Beyond Belief

At the start of British author Smith’s lighthearted second contemporary mystery featuring Emily Castles (after Invitation to Die), the 26-year-old amateur detective attends a meeting of the Royal Society for the Exploration of Science and Culture at its London headquarters, where “philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, ethicists and theologians gather to debate the nature of belief.” When the police don’t take seriously one member’s premonition that someone will die at a psychic conference in Torquay over the upcoming Easter weekend, Emily winds up being hired to investigate this premonition and its outcome. Complicating her mission is the arrival of an old crush and a £50,000 prize to anyone who can prove the existence of the paranormal. Vivid descriptions of the lovely seaside town of Torquay in southern England make up, in part, for the lack of tension in this leisurely-paced effort that could almost pass for a 1930s period piece. Agent: David Hale Smith, DHS Literary. (Jan.)