Ashes and Iron

Ashes and Iron is a gritty detective novella set in a city full of shadows, silence, and locks that were never meant to be opened. Silas Bell is a private investigator and part-time locksmith with a taste for cheap soda and bad decisions. He works quiet cases. Lost keys. Missing persons. Things no one wants to talk about. When a girl walks into his office with a strange pendant and a story no one believes, Silas agrees to help. The deeper he digs, the more the city feels wrong. People vanish. Doors open on their own. A strange symbol keeps showing up where it shouldn't. An open eye. A flame. Silas doesn’t believe in ghosts. He doesn’t believe in monsters. But something is watching. And it knows his name.

©2025 Rickey Ward (P)2025 Rickey Ward