Asylum Murders by Michael G Colburn (EXCERPT)

Hello, readers! We have a treat for you today with an excerpt from the second installment of Michael G Colburn’s twisty historical Lady Black mystery series.

Asylum Murders finds our heroine, London thief turned Australian high society widow Lady Edith “Edie” Black, in the midst of establishing her mostly secret career as a private investigator. She’s thus pleased to be hired for a case that requires the utmost discretion: the disappearance of the Parliament of Victoria’s ceremonial mace after a night of debauchery involving high-ranking officials. She’s looking forward to tracking down the missing mace and bringing it back to its rightful home… until her investigation leads her to a young woman brutally beaten and left for dead the very same night.

Meanwhile, Edie’s best friend Britina is serving as a novice nun tasked with caring for patients at the infamous Kew Asylum. After Britina notices that patients are disappearing with no explanation, she’s framed for murder, declared criminally insane and locked up behind the very walls she worked in. Edie will have to infiltrate the asylum in order to save her best friend, while solving more than one crime in the process.

Read on for an excerpt that gives further insight into Edie and Britina’s pasts:

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Lady Edith Black, known as Edie to her close friends, was restless. It had been four years since she and Benji Diamond had married and settled into their cottage outside Melbourne following their adventures on the stolen ship Ferret. As she brushed her long dark hair, she decided that dinner in the city would be a welcome diversion. She put away her brush, considered her approach, and walked to the sitting room, where Benji was reading the paper and sipping a glass of wine.

“Benji, Bart is not here to make dinner, and I haven’t planned anything. Shall we go into the city?”

“I’d enjoy that,” Benji replied. “Would you like to invite anyone to join us?”

“As much as I love quiet time with you, I need to know if Dutch has learned anything new about Britina. Let’s see if he is available.”

Edie realized she had not been the best companion in recent weeks. She had been pressing Benji to sell their extensive farm and food distribution business in London, the one that had grown out of their early relationship: running a gang of young thieves and using the farm as a cover. She loved living in Melbourne and knew that if things continued as they were, she would spend half of every year apart from Benji while he traveled back and forth for business.

“I’ll telephone Dutch. Where’s Bart?” Bart (Bartolomé) and his wife, Carolyn, were Edie and Benji’s part-time help for gardening, errands, and cleaning. Bart insisted on cooking a couple of nights a week, recreating the meals his mother had made when he was a child in Guatemala. He made a mess, but the food was excellent.

Edie left the room and didn’t answer—or didn’t hear.

Benji shook his head and smiled. He had news for her and she’d just set it up perfectly.

After his call, Benji came into the kitchen and handed Edie a glass of wine. “He’ll meet us at St. John’s Public House at eight. It’s a bit of a dive, but with great food, and Dutch has some legal work in that part of the city until late afternoon.”

“That’s a good choice. I certainly won’t run into anyone I know,” Edie said with just a touch of sarcasm. “They allow ladies, don’t they?”

“I’ll lend you some trousers.”

Edie knew her relationship with Benji was solid and mutual. When they were together, their love and passion grew stronger than ever. To Edie, he was still tall and handsome, though somewhat quieter than the energetic young man she had first known. He kept his curly brown hair neatly trimmed now, with a few scattered gray strands—though he was only thirty-four. He didn’t appreciate it when Edie pointed them out. She also knew she wanted more than being a “wait-at-home wife,” and she still hoped for a child, though time was running out.

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The three friends chatted comfortably near the flickering fireplace of the public house, mugs of ale in hand, and bowls of piping spicy stew with warm bread just out of the oven on the table. After eating, Edie turned to Dutch and leaned in closer. “Have you had any luck reaching Britina at the convent in London?”

Edie hadn’t had any contact with her best friend, Britina, in over three years. The police’s destruction of Benji’s illegal stall market had led to Britina’s arrest. Afterward, the judge had released Britina to the care of a convent, where she would study to become a novice nun—but the Mother Superior was strict, and didn’t allow contact. The convent had cloistered Britina with the other novices and returned the letters Edie had sent.

To secure the release of everyone arrested that day, Benji, the leader of the gang of boy thieves and the stall market that sold stolen goods, had turned himself in and was sent to prison. Mrs. Hill, Edie’s crime boss, owned the market; she’d bought his freedom. He and Edie hadn’t reunited until the Ferret’s theft.

Dutch looked sad. “Edie, I’m sorry. They rejected my approaches as well. After I’d sent three letters, the Mother Superior wrote to me and told me to stop. She said that the order expects postulants and novices to renounce worldly ties and dedicate their lives entirely to religious devotion,” he said. “I’ve petitioned the judge who oversaw the deal that sent her to the convent, asking him to reach out to the Mother Superior. The agreement stipulated Britina’s transfer to a work assignment in Australia after three years of supervision—it’s been nearly four. We should have an answer in a few weeks.”

Edie reached out and put her hand on Dutch’s arm. “Thank you. That’s promising news.” She paused. “What’s a postulant?”

“It’s when all the nuns and novices judge a person to see if she’s suitable for religious life.”

“Poor Britina,” Edie said.

Benji and Dutch exchanged glances.

Dutch took the lead. “I’m your lawyer, each of you personally as well as jointly. By law, I have to maintain confidences. I know each of you has something to share with the other. Who wants to start?”

This surprised both of them. They stared at Dutch, then at each other.

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From Asylum Murders by Michael G Colburn. Copyright © 2025 by the author and reprinted by permission.

Asylum Murders by Michael G Colburn was published today December 16 2025 by I P Publishing and is available from all good booksellers, including