Reviewed by Jeanne
Maddy Pastore’s life is upended when her husband, Tommy, is
shot and killed. Tommy worked as a
deliveryman for the Outfit—the term for the Chicago gang run by Johnny Torrio
and his young associate, Alphonse Capone. In 1924, a lot of men were working
for some gang or other, often running alcohol, but it hadn’t seemed quite
real. Now Maddy finds herself with a
baby and in desperate need of a job. The
only thing she finds is working for self-proclaimed medium “Madam Carlotta” who
tries to connect clients with a deceased love ones. Madam Carlotta’s connections to the spirit
world can sometimes be a bit finicky, so she had Maddy do a bit of
investigation about her clients prior to the séance… where Maddy sometimes
pretends to be a client as well.
During one of her investigations, Maddy becomes suspicious
about the circumstances of a death. Soon
it appears she may be on the trail of a murderer, but can she prove it before
he kills again?
I picked this up because I was intrigued by the setting:
Chicago during Prohibition. The author
has done a good bit of research, bringing in such things as Jane Addams’ Hull
House, along with some historical events.
The author has an afterword in which she explains which characters and
situations are fictional and which are based on fact, offering suggested
resources to readers who want to follow up.
The mystery is fairly obvious early on, so if you’re a mystery
fan you may find the book comes up short.
I was more intrigued by the setting and the way that the author handles
the whole Madam Carlotta situation.
Maddy isn’t a scam artist. She
worries about her part in researching the clients, but rationalizes that Madam
Carlotta doesn’t charge, just accepts donations. The medium isn’t out to fleece clients, and
actually seems to believe that she does have psychic gifts.
While this wasn’t an edge of the seat read, I did enjoy
it. The setting was very well done and I
especially enjoyed the “slice of life” scenes such as when Maddy visits a
speakeasy. I liked the characters and
appreciated how Maddy dealt with the many changes in her life. She still has an
appealing innocence about her.
I’m going to be reading the next in the series to see what
happens to Maddy and her friends.
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