The Marlowe Codex

In the silent halls of Ashcombe’s elite archive, a 400-year-old secret has just gone missing... and the prime suspect is the only one trying to find it. For Josephine "Jo" Kilbride, earning a key to the freezing, chapel-like Hollis Wing isn't just an honor—it's the only way a scholarship transfer student can survive in a world of old money and legacy names. When her mentor grants her rare, unsupervised access to catalog the legendary Marlowe Codex, it’s a career-making opportunity. But when she turns her back, the priceless artifact vanishes from its sealed display. The access logs show only one name: hers. With a massive accreditation review looming and her academic future on the line, Jo is thrust into a desperate race to clear her name. Her investigation uncovers altered provenance records, off-the-books authentications, and a decades-old forgery that someone is willing to do anything to protect. With no one to trust—not even the mentor who gave her the key—Jo must navigate Ashcombe's treacherous clique of legacy students to catch the real thief. But in a university where money buys innocence, the truth might be the most dangerous artifact of all. Step into the archives with The Marlowe Codex, a gripping Dark Academia Cozy Mystery perfect for fans of hidden histories, campus secrets, and sharp-witted heroines fighting against the odds.