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A review by megaeralwrites
Strong Spirits by Elisa DeCarlo
5.0
If you are a Wodehouse fan who wishes Plum had delved a little more into the realm of the occult (yes, ‘tis I, I am that exact Wodehouse fan!), then this fizzy little pastiche is for you.
Aubrey Arbuthnot is a relatively carefree young gadabout when his estranged father dies unexpectedly after cutting Aubrey out of his will, leaving him penniless and adrift. To make matters worse, he is haunted by the apparition of the recently departed pater familias.
In despair and at a loss for how to deal with the ominous and reticent spirit, Aubrey reluctantly attends a séance with his friend Percy. Hosting the affair is the imposing Ronald Cockcroft, a medium who may or may not be a complete charlatan. Aubrey’s all-too-real psychic abilities manifest themselves in dramatic fashion during the séance, setting off a series of rollicking supernatural hijinks involving an aging music hall actress driven to distraction by the ghost of her late husband, a power-mad medium dabbling in dark magic, a beautiful heiress whom both Aubrey and his friend Percy are keen to court, and a spooky but sympathetic valet who may hold the key to helping Aubrey develop his latent talents.
Aubrey Arbuthnot is a fair bit pricklier than his literary antecedent, Bertie Wooster (and certainly less of a preux chevalier). In contrast, the psychically gifted valet Hornchurch comes across as a gentler soul than the perpetually snarky and passive-aggressive Jeeves. But they make for a similarly delightful duo, and I look forward to reading about more of their adventures in the sequel, The Devil You Say.
Aubrey Arbuthnot is a relatively carefree young gadabout when his estranged father dies unexpectedly after cutting Aubrey out of his will, leaving him penniless and adrift. To make matters worse, he is haunted by the apparition of the recently departed pater familias.
In despair and at a loss for how to deal with the ominous and reticent spirit, Aubrey reluctantly attends a séance with his friend Percy. Hosting the affair is the imposing Ronald Cockcroft, a medium who may or may not be a complete charlatan. Aubrey’s all-too-real psychic abilities manifest themselves in dramatic fashion during the séance, setting off a series of rollicking supernatural hijinks involving an aging music hall actress driven to distraction by the ghost of her late husband, a power-mad medium dabbling in dark magic, a beautiful heiress whom both Aubrey and his friend Percy are keen to court, and a spooky but sympathetic valet who may hold the key to helping Aubrey develop his latent talents.
Aubrey Arbuthnot is a fair bit pricklier than his literary antecedent, Bertie Wooster (and certainly less of a preux chevalier). In contrast, the psychically gifted valet Hornchurch comes across as a gentler soul than the perpetually snarky and passive-aggressive Jeeves. But they make for a similarly delightful duo, and I look forward to reading about more of their adventures in the sequel, The Devil You Say.