cover image Living Spectres: A Chesterton Holte, Gentleman Haunt, Mystery

Living Spectres: A Chesterton Holte, Gentleman Haunt, Mystery

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Smoke and Shadow, $27.99 (420p) ISBN 978-1-943052-36-3

In Yarbro’s atmospheric sequel to 2015’s Haunting Investigation, set in Prohibition-era Philadelphia, crime reporter Poppy Thornton continues to help Insp. J.B. Loring investigate the murder of upper-class Madison Moncrief and the likely associated disappearance of her cousin Stacy Dritchner. Poppy is also involved with the unofficial search for altruistic 18-year-old heir GAD Pearce, missing in Eastern Europe amid the unrest after the Great War. Chesterton Holte, Poppy’s ethereal companion, assists by communicating with the recently dead in the ghostly realm and scouts ahead for Loring’s European police counterpart, while Poppy utilizes the society connections offered by her aunts’ dinner parties to sift the facts from socialite gossip. Yarbro handles a complex web of intrigue deftly and carefully balances the value of worldly and spirit information so that Holte is neither useless nor a deus ex machina. Even the minor characters, such as Poppy’s world-traveling Aunt Esther, have a depth of personality that enhances the old-school charm of her writing. (Nov.)