The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder is a complete change of pace from author Stephen Cox’s earlier works, Our Child of the Stars and Our Child of Two Worlds, a sci-fi duology about an alien child who lands on earth and is rescued by a human family. Though the subject matters are worlds and times apart, they share a dry humor and a warm humanity.
The Crooked Medium’s Guide is set in Victorian England during the 1880s at the height of the spiritualist movement. The heroine, Mrs. Honoraria Ashton, has a bona fide gift: she can “read” the emotions of people she touches, but she nonetheless cons her followers using false voices, etc. Despite her flaws, she is generous and has a deep Christian faith. She lives rather above her income, believing “that if you ignored the accounts, they lost their power over you.” Her schemes are only partially held in check by her beloved sapphic love interest, Braddie. When Mrs. Ashton gets involved with Lady Barrington-Stewart, a posh young woman married to a member of Parliament, things get complicated quickly. Lord Barrington-Stewart is adverse to his wife seeking the spiritualist’s help in contacting the ghost of her deceased mother and does his best to oppose Mrs. Ashton at every step.
The setting and time are well-researched, and the voice is wholly Victorian and delightfully understated and wry. The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder is a great ghost story with multiple twists and turns along the way, some surprising alliances, and the investigation of multiple murders old and new. A fun read.
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The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder is available through Amazon.
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