SummaryVictoria Thompson once again "vividly recreates the
gaslit world of New York."(Publishers Weekly)
A scary séance — where talking to the dead
takes on a whole new meaning — brings Sarah Brandt and
Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy together again...
Sarah is not completely surprised when her very proper
socialite mother asks her to attend a séance. She
knows that Mrs. Decker still carries great guilt over the
long—ago death of Sarah's older daughter, Maggie. So
— Sarah accompanies her mother, and the spiritualist
does seem to contact Maggie — convincing Mrs. Decker
to attend another séance.
Only this time, one of the attendees doesn't succeed in
speaking to the dead — she joins them. Now, it's up to
Sarah and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy to protect Mrs.
Decker from scandal — by determining how a woman was
murdered in the pitch dark when every suspect was holding
the hand of the person next to them.
The spiritualist and her manager are immediate suspects in
the murder — as are a couple of young Italian
immigrants. Behind the scenes at the mansion, nothing is
actually the way it seems.
Frank Malloy wants them to hold another séance for
his investigation — but who wants to take a chance of
being next?
| 
