The Winterglass Routes: A Bellwether Bay Folklore Mystery: 2

Winter has come early to Bellwether Bay, and the ice is not the only thing closing in.When a coded map is slipped beneath the door of the Bellwether Athenaeum, retired librarian and sanctuary custodian Lilian Vale knows the warning is meant for her. The hidden routes to Skelwick Reach have vanished, leaving no safe passage for the Cinderwings and no explanation for the blank place where a sanctuary should be.Then a harbor patrol launch drifts into the bay carrying Elias Strachan, caretaker of Skelwick Reach, frozen at the wheel with a fractured thermal compass locked in his hand.The Coast Authority calls it a tragic accident, but Lilian knows better. The compass should not pulse like a distress signal. Ash, the young Cinderwing bonded to her, should not be weakening with every sweep of the searchlights. And Commander Lucien Valecroft should not know the name of an archive that was supposed to remain hidden.As the harbor freezes and Bellwether Bay turns suspicious, Lilian follows a trail of salt-burned logs, charred letters, buried preservation tags, and old confessions reaching back to the lost sanctuary of Port Astor. With Ash and a wary circle of allies at her side, she begins to uncover a conspiracy that has been dismantling the sanctuary network for years.Elias died protecting the routes.Now Lilian must decide whether preservation means keeping secrets buried, or carrying the truth into the open before the last Cinderwings are trapped forever.The Winterglass Routes is the second book in the Bellwether Bay Folklore Mystery Series, a cozy fantasy mystery filled with fogbound libraries, hidden maps, coastal secrets, found-family sleuthing, and folklore that refuses to stay buried. Perfect for readers who enjoy atmospheric small-town mysteries, magical archives, gentle suspense, and clever creatures with secrets of their own.