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Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: Second book in the USA Today bestselling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series. In this sequel to Maids of Misfortune, it is the fall of 1879, and when the young San Francisco widow, Annie Fuller, is asked to investigate a fraudulent trance medium, she comes to a troubling realization. Despite Annie's growing financial success as the clairvoyant Madam Sibyl, she feels increasingly guilty about the fact she doesn't believe in the astrology and palmistry her clients think are the basis for her advice. Kathleen Hennessey, Annie's young maid, has a plan. Just like the Pinkerton detectives she has read about in the dime novels, she is determined to assist her mistress in her investigations. Nate Dawson, up-and-coming San Francisco lawyer, faces a dilemma. He wants to marry the unconventional Annie Fuller, but he doesn't feel he can reveal his true feelings until he has a way to make enough money to support her. With Kathleen and Nate Dawson's help, Annie delves into the intriguing world of 19th century spiritualism, encountering true believers and naïve dupes, clever frauds and unexplained supernatural phenomena, and she soon finds there are as many secrets as there are spirits swirling around the séance table. Some of those secrets will threaten the foundation of her career as Madam Sibyl and the future of her relationship with Nate Dawson, and, in time, they will threaten her very life itself. In this second historical mystery in Locke's USA Today bestselling cozy Victorian San Francisco mystery series, readers will find the same combination of romance, mystery, and suspense they found in Maids of Misfortune. Uneasy Spirits is followed by Bloody Lessons, Deadly Proof, and Pilfered Promises. Locke's shorter works, found in Victorian San Francisco Stories and Victorian San Francisco Novellas, feature minor characters from the series.… (more)
User reviews
I like the advertisements that begin each chapter. As a historian, I read these ads all the time in the newspapers of the late 1890s to early 1900s. (Wrote a couple articles on local spiritualism for our quarterly at work, so I could relate to the subject.)
I found the bits at the end of each chapter intriguing. I realized it would eventually tie in and I pondered the theories on how it was connected as I read on. Towards the end I was trying to guess if Evie May had split personalities or was she really able to speak to the dead?
I like the mishaps with Nate and Annie's relationship, the banter with themselves in their head as the go back and forth trying to figure each other out. The descriptive quality of the setting is spot on too. Not over wordy, but just enough to set the Victorian era scene.
My only nit pick: Some of the scenes remind me of a cut away in a movie. It just gets some suspense going, and then we switch scenes to Annie recapping to her housemaids. This was OK for the most part, so the author doesn't repeat what has just happened. But the one scene where Annie and Nate are hiding in the cabinet, damn close to getting caught ... switch scene to the next morning and Annie back at her house, kind of killed the tension that was built. That was my only peeve. Other than that I really enjoyed the book. The beginning of the spiritualism movement fascinates me and it was done very accurately, and the plot kept me turning my digital page. A great read!
Overall, I'd recommend this book to someone who enjoys historical, cozy mysteries and is able to turn a blind eye to weak editing.
Though Annie makes her living as the clairvoyant Madam Sibyl, when she finds is approached to expose a fraudulent medium she finds she has a partner in the job; young Kathleen, her Irish
The experiences and secrets discovered not only affect the frauds but also have the possibility of undermining Annie's world.
A Victorian cozy mystery set in San Francisco.
This one was quite a
And- I like Nate and Annie for each other, but- wow. They both have Issues! especially about clear communication,
I love the historical context of this series! Details big and small make the era and place vivid.
I am enjoying this series a lot! but it's pricey if you do not happen to catch a deal on an individual book.
The plot is based on the then-popular fad of spiritualism and seances. Annie tries to help a friend by debunking a husband and wife team who practice their craft on unsuspecting victims. However, Annie does make some foolish choices and the “accidents” that keep happening are obvious to everyone but her.
I think the pacing and the length of this book were very good, and the author is skilled with description. What I didn’t like was the large number of characters. Were they all necessary to this plot? The mystery itself was well done and although it wasn’t a huge shock, it was a nice twist.
No foul language or sex, and very little violence.
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| Fic Mystery Locke |