The Starseekers

By: Nicole Glover

Published by HarperCollins Publishers, 2026-01-06

<p>Indiana Jones meets Hidden Figures in this brand-new stand-alone historical fantasy set in the world of The Conductors, in which the space race of the mid-20th century will be determined by magic...if not murder.</p> <p>In the 1960s, the world was caught up in reaching beyond our planet and into the cosmos. It felt impossible--but there was nothing science, math...and magic couldn't make possible. The race to space was on, and the Moon was what everyone had their eyes on.</p> <p>Including Cynthia Rhodes, a brilliant arcane engineer at NASA's Ainsworth Research Labs. Talented in math and magic, she hosts a magical educational show... a job she took mostly for a chance to regularly see the dashing Theodore Danner, a professor of arcane archeology.</p> <p>She is also an amateur sleuth--something that has run in her family for generations.</p> <p>When a cursed museum curator nearly interrupts a broadcast of their show, Cynthia finds an eager sleuthing partner in Theo. Pairing up, they begin investigating the strange behavior of the curator and a mysterious theft at the arcane history museum--until one of Cynthia's own coworkers perishes right in front of her in a major lab accident that endangers Ainsworth's role in the space race.</p> <p>Certain it was murder instead of an accident, Cynthia sees this as a separate case at first. However the more she and Theo investigate, Cynthia uncovers a surprising link between the two incidents. The museum theft and murder are part of a larger equation--one that includes deadly enchantments, rumored pirate treasure, a peculiar plant, and a dire threat to the space program as well as everything she holds dear.</p> <p>The Starseekers is another rip-roaring adventure for the Rhodes family, who have been using magic to aid their community and solve mysteries since before the Civil War. The times may have changed, but a Rhodes once again finds themselves thrust into a world of murders, theft, sabotage, and curses, and this time the stakes extend to the stars themselves. </p>