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thessie's review
4.0
I would like to thank Netgalley and Sapere Books for an advance copy of The Cyanide Ghost, the sixth novel to feature debunker of the supernatural Mina Scarletti, set in Brighton in 1872.
Photographer Mr. Beckler, a man Mina has had run-ins with before, has opened a shop in Brighton and is claiming to be able to photograph spirits. Mina’s brother, Richard, works for Beckler and she is astonished, on taking a look, that her dead father appears in one of the recently taken family photographs. She soon realizes that some of the dead appearings in Beckler’s pictures have died in mysterious circumstances.
I enjoyed The Cyanide Ghost, which, as ever, is a clever tale of malfeasance in the popular Victorian preoccupation with spiritualism. I always like Mina’s efforts at debunking the charlatans and greedy who prey on the gullible, or maybe not gullible but rather hopeful. It is easy from our modern point of view to dismiss spiritualism as some kind of con, which it often was, but with the advances in technology and industrialization, it was seen as another form of science, one that could offer relief to the bereaved. It’s well done with the author creating an authentic atmosphere. Mina, however, is having none of it and spends time investigating how Beckler does it. I’ll be honest and admit to skim reading the technicalities which I cannot attempt to understand and didn’t enlighten her. I was much more interested in the information she received from her contacts and interviewees and the questions she asks. That held my interest throughout.
As I have said, the plot revolves around the ghost photos but the solution turns up so much more with old and new crimes being resolved. It is clever the way one thing seems to become more completely natural.
Mina is a determined protagonist, who despite being disabled with scoliosis, has a wide circle of friends she can call on for information and help. Her fertile mind can link the disparate facts gleaned from them into a credible narrative. Her feud with spiritualism is ongoing and the return of an old foe to Brighton sees things take a nasty turn.
The Cyanide Ghost is a good read that I can recommend.
Photographer Mr. Beckler, a man Mina has had run-ins with before, has opened a shop in Brighton and is claiming to be able to photograph spirits. Mina’s brother, Richard, works for Beckler and she is astonished, on taking a look, that her dead father appears in one of the recently taken family photographs. She soon realizes that some of the dead appearings in Beckler’s pictures have died in mysterious circumstances.
I enjoyed The Cyanide Ghost, which, as ever, is a clever tale of malfeasance in the popular Victorian preoccupation with spiritualism. I always like Mina’s efforts at debunking the charlatans and greedy who prey on the gullible, or maybe not gullible but rather hopeful. It is easy from our modern point of view to dismiss spiritualism as some kind of con, which it often was, but with the advances in technology and industrialization, it was seen as another form of science, one that could offer relief to the bereaved. It’s well done with the author creating an authentic atmosphere. Mina, however, is having none of it and spends time investigating how Beckler does it. I’ll be honest and admit to skim reading the technicalities which I cannot attempt to understand and didn’t enlighten her. I was much more interested in the information she received from her contacts and interviewees and the questions she asks. That held my interest throughout.
As I have said, the plot revolves around the ghost photos but the solution turns up so much more with old and new crimes being resolved. It is clever the way one thing seems to become more completely natural.
Mina is a determined protagonist, who despite being disabled with scoliosis, has a wide circle of friends she can call on for information and help. Her fertile mind can link the disparate facts gleaned from them into a credible narrative. Her feud with spiritualism is ongoing and the return of an old foe to Brighton sees things take a nasty turn.
The Cyanide Ghost is a good read that I can recommend.
rachelnicole's review
I have had a bad bought of luck recently with picking books that are just not for me. The writing in this book is very well done, but the 3rd person omniscient POV is not a style I enjoy reading.
Good luck to the author!
*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Good luck to the author!
*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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