User:RadMatter/Sandbox 1

Episode One was the first release in the Mystery Lady series written by Paul Magrs and prominently featuring the character of Dodie Golightly originated in the 2013 Iris Wildthyme story The Ninnies on Putney Common.

Publisher's summary
Dodie Golightly is a writer of stories, creating characters in order to do dreadful things to them. Dodie, with her assistant, Cassandra, and her best friend, TV personality, Timothy Bold is about to embark on a phantasmagorical journey beyond her wildest dreams. They’ve got a mystery, a road map, and a paisley-painted-mini. They’re caught in a love triangle. Clues discovered in a mysterious manuscript lead their investigation into a series of literary murders; who are the authors listed in the book and why does Dodie’s name have a skull scrawled next to it?

Plot
Having been roped into appearing on her friend Timothy Bold's new TV pop show Smashing Tunes, Dodie Golightly is distracted when her personal assistant Cassandra presents her with a letter from esteemed book publisher Mephistopheles and Company's editorial director Henry Duke who informs her that her work will appear in The Horrible Book of Terror.

Invited for a meeting with Mephistopheles, Dodie and Cassandra headed to Bloomsbury alongside Timothy who was filming another television show in London. While on the train Cassandra witnessed an intense encounter between freelance copyeditor Helen Spedding and a man who attempted to grab the manuscript that she was working on before Helen throttled him into submission. Later, Helen caught up with the trio as they attended a meal at the Knightsbridge and revealed that she was the copyeditor for The Horrible Book of Terror and her attacker had been an agent hoping to get his hand on the book. As Dodie and her friends were visiting Mephistopheles themselves, Helen requested that they take them the manuscript to which Dodie agreed.

Upon their return to Timothy's flat Cassandra excused herself for an early night, in an attempt to avoid the tension between Dodie and Timothy after she rejected his marriage proposal. In her sleep Cassandra had a dream about Helen Spedding being attacked by a moth-like being as she returned home, and she alerted Dodie about this when she awoke. Soon after a blizzard burst through the apartment and ripped open the manuscript tossing pages across the room - Dodie, Cassandra and Timothy found that several pages of the work was missing. Fortunately, the contents page was found by Timothy, but Dodie was shocked to discover strange markings next to the thirteen contributors' names and that her name had a skull written beside it.

Characters

 * Dodie Golightly
 * Timothy Bold
 * Cassandra
 * Director
 * Helen Spedding
 * Man

Continuity

 * Brenda Soobie is an incarnation of Iris Wildthyme. (PROSE: Bafflement and Devotion, et al.)
 * Fox Soames was editor of the Book of Mayhem anthology series. (PROSE: To the Devil — a Diva!, et al.)

Publisher's summary
Dodie meets the Chief Editor at Mephistopheles & Co., who seems frightened of some unseen force. She learns about the mysterious editor, Fox Soames, before there are strange shenanigans on the studio floor when Timothy appears on his live TV show. Dodie, Tim and Cassandra have got themselves a mystery, a road map and a brand new mini. Will they make it to the first anthology author before he meets the same fate as the character in his own macabre short story?

Plot
During a meeting with Henry Duke, the editorial director of Mephistopheles and Company, Dodie learnt about the disappearance of Vaughan Fretwell - one of the anthology contributors. She was also informed that Helen Spedding was a fraud and had not been hired as a copyeditor for the manuscript. Together Dodie and Cassandra visited Vaughan's home at Shepherd's Bush only to find that the place had been abandoned for some time. The house was in complete disarray with maggots and moldy food making the smell unbearable. It wasn't long before Dodie and Cassandra discovered Vaughan - who was barely still alive and attempted to warn the girls about the manuscript before succumbing to death.

Not wanting to remain in the house any longer the pair tip off the police anonymously, and then attend Timothy's Spin the Bottle television appearance. However, things again take a turn for the worse as Timothy is enlisted to perform a magic act - in place of magician Carswell Hobbs who has taken ill - and his assistant, and Carswell's second wife, Doris Hobbes turns up dead on stage having been strangled by her own feather boa after stepping inside the magic box with Timothy. Amidst the chaos Cassandra was approached by Lucrezia Noggins who invited her meet someone who wanted to talk with her, and to Cassandra's shock the individual turned out to be Doris Hobbes herself - who wished to inform Cassandra that Timothy had no part in her murder.

The trio found a strand of synthetic orange hair which they deduced belonged to the murderer, and Cassandra realised that Carswell Hobbs was known for wearing a long nylon orange wig. When Dodie and Cassandra, along with the Detective Inspector, inspected the magic box they discovered Carswell hiding behind a rotating panel. Upon being accused of Doris' murder, Carswell confessed that he had loathed her and wished to frame someone else live on television. Despite Carswell's confession Timothy was forced to head to the Shepherd's Bush prison to make a full statement.

While Dodie and Cassandra were waiting for Timothy at the station, Cassandra was again approach by Lucrezia Noggins who revealed that she was on the the contributors for The Horrible Book of Terror. Lucrezia stated that Fox Soames was a huge fan of her work and that she had contributed to every anthology in the Book of Mayhem series, despite having died long before the first book had been punished.

Characters

 * Dodie Golightly
 * Timothy Bold
 * Cassandra
 * Henry Duke
 * Vaughan Fretwell
 * Doris Hobbes
 * Director
 * Floor Manager
 * Detective Inspector Olliphant
 * Lady Lucrezia Noggins
 * Derek

Continuity
To be added