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A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
M. Louisa Locke
CreateSpace
Oct 10, 2011 / ISBN 978-1466373547
Historical Mystery / 1879 San Francisco
Amazon
Reviewed
by Ariel Heart
Originally posted at Mysteries
and My Musings
Annie Fuller's father taught her everything he knew about finance
and investing, now that Annie is on her own nobody wants financial
advice from a woman, so she pretends to be Madam Sibyl and has a
thriving side business. This is why one of her boarders comes to
her for help to prove a seance group that has gotten control of
her sister is fraudulent. Annie begins to attend the seances and
clearly sees many tricks but when a young girl is used on some clients,
Annie is stumped as to how this girl does what she does.
The more Annie attends, the more she suspects something truly sinister
is going on. Annie must be onto something because she starts receiving
threats. The more Annie figures out the more she is in danger and
the tension mounts. The young lawyer Nate Dawson who Annie met in
the previous book is back and their relationship is going through
some rocky spots.
Annie continues to delight as a character. In this novel Annie faces
some of her personal past ghosts and shows her inner strength. Nate
is struggling to find his place so he can make enough money to start
a family. There are missteps in the relationship and we see him
grow in how he comes to understand such a liberated woman.
Victorian San Francisco is effortlessly portrayed transporting the
reader. Each chapter begins with an advertisement from the papers
for seances and psychics adding to the period feel. The politics
surrounding the city is woven in as well. This series has brought
out the character of the city in this era and it is infectious.
The plot seemed to be going in one direction yet takes off in another
for a twist. I had not anticipated the direction the plot took and
was pleasantly surprised. The young girl used by the con artists
is quite a mystery in herself and I wanted to find out what her
story was. The resolution was suspenseful and harrowing. This cozy
has great characters, interesting plot, period detail, and suspense
sprinkled with romance for a great mystery. If you like the Gaslight
Mysteries by Victoria Thompson, you will most likely enjoy
this series.
Reviews of other titles int this series
Maids of Misfortune [review]
Uneasy Spirits [review
1] [review
2]
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