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A review by dollycas
The House of Memory by Carolyn Haines
5.0
Dollycas’s Thoughts
In this second book of this series Pluto’s Snitch is called on by the famous Zelda Fitzgerald. She has asked partners Raissa James and Reginald Proctor to help her friend Camilla. After two unexplainable episodes Camilla’s mother has sent her to the Bryce Hospital asylum thinking that she has gone insane. Her mother gives permission of any and all treatment the will make her daughter docile enough to get married. Raissa and Reginald quickly find this is a difficult case that may involve many more young girls. Putting themselves in danger they are determined not only to save Camilla but as many other girls as they can.
The author takes us back to the roaring 20’s with flappers, prostitution, prohibition, possession, ghosts and more. A time when women were seen but not heard and many were treated a property. She even includes Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald and Tallulah Bankhead in the story. The author brings true history into her stories making them very believable.
What makes the story so interesting is that Raissa has a gift. She can see and hear the dead. Sometimes what she sees is quite graphic and scary but she soldiers on to get the answers she seeks. She has dead people in her dreams too, sometimes they give her more questions than answers but they almost always move her investigation forward. While Reginald cannot see spirits (yet) he is a critical thinker and has Raissa’s complete trust. Together they make a fine detective team.
Carolyn Haines is very descriptive in everything from the characters to the settings. She has to be for this story to be a success. Pictures were painted in my mind of both the human characters and the spirits. I could also clearly picture everywhere Raissa went from the Sayre house to the asylum.
There was evil at play in this story both in the living and the dead. The plot would make an excellent movie but it would be one I probably would watch peeking through my fingers over my eyes.
A fast read, hard to put down, a chilling story. You may want to read The Book of Beloved first to start this series from the beginning. I highly recommend both.
In this second book of this series Pluto’s Snitch is called on by the famous Zelda Fitzgerald. She has asked partners Raissa James and Reginald Proctor to help her friend Camilla. After two unexplainable episodes Camilla’s mother has sent her to the Bryce Hospital asylum thinking that she has gone insane. Her mother gives permission of any and all treatment the will make her daughter docile enough to get married. Raissa and Reginald quickly find this is a difficult case that may involve many more young girls. Putting themselves in danger they are determined not only to save Camilla but as many other girls as they can.
The author takes us back to the roaring 20’s with flappers, prostitution, prohibition, possession, ghosts and more. A time when women were seen but not heard and many were treated a property. She even includes Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald and Tallulah Bankhead in the story. The author brings true history into her stories making them very believable.
What makes the story so interesting is that Raissa has a gift. She can see and hear the dead. Sometimes what she sees is quite graphic and scary but she soldiers on to get the answers she seeks. She has dead people in her dreams too, sometimes they give her more questions than answers but they almost always move her investigation forward. While Reginald cannot see spirits (yet) he is a critical thinker and has Raissa’s complete trust. Together they make a fine detective team.
Carolyn Haines is very descriptive in everything from the characters to the settings. She has to be for this story to be a success. Pictures were painted in my mind of both the human characters and the spirits. I could also clearly picture everywhere Raissa went from the Sayre house to the asylum.
There was evil at play in this story both in the living and the dead. The plot would make an excellent movie but it would be one I probably would watch peeking through my fingers over my eyes.
A fast read, hard to put down, a chilling story. You may want to read The Book of Beloved first to start this series from the beginning. I highly recommend both.