TheSpiritualist — A Novel

Three Rivers Press sent me a proof of a new book by Megan Chance, The Spiritualist.  I was quite excited to get a book from a publisher and felt like I really arrived into the world of book blogging!

 

This book is about a woman, Evie, in 1850’s NYC society whose husband is murdered after attending “a circle.”  Evie becomes the prime suspect as her in-laws accuse her of killing her husband to get all of his wealth.  Evie has her suspicions about who really killed her husband and she launches her own investigation.  Her investigation leads her into the world of mediums and spiritualists. 

I was intrigued by this book from the beginning.  I have always been fascinated by the “spiritualist” world and used to spend a lot of time watching John Edward on TV and reading his book.  This book also added something else I enjoy, historical fiction. 

Megan Chase did a great job getting the reader hooked on the story.  The main character, Evie, is an interesting character who is not one-dimensional, like so many women seemed to be from that time period.  I enjoyed reading about a strong woman who was still flawed like the rest of us.  It made her very believable. 

The mystery in this book was good.  I did guess the twist quite early, but the way the mystery unfolded still kept me unsure of my guess.  There were some twists I didn’t see coming which also also added to the entertainment of the book. 

As for the ending — it was fitting and somewhat surprising.  After watching Evie’s struggle throughout the novel, I was surprised how she decided to proceed after the mystery was solved.  I liked her chutzpah, but was a little disappointed in her personally.  That’s all I’ll say, I don’t want to spoil it. 

Anyway, I really enjoyed Megan Chase’s writing and I think I will check out some of her other books, The Inconvenient Wife and Susannah Morrow.