haunted cases in Specter Inspector, book one of the Dead and Back Again series, and follow-up of C. Rae D’Arc’s Haunted Romance trilogy. If you like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Jonathan Stroud’s Anthony Lockwood, or Daisuke Kambe (Millionaire Detective, by Yasutaka Tsutsui), then prepare to fall in love with Aeron Spade in this story that readers call “so clever,” “fun,” and “intriguing!”

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Other Books in this series

Spirit of Suspense

Spirit of Suspense

Visionary Investigations

Visionary Investigations

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Physical Intimacy Levels

Level 1

  • Holding hands or affectionate touching
  • Compliments or confessing love
  • Low-description kissing
  • Tender embraces or cuddling
  • Blushing and sighing
  • Non-descriptive discussions of sex
  • Established relationships
  • Fade to black if married
  • Any sexual encounters are only referred to from the past, not described or shown on page
 

Level 2

  • Touch that signals attraction
  • No touching in the underwear zone
  • Long kisses, lightly descriptive
  • Deeper kisses, tongue implied but not described
  • Feeling warm or flushed
  • Gasping, deep sighs, light growls or groans
  • Thinking or speaking about desire in a non-descriptive way
  • Fade to black for established relationships after a scene that matches this level, though this may be unpopular if they are not married
 

Level 3

 

  • Hands moving, still not in the underwear zone
  • French kissing with tongue described
  • Make-out sessions that still follow these guidelines
  • Feeling hot or sweaty
  • Heavier gasping, groaning, deep growls, or panting
  • More frantic moments and some loss of control
  • Male shirt may come off, but nothing else
  • Leg may straddle waist, but no mention of arousal
  • If characters lie down together, there should be little description of contact or movement
  • May happen in a bedroom or on a bed, but should be interrupted or end with a fade to black scene
  • Focus stays on the emotion
  • Fade to black should still happen between married couples or at the end of the book between engaged or committed couples

Innuendo Levels

Level 0 — None

  • No sexual innuendo
  • No suggestive humor
  • No crude or sexual jokes

Level 1 — Minimal

  • Minimal innuendo or double meanings
  • Light teasing
  • Mild crude or dad humor
  • Not frequent or strong

Level 2 — Moderate

  • Moderate suggestive humor
  • Double meanings
  • Sexual tension
  • May include crude or sexual jokes

Level 3 — Heavy

  • Heavy innuendo
  • Strong suggestive dialogue
  • Frequent crude or sexual humor

Swearing Levels

Zero

  • No swearing

Mild

  • Up to 10 uses of “hel*” or “dam*”

Moderate

  • 10+ uses of “hel*” or “dam*”
  • And/or use of bodily swear words like “shi*,” “as*,” etc.

Severe

  • 30+ swear words
  • And/or any use of the F-word one or more times

Violence Levels

Zero

  • No on-page violence

Mild

  • Violence is present without detail or only referenced vaguely
  • May briefly mention blood or injuries
  • Comparable to a G-rated movie

Moderate

  • Violence is more frequent and/or more detailed
  • Can be more intense
  • Injuries may be lightly described
  • Comparable to a PG-rated movie

Severe

  • Violence is more detailed and frequent
  • Blood may be mentioned and injuries may be described in detail
  • Comparable to a PG-13-rated movie

Intimacy Levels

Level 1

  • Holding hands/Affectionate touching
  • Compliments/confessing love
  • Low-description kissing
  • Tender embraces/cuddling
  • Blushing and sighing
  • Non-descriptive discussions of sex
  • Established relationships
  • Fade to black if married
  • Any sexual encounters from past only referred to, not described or on-screen

Level 2

  • Touch that signals attraction
  • No touching in underwear zone
  • Long kisses, lightly descriptive
  • Deeper kisses, tongue implied not described
  • Feel warm/flushed
  • Gasping, deep sighs, light growls and groans
  • Thinking/speaking about desire non-descriptive
  • Fade to black for established relationships after a scene that matches this level – but may be unpopular if not married

Level 3

  • Hands moving, still not in underwear zone
  • French kiss with tongue described
  • Make-out sessions still follow guidelines
  • Feel hot, sweating
  • Heavier gasping, groaning, deep growls, panting
  • More frantic and lose some control
  • Male shirt may come off, but nothing else
  • Leg may straddle waist, but no mention of arousal
  • If they lay down together anywhere, use little description of contact/moving
  • May happen in a bedroom or on a bed, but should be interrupted or end with fade to black scene. Keep focus on the emotion.
  • Fade to black should still happen between married couples or at the end of the book between engaged/committed couples.