Santa Claus tends to avoid Collinsport. It's his loss, really. The place is like Halloween Town, but with more booze, shallow graves, werewolves and polyester. Who needs Santa Claus when you've got denominationally vague witchcraft?
If you're looking to binge on DARK SHADOWS beyond the holidays, Big Finish has just the gift for you. Dating back to the earliest days of their Dark Shadows audio line, the company has been plotting the international misadventures of Collinsport attorney Tony Peterson and practicing witch Cassandra Blair, aka Angelique Bouchard, aka Miranda DuVal, aka ... well, we could go on all day with Angelique's many aliases. But here, she's still posing as the sister of warlock Nicholas Blair, travelling the world with Peterson in a series that pays homage to classic mysteries such as "The Thin Man." These stories have a cult following all their own. All together, the entire series spans about nine hours, which ought to keep you busy for a while.
Big Finish has two boxed collections available. The first includes the original adventures, as written by
Mark Thomas Passmore and
David Llewellyn. The second is an anthology released just a few months ago of all new material. Here's what you get ... as well as some links as to
where you can get it:
The Tony & Cassandra Collection
"The Death Mask," by Mark Thomas Passmore
“One of you is a murderer! None of you are above suspicion. You all had something to lose.”
Moments after welcoming his guests to a party, millionaire Harrison Pierce is murdered. But his death is only the first of many as, trapped on an isolated island, his guests start to die in increasingly bizarre ways. Attorney Tony Peterson must join forces with a woman who destroyed his life years before, the beautiful but deadly Cassandra Collins. But can she be trusted? And what really is the secret of the mysterious Death Mask?
"The Voodoo Amulet," by Mark Thomas Passmore
"We're surrounded by the living dead and you're worried about breaking the law?"
Supernatural investigator Tony Peterson is summoned by the devious witch Cassandra Collins to the bustling city of New Orleans. On the trail of the mysterious Voodoo Amulet, they're hunted through bars, hotels, train stations and graveyards by the police, criminals, black magicians and zombies.
Can Tony and Cassandra escape with their lives... and their souls?
"The Last Stop," by David Llewellyn
"Every man's a gambling man, don't you think?”
Tony Peterson is a lucky man. He's just caught the last train back to Collinsport. It's been a good day - he's renewed an old friendship and been offered a job he cannot refuse. His life is about to change.
But Tony Peterson's luck has just run out. The last train home will turn out to be a very long journey. Will Tony be able to trust the only other survivor? And what decision will Tony make when he's presented with another offer he cannot refuse?
"The Phantom Bride," by Mark Thomas Passmore
“I'm Tony Peterson and this is my wife, Cassandra.”
A liner sailing across the ocean to London. Happy couples enjoying a relaxing few days of fine food, fine wine and the fresh sea air. Until they start dying. Because also on board is a ghost seeking vengeance. A ghost of a woman who died in 1929. Private detective Tony Peterson and the witch Cassandra find themselves embroiled in yet another mystery. Can they solve the dead bride's murder before they, themselves, become her latest victims?
"The Devil Cat," by Mark Thomas Passmore
"Only we could get lost in the English countryside and find ourselves trapped in The Wicker Man!"
While on vacation in England, detective Tony Peterson and the witch Cassandra visit Tony's estranged cousin Lord Trent Malkin and his wife Ruby. The two couples team up to investigate the disappearance of a maid from the manor and a series of murders by an ancient cat cult. Complicating things are hostile villagers, an unfriendly vicar and amateur sleuth, Miss Emma Simon.
Who can be trusted in the village of Little Bascombe? And if the legend of a Devil Cat wandering the countryside in search of souls to devour is true, are Tony and Cassandra about to face the greatest threat of their lives?
Get "The Tony & Cassandra Collection" HERE.
The Tony & Cassandra Mysteries
"The Mystery at Crucifix Heights" by Philip Meeks
“We need someone who doesn’t, shall we say, 'scare' easily.”
When private investigator Tony Peterson goes undercover to Chicago with his no-nonsense secretary Rita Channing, he has no idea the formidable witch Cassandra Collins is about to make a suitably dramatic entrance back into his life. At a rambling mansion called Crucifix Heights and cut off by a ferocious snowstorm Tony and Cassandra have been hired by separate clients to attend an auction of deadly arcane objects and artefacts.
The pair at first struggle to reconcile their differences but then people around them start dying horribly, one by one. They have to try to work together, because the killer at large is ingenious and seemingly unstoppable. Everyone stranded at Crucifix Heights is in peril. Including themselves.
"The Mystery of La Danse Macabre" by Zara Symes
“I don’t take kindly to almost being killed. One attempt, maybe two; well, fair’s fair. But I won’t stand for three.”
Tony and Cassandra knew when they took their first case together that there would be a few bumps in the road but when the supernatural detective duo arrive at Busby Hall in downtown Boston, a dilapidated music hall that's rumoured to be haunted, they'll find that there's more danger afoot than just things that go bump in the night. Battling against curses, bargains with the dark side, and more than one attempt on their lives, will Tony and Cassandra be able to overcome their differences and work as a team? Or will this be their last waltz?
"The Mystery of Flight 493" by Alan Flanagan
“Nobody move! There's a man standing in the doorway of the cockpit…"
When Tony and Cassandra board a flight bound for home they think that their latest case is behind them, until a terrifying creature begins to murder their fellow passengers. Something is hunting the people on Flight 493, and Tony and Cassandra must deduce what connects it with a story about a little boy who's terrified of what might be under his bed… before it's all far too late...
"The Mystery of Karmina Sonata" by Aaron Lamont
"So just for clarity’s sake. You think you’ve accidentally unleashed a demon from the Spirit World during a bogus seance which is... potentially... killing your wealthy clients. And you want us to stop it before it gets to you. Have I missed anything...?"
When Karmina Sonata arrives in their office, Tony and Cassandra think it’s just another case. A séance gone wrong, a few violent deaths... Par for the course, if you specialize in the unusual. But what if this is not just another case? What if something else is going on? And what if, just if, their sins are about to find them out? Because for Tony and Cassandra, things will never be the same again...
Get "The Tony & Cassandra Mysteries" HERE.
