A Study in Secrets

by Jeffrey Siger

A retired gentleman with a complicated past. A missing priceless treasure. A young woman in trouble. The first in the brand-new Redacted Man mystery series set in NYC introduces a Sherlock Holmes-worthy sleuth, and is a great choice for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Robert Galbraith, and Ann Cleeves.

Michael A— lives a quiet, comfortable life since his retirement from the intelligence services. Practically a recluse, he spends his days imagining the lives of the anonymous people he watches in the park beneath the window of his elegant New York townhouse—number 221—his every need tended to by his housekeeper, Mrs. Baker.

For weeks, a girl has sat in the park every morning at dawn. Always alone. Always watchful. And when the sun rises, she vanishes, as if she was never there.

But one day her routine changes—and Michael realizes that she faces terrible danger. He makes an uncharacteristic decision to abandon his solitude and help her. Soon, Michael finds himself plunged into the New York underworld, and he’ll have to use all the tricks of his former trade if he’s to keep not just himself, but his new friend, alive.

A Study in Secrets is the first in a new amateur sleuth mystery series from Jeffrey Siger, author of the critically acclaimed Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mysteries set in Greece.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 3, 2026

About the author

I am an American living on the Aegean Greek island of Mykonos. A Pittsburgh native and former Wall Street lawyer, I gave up my career as a name partner in my own New York City law firm to write mystery thrillers that tell more than just a fast-paced story. My novels are aimed at exploring serious societal issues confronting modern day Greece in a tell-it-like-it-is style while touching upon the country's ancient roots.

Some Mykonian friends told me if I started sprinkling murders with a message across my adopted country's tourist paradises, I'd likely be banished, if not hung. No one was more amazed than I when my debut novel, Murder in Mykonos (a sort of Mamma Mia setting for a No Country for Old Men story), became Greece's #1 best selling English-language novel (and a best-seller in Greek, as well).

As of September 2016 I have eight Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis novels out there and receive no more than the customary number of death threats. I'm diligently trying to improve my percentage in that regard with posts about Greece each Saturday on the Murder is Everywhere blogsite I share with nine renowned mystery writers from around the world.

It's been a remarkable journey, punctuated most notably by The New York Times selecting the fourth in my Andreas Kaldis series (Target: Tinos) as one of its five "picks for the beach" while calling the entire series, "thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales;" Left Coast Crime's nomination of the fifth in the series (Mykonos After Midnight) in 2014 as Best Mystery in a Foreign Setting; a 2016 Barry Award Best Novel Nomination for my seventh in the series (Devil of Delphi); starred reviews and official government citations; and this quote from Fodor's Greek Islands Travel Guide under a section titled "Mykonos After Dark," which colleagues say I should consider the equivalent of winning an Oscar: "Some say that after midnight, Mykonos is all nightlife—this throbbing beat is the backdrop to Jeffrey Siger's popular mystery, Murder in Mykonos."

My work is published in the US, UK, Germany (German), and Greece (Greek and English), and I'm honored to have served as Chair of the National Board of Bouchercon, the world's largest mystery convention, and as Adjunct Professor of English at Washington & Jefferson College, teaching mystery writing.

Reviews

[Jourdan Osho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael A— a former intelligence agent turned voluntary recluse, spends his days in his grand townhouse, observing the strangers he’s chosen to avoid while composing imagined stories about their lives.

Until one morning, he notices a change in the routine of one of his silent subjects. His instinct tells him she’s in danger leading Michael to make the rare decision to break from his self-imposed state of solitude and intervene.

What begins as a simple act of help catapults him into New York’s criminal underworld, forcing him to call on the skills of his past to keep himself and those now involved alive.

A Study in Secrets is a thriller that moves at a brisk pace without ever once feeling rushed. The writing is top tier, skilfully weaving through multiple plot threads without disturbing the flow of the main story.

The smooth transitions between scenes helps to keep you fully immersed in the story I never once wanted to put this book down ( finished in less than 24 hours :D ).
Another element of the book i appreciated was that the dialogue throughout never felt wasted.
Every exchange felt intentional serving the purpose of driving the story forward.

Despite its fast pace, Siger knew when to slow down the story and allow the gravity and emotion of key moments to develop and bloom.

If you’ve seen The Equalizer or read a Lincoln Rhyme novel by Jeffery Deaver, you’ll have a sense of the tone- gripping, intelligent and more importantly deeply satisfying.

This is one thriller you can’t afford to miss. I honestly can’t wait for the next instalment in the series.

Thank you to Jeffrey Siger and Severn House for an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engrossing thriller with a wonderful cast of characters! Michael is a retired intelligence operative who lives a reclusive life in his New York apartment, looking out of the window at the park below. His only companion is his housekeeper who looks after him.
Everyday he sees a young girl in a grey coat and he wonders what reason she has for wandering round the park and sitting on the bench near his window. One day she spends the night on the bench and Michael , fearing for her safety, sends Gabriel, a local cafe owner to keep an eye on her, worried she could be attacked alone all night in the park.
When he finally hears Angel”s story he realises that she is an innocent who has become involved with some very bad people. Determined to save her he decides to hide her in his house and give her a new life.
In an effort to further help her he tracks down a pair of psychologists who have acquired a treasure that does not belong to them and which has also attracted the attention of the same particularly unpleasant gangsters. Somehow they are connected to Angel’s predicament.
Michael uses his former skills to try and extricate Angel from her situation and in the course of helping her reintegrates himself into society by actually talking to people again, finally coming to terms with his guilt for past events.
This is a clever story and a really enjoyable read. I loved all the characters, Michael, Angel, Mrs Baker , the house keeper and Gabriel, cafe owner and son of Michael’s old friend. They were all quirky people but with kind hearts.
I believe this is the start of a series and I’m certainly looking forward to reading more about Michael, the redacted man and intelligent mystery solver. Recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

[Lori Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received as an ARC through Netgalley, this is an honest review. Thanks to Severn House for the approval to read this immersive masterpiece and to author Jeffrey Siger for writing it.

From his plush home overlooking a park Michael can imagine from his perch all kinds of stories from people he views; a comfort the finds after a life where ultimately the trust Michael put into humanity terribly destroyed him, leaving him to be a shadow outside of life's stage. From the moment he views a young teen girl taking refuge upon one of the park's benches, Michael makes a fateful decision and takes in Angel to give her a life she could never imagine as a courier for a man that runs anything and everything in the dark side of the law. When a twist a fate puts a spotlight upon Angel and when she could know, Michael embraces his training as an intelligence officer to protect Angel from those; that regardless of ethics, could cost her freedom- or her life. Even when Michael picks up looking out for a brother and sister pair of psychiatrists getting over their heads by holding onto an item others will ruthlessly assault for; Michael finds himself becoming a leader of band of broken misfits with each person's final fate are deeply interwoven it'll take talent and luck to survive.


From the first page to the last word, A Study In Secrets is breathtaking poignant and harrowingly profound.

Highly recommended.

[Scilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised how totally different this book is from the Inspector Kaldis series in Greece. This story taking place in New York City has a recluse, Michael, suddenly becoming active as a very effective detective. He has retired in a nice house across the street from the park. He usually looks out his window to see people sitting on the benches at the entrance to the park. He particularly watches a young woman he guesses to be about 20. Her name is Angel. She waits until the sun is up and then walks around the park, always alone. When walking, sometimes folks would put envelopes in her coat pockets. Then, she goes up the street to the diner where she hangs her coat on a hook at the back and then eats the breakfast made for her. While she is eating, someone takes the papers from her coat pockets and delivers them to her boss. Gabriel runs the cafe. His father had been in the Army with Michael. One day, no one puts anything in Angel's coat pocket and Angel finally goes to her apartment. She finds her boss dead in the doorway. She gathers her possessions and leaves. Michael brings her into his home and suggests she can help his housekeeper and he will take care of her.

At this point, the b00k starts to become very exciting. Michael suddenly begins to go out of his house and to take care of everything. There are several bad people who are trying to find Angel. A man and his sister have managed to get something very valuable from one of the shady characters from the building where Angel used to live. The book becomes very difficult to put down!

I thank Net Galley and Severn House for the ARC so that I could read the book before publication. I can't wait for the next book.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a new series by this author. I have never read any of his other books, but am impressed with his writing. The main character is Michael, a retired intelligence officer who had lost a foot in the war. He now lives as a wealthy recluse in a home overlooking the entrance to a park in New York. He spends his days looking out the window in his study, watching the people visiting the park and imaging their lives. One of the people he watches is a young girl in a grey coat who arrives every day at dawn. She sits a while at a park bench then walks a path through the park and exits. When one day her routine changes and Michael sees her appear lost and sleeping on the park bench he realizes that he must break his own routine and intervene. When he hears the girl's story he realizes that she is in great danger and hides her in his home. He gives her a safe place to live and his housekeeper and companion Mrs. Baker trains her as a servant. But Michael must use all of the skills learned in his past life to protect her from a criminal gang who are searching for her for unknown reasons. His sedate life soon becomes even more complicated when he learns that two others he had watched in the park were in similar danger. It's a fascinating and complex story that builds suspense little by little, yet always retains an air of mystery. The characters are wonderful and the dialog very well written and without a word wasted like that of a Sherlock Holmes story. In fact there are several ties to Holmes. Michael's address is 221 and his housekeeper is Mrs. Baker. Thanks to Severn House and Net Galley for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Alyce Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Jeffrey Siger, Severn House, and NetGalley for an eARC in return for my honest opinion review.

Michael A is a retired gentleman with a questionable and ruthless past. Now he has withrawn from the world and choses to fill his day watching the goings on at the entrance to a park across the street. He has a vivid imagination and has created lives for the people he frequently sees going into the park. One of these invididuals is a young woman in a grey coat. Early each morning, she waits on a bench for the sun to rise then continues on her way into the park. Turns out her life is nothing like what Michael has imagined. Another park goer is Michael's godson who runs a local diner. Michael has lost tough with him but now the girl in the grey coat and her rather dead problem brings them back into each other's orbits, and Michael's old skills are once again required.

I loved this book. It's quirky, interesting, and well written. The plot moves along quickly and I wasn't too sure how it was all going to wrap up. I hope there are more coming in this series. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quietly compelling mystery introduces Michael, a retired intelligence officer living a life of elegant solitude in a New York townhouse that nods—ever so cheekily—to 221B Baker Street. His days are spent observing the world from his window, until a young woman’s dawn ritual in the park below stirs something in him: curiosity, concern, and a long-dormant instinct to protect.

What follows is a stylish descent into the underbelly of Manhattan, where secrets shimmer just beneath the surface and Michael must dust off the tools of his former trade. Siger’s prose is crisp and atmospheric, with a touch of noir and a dash of old-world charm. Michael is a fascinating lead—reserved, razor-sharp, and unexpectedly tender.

This is the kind of mystery that doesn’t shout; it hums. Perfect for fans of cerebral sleuths and quiet tension, with just enough emotional depth to leave a mark.

With thanks to Jeffrey Siger, the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.