Rough Musick

By Joslyn Chase

Villagers in a seventeenth-century mining town on the coast of Cornwall live and die by the dictates of superstition.
Until one young woman rebels.
Can Kesten overcome the weight of tradition, bring a murderer to justice, and set her life on a course for happiness?
If you love a tale full of suspense and superstition, grab your copy of Rough Musick today!
Rough Musick is part of the short story collection, No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joslyn Chase
• Release date: May 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952647055

Joslyn Chase

Joslyn Chase is a prize-winning author of mysteries and thrillers. Any day she can send readers to the edge of their seats, chewing their fingernails to the nub and prickling with suspense, is a good day in her book. Joslyn's story, "Cold Hands, Warm Heart," was chosen by Amor Towles as one of The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Fiction River, Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem, Mystery Magazine, and Pulphouse Fiction, among others. Known for her fast-paced fiction, Joslyn's books are full of surprising twists and delectable turns. You will find her riveting novels most anywhere books are sold. Joslyn's love for travel has led her to ride camels through the Nubian desert, fend off monkeys on the Rock of Gibraltar, and hike the Bavarian Alps. But she still believes that sometimes the best adventures come in getting the words on the page and in the thrill of reading a great story. Join the growing group of readers who’ve discovered the thrill of Chase! Sign up at joslynchase.com and get VIP access to great bonuses, like your free copy of No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense, as well as updates and first crack at new releases. See you there!

Book preview

Rough Musick

Rough Musick

Suspense & Superstition

Joslyn Chase

Paraquel Press

University Place, Washington

Rough Musick Copyright © 2020 by Joslyn Chase. All Rights Reserved.

Contents

Title Page

Free Book

Author's Note

The Story

More Books by Joslyn Chase

Sample from Nocturne In Ashes

About The Author

Copyright Information

Rough Musick

Suspense & Superstition

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Joslyn Chase

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For fans of Jeffery Deaver’s short stories with a twist, this collection of diverse tales from prize-winning author, Joslyn Chase, will seize you by the throat and pull you along at a tingling pace!

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Rough Musick first appeared in Fiction River Magazine, the Superstitious issue, edited by Mark Leslie. A murder mystery of sorts, the story is set in a seventeenth-century Cornish mining town and explores the role and influence of superstition in the everyday lives of its citizens.

Researching this was a fascinating enterprise, and the story took root when I read about a mining superstition regarding shoes on the table. Back then, a man’s shoes were as recognizable as his face, and putting his shoes on the table meant he wouldn’t be needing them anymore.

Superstition pervaded life in Cornwall, especially in mining communities, governing customs and practices and calling the tune. Those who ignored its demands laid themselves open to great misfortune. Or so they believed.

Rough Musick had the honor of appearing on The Tangent Online’s 2019 Recommended Reading List.

Kesten scraped the mud from her wooden overshoes and laid them aside on the stone wall that flanked the healer’s doorstep. This tiny Cornish cottage, tucked in a copse at the far end of the village, had always frightened her, with its overgrown garden of peculiar plants, harvested and hung upside-down from the eaves like a cluster of bats, and odd aromas wafting from the chimney, scenting the air with mystery and menace.

Nevertheless, she preferred to consult a woman. Dr. Roskelly was an hour’s walk away, and his pinched lips and disapproving eye would only make things worse. Kesten’s instinct told her the problem, whatever it was, would be best understood by a woman. Many people in the village trusted Morwenna to cure their ills, and Kesten’s own father had gone to her with an infected cut and come away the better for it, though he refused to speak of the matter.

A quarrelsome clucking arose from the yard and Kesten turned to watch two hens pecking the moistened dirt, fighting over a discovered morsel. They resided in a corner pen loosely woven of thin branches, a pair of black roosters strutting beside them. Last year Kesten’s friend, Emblyn, had lost her father after a cart rolled over him, and Kesten knew Morwenna had taken such a rooster to his bedside.

She brought it to the window and wrung its neck, Emblyn told her as the two girls scoured the woods for acorns to feed the pigs.

For what purpose? Kesten asked.

She said the rooster would accompany my father’s soul to the gates of heaven, and when St. Peter saw the cock, it would remind him how he denied Christ and move him to mercy so to let my father into heaven.

Do you think that’s what happened?

I do, and it’s a powerful comfort to me, Emblyn said, wiping a grubby hand across her eyes.

What became of the rooster?