The Blackmere Letters, Book Two
The Drowned Bells of Saltmarsh
The Drowned Bells of Saltmarsh is Book Two of The Blackmere Letters, a slow-burn, closed-door gothic romance mystery by Eleanor Vale. A sealed letter of 1838, addressed across the water to a parish that mourns bells it never heard. The ebook is $2.99.
Get the ebookAbout the book
A parish that mourns its bells. A family blamed for drowning them. And one sealed letter that has never been delivered.
Paper conservator Iris Cole has learned the hard way what a dead voice can do once you let it in. So when a single sheet turns up among the dullest papers at Blackmere House, folded, locked, sealed with a coastguard's button and addressed across the estuary to the parish of Saltmarsh, she sets it aside to be done properly. She is good at setting things aside. Julian Blackmere, who has been trying for some time to ask her something, could tell you so.
Saltmarsh has a church tower with no bells in it. In December 1838, the village says, a ship bringing six new bells was drawn on to the bar by a false light and went down with every soul. On a still night before weather you can hear them yet, ringing under the water. The family who showed that light changed the spelling of their name, and stayed.
The letter was written nine days after the wreck. Nobody has ever read it.
To learn whose it is, Iris must follow the paper: a burial register that counts four where the bill was paid for seven, an account-book that is not where it should be, a founder's ledger in Bristol. And she must decide whether a truth held back until it is perfect is any better than a truth suppressed, because someone in Saltmarsh, someone kind, would much rather the letter stayed sealed.
Book details
- Series
- The Blackmere Letters, Book Two
- Genre
- Gothic romance mystery, slow-burn and closed-door
- Format
- Ebook (EPUB) in English
- Price
- $2.99, or local currency outside the United States
- Where
- Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other ebook stores, and library apps
Questions readers ask
Can I read Book Two without reading Book One?
Yes. The mystery is complete in this book. Reading the series in order gives you the full story of Iris and Julian.
How much romance is there, and is it explicit?
Slow-burn and closed-door, with no explicit content.
Is it a horror novel?
No. There is no murder and no gore, and the one haunting is never quite proved.
Where can I buy it, and how much is it?
The ebook is $2.99 at Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other ebook stores, and libraries can offer it through OverDrive, cloudLibrary and BorrowBox. Stores outside the United States show the price in local currency.
Was it written with AI?
Written with the assistance of AI tools and edited by the author.
More in The Blackmere Letters
- The Last Letter from Blackmere House (Book One)
- The Black Seal of Blackmere Point (Book Three)