Spitting Gold

Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis, 290 pages

Now that she's safely married to a baron, Sylvie believes that she has fully escaped the life she left behind, one in which she and her sister, Charlotte, conned grieving families by posing as spirit mediums. But when Charlotte comes calling asking for help with one more con that could help pay the medical bills for their dying father, Sylvie can't say no. However, once they start the con, Sylvie quickly realizes that not everything is as it seems. Either Charlotte's pulling something on her own, or there actually is a spirit in the house.

Set in Paris in the 1860s, this gothic story is full of atmosphere and nods to the French Revolution (as that's when the spirit they're supposed to be reaching died). It's also full of intriguing twists and a bit of commentary about the constraints placed on women at the time. A good gothic read, one in which I hesitate to mention anything else for fear of spoiling it.

Fortune Favors the Dead

Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood, 336 pages

Willowjean Parker is a circus roadie when she meets esteemed detective Lillian Pentecost in a New York junkyard. Soon, Will, as she prefers to be called, is Ms. Pentecost's right-hand woman, solving crimes and helping out other women on a regular basis. In 1945, three years into their partnership, Will and Lillian get a cracker of a case: a rich widow is murdered at her own Halloween party, and friends in her social circle are convinced it was the ghost of her late husband that killed her. Will and Lillian are sure that's not the case, but their investigation does include a surprisingly convincing medium who happened to be at the party, so who knows?

There's something of a gender-swapped Sherlock situation going on with this tale, a feeling that didn't leave me despite all the obvious differences (circuses, Ms. Pentecost's battle with MS, her queer sidekick). I enjoyed the two protagonists, as well as their fortune-telling nemesis, and the mystery was certainly a good one. If nothing else, read it for Will's distinctive storytelling style.

*This book will be published Oct. 27, 2020.

The Secret Life of Houdini

The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman  592 pp.

I picked this up on a sale table a few years ago and have been reading it in fits and starts since then. I finally sat down to finish it. The authors did extensive research on Harry Houdini (real name Ehrich Weiss), his childhood in Wisconsin, his performing career, and life outside the stage. The story of how a young locksmith's apprentice led to international fame as an escape artist and stage magician is interesting in itself. But Houdini's sideline work is just as interesting. He passed information to British Intelligence while performing in Europe in the days before World War I. He also spent years and much of his own money in efforts to debunk fraudulent spiritualist mediums using trickery to get money from their clients. That work led to the end of his friendship with the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an avid believer in spiritualism. Houdini's life was fascinating and as varied as the persona he created for himself.