The Clockwork Aria: A Claws Series Mystery: Book 2

By Julian Mercer

The show must go on, but for the city of Cogsworth, the finale might be fatal.

Baxter Reynard, the city's sharpest fox detective, has barely caught his breath after exposing Project Simulacrum. Now a reluctant celebrity, he finds the shadows harder to navigate-especially with the aristocracy watching his every move. But when Cogsworth's beloved opera star, Madame Seraphina, collapses on stage with her legendary voice reduced to a mechanical grind, the applause turns to terror.

Baxter discovers a sinister "clockwork-virus"-microscopic gears latching onto vocal cords to harvest sound. The investigation pulls him into the opulent and treacherous world of the Opera House, where the vain Maestro Plume is orchestrating something far worse than a bad performance.

Teaming up with the brilliant Lady Genevieve Gilt and his mechanical beetle, Click, Baxter uncovers a plot to broadcast a "Hypnotic Aria" during the Royal Jubilee. The goal? Absolute enslavement of the populace.

With time ticking down and a chaotic mercenary in the rafters, Baxter must reverse-engineer the virus before the fat lady sings-and takes everyone's free will with her.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GLY5Y465
• ISBN13: 9798247056850
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 442 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"