The Stranger Vanishes by Wendy Corsi Staub

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

After a year of living in Lily Dale, the town devoted to connecting to the afterlife, widow Bella Jordan has a cautious approach to the supernatural. She’s not a believer, but there have been some occurrences that seem to defy rational explanation. Still, when a man in 19^th century clothing takes a room for the night and then vanishes, she resists the idea that she’s been visited by a ghost. Surely there is some rational explanation. . . .

This was my fifth visit to Lily Dale in the company of Bella, her son Max, and the other inhabitants of the town.  Obviously, I must enjoy the books or I wouldn’t keep coming back!  I first encountered Lily Dale as part of this series and have gone on to read a non-fiction book about this intriguing town.  According to Wikipedia, the year-round residents number 275, while during the tourist season thousands will visit for psychic readings, workshops, séances, and other paranormal activities.

Staub’s series tries to walk a line between skepticism, as personified by the still grieving Bella, and belief.  Bella’s friends are all believers, but not all are gifted—at least not reliably so. The annoying Pandora does seem to have occasional flashes of insight, for example, but many of her proclamations seem more self-serving than Spirit. Jiffy, a young friend of Max’s, personifies the expression “out of the mouths of babes” in his off-hand comments that often prove true. Jiffy and Max in particular are delightful and very believable creations; they’re just at the age where wordplay is immense fun.

The books have a leisurely pace to them, and are told mostly from Bella’s point of view. Despite the supernatural setting, the books aren’t especially creepy or spooky; instead there’s a more thoughtful, measured approach.  There is a decent mystery, but for the most part I find them to be meditations on life and afterlife peopled by friendly characters and some lovely cats.  I quite enjoy my visits.

While they don’t have to be read in order, it sometimes helps to know a bit of the different characters’ backstories. The books in order are:

Nine Lives

Something Buried, Something Blue

Dead of Winter

Prose and Cons

The Stranger Vanishes

Prose and Cons by Wendy Corsi Staub

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

When Bella Jordan’s beloved husband Sam died, he left behind a grieving widow and their young son Max. Financial problems meant they had to leave their home to go live with Sam’s mother, a prospect that filled Bella with despair. It turned out that fate (or should that be Fate?) had other plans. Instead Bella and Max found themselves in Lily Dale, a very small town dedicated to the Spiritualist movement with a cat who seems to have, well, just appeared.  Practical Bella is a bit flummoxed at first, finding herself surrounded by people who believe that they can talk to the dead but she comes to love the strong sense of community and the friendships she forms.  She even lands a job she wasn’t looking for, that of managing Valley View, a boarding house for those visiting the town.

That’s just the way things happen in Lily Dale.

As might be imagined, there are any number of quirky characters about—some easier to take than others.  One of those “others” is Pandora, who once lived in Valley View before a divorce forced her out.  Trouble is, she sometimes seems to have trouble remembering she no longer owns the house and tends to make herself at home. This time around, she announces that her dear Aunt Eudora and her beau Nigel are coming to stay and as auntie is elderly and fragile, Pandora doesn’t want her to know that she no longer owns the house.  Instead, she proposes not only that auntie and friend stay, but that she, Pandora, will move in to keep up the pretense.  Bella reluctantly agrees, being too kind for her own good.

The guests arrive, but somehow something seems—off.  It’s not just that they are so demanding, though they are that. It’s something else.  Something dark.  Something that could be dangerous.

While there is an entertaining mystery, I’m more drawn to the emotional side of the plot.  Bella is struggling to move ahead with her life without Sam. She would love to believe that he’s out there, somewhere, and that she could make contact but she remains a skeptic. She needs proof. She’s also struggling with her attraction to veterinarian Drew, feeling she’s being disloyal to Sam. Most of all, she’s trying to navigate her way through grief while trying to raise a son and make a living.

I also appreciate the interesting Lily Dale residents who definitely march to the beat of a different drum.  Some are funny and charming, some a bit too self-centered (cough, Pandora, cough), but most are down to earth and kind. One part of the story is told from Pandora’s point of view which makes her more sympathetic if not less annoying. Max and his friend Jiffy are delightful; they seem more like real kids than most literary children, and the rest of the ensemble add to the tale.  The psychic elements are appropriately murky. There’s a bit of an information dump near the end, but because I had so many other elements to interest me, I didn’t mind.

I’ll also note that the mystery is more cold-blooded than might be expected.

I’ve enjoyed this series.  The psychic elements are definitely there and easy to believe in, but I like that Bella is yet to be convinced. After reading the first in this series, I read a non-fiction book by a reporter who came to Lily Dale and who let readers draw their own conclusions.  By the end, there were some things that weren’t easily explained but the writer didn’t wholly embrace all the claims. This fiction series tries to tread the same line and does fairly well at it.

I’m definitely going to read the next in the series. I’m intrigued by both the real place and its fictional counterpart. These can be read as standalones, but I’m glad I did read them in order.

Nine Lives

Something Buried, Something Blue

Dead of Winter

Prose and Cons

The Stranger Vanishes

Dead of Winter by Wendy Corsi Staub

Reviewed by Jeanne

In Lily Dale, it’s not considered odd if someone sees dead people.  It’s almost odd if you don’t. The town does a thriving summer business as people come from all over to attend seminars on psychic phenomenon, use local mediums to try to contact deceased friends and family, and have readings done to find out if their lives are on the right track. And yes, it is a real place.

After summer, things are slower.  Weather in that part of New York can be very unpredictable but usually snow, and lots of it, is involved so there are few tourists and many places simply close for the season. Bella Jordan, a young widow with a small son named Max, works as an innkeeper in Lily Dale and is pleased that she has a couple of reservations.  She’s also doing some renovations to the cottage, earning some badly needed extra money.  It’s while she’s working on the kitchen one evening that she sees an unusual glint outside at the lake.  She turns off the light and looks out, but sees nothing.

Unfortunately for Bella, the man dumping the body has seen her. 

This is the third in the Lily Dale Mystery series, but could be read as a standalone.  I enjoyed the book very much, especially the way Staub weaves clues into the narrative, often as parts of possible signs and portents.  Many times a reader will spot what is going on while the characters involved remain puzzled, which actually added to the charm for me.  

Part of the plot also involves Jiffy, Max’s friend, who has a premonition that he will be kidnapped.  Jiffy is an active child with a vivid imagination and a limited attention span. He often leads Max into trouble.  Misty, Jiffy’s mother, seems very inattentive to her child.  In this book, we get to see things from both Jiffy’s and Misty’s perspectives, giving readers a more sympathetic view of the trials of both a precocious child and a young mother struggling to make a life for herself and her child.

Characterization is one of the book’s strong points, along with a vivid sense of place.  Those who don’t believe in the afterlife or mediums or ghosts will likely find the book a disappointment, but those who have an interest in such things will find it fascinating.  The plot is solid enough, though I had a quibble or two; but give me well-developed characters, an intriguing premise, and a fascinating location and I am happy to overlook any shortcomings.

Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town That Talks to the Dead by Christine Wicker

Reviewed by Jeanne

I first encountered Lily Dale in a novel by Wendy Corsi Staub. The plot has young mother Bella and her son ending up in an eccentric hamlet in New York where people all believe in spirits and the afterlife, and you can’t toss a crystal ball without hitting a medium or psychic. Bella is introduced to such local attractions as Inspiration Stump and the Fairy Trail. (You can read the full review here.)

I assumed, wrongly, that Lily Dale was a fictional location.  It does exist, and so does Inspiration Stump.

Lily Dale, New York was incorporated in 1879 as a meeting place for Spiritualists, one of several such places that sprang up during the mid 19^th century when there was an intense wave of interest in the idea of spirits and life after death.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Mary Todd Lincoln were two early proponents.  While similar communities faded away or else lost their otherworldly personas, Lily Dale has managed to survive and even thrive, to a certain extent, hosting seasonal events that attract thousands.

Journalist Christine Wicker was also intrigued by Lily Dale and set out to try to understand why this town continues to draw tourists and seekers.  She is a skeptic, but willing to be convinced.  She begins by interviewing residents and visitors alike, asking them about their experiences. She weaves together a number of stories to give the reader a fuller picture of the community, warts and all.  She doesn’t shy away from detailing incidents where mediums have been unmasked as charlatans but she doesn’t denigrate those who believe.  I found the book to be balanced in its presentation, leaving readers to decide for themselves whether or not there is something supernatural going on in Lily Dale.

The book is well written and I admire Wicker’s even-handed approach.  The only aspect of the book that bothered me was the tendency to tell part of one person’s story, then switch to another topic for several chapters before returning to that person.  At a couple of points, I stopped reading sequentially and searched for the point where the person’s story was picked up again. Then I went back and read the parts I had skipped. At the end, I realized she had appended a “cast of characters” of sorts, which would have helped more if placed at the beginning.

The people she interviews are from all walks of life and assorted backgrounds.  There are professors, business people, laborers, and even a psychologist.  Some are year-round residents, but most are summer visitors:  not only are winters cold, but there are strict regulations on who can own property. Most share a personal loss, usually of a person, but sometimes a loss of personal identity—job failures, divorce, or other life altering events—that causes a person to seek out spiritual direction.

Almost more important than the psychic energies (or not, your mileage may vary) is the strong sense of community that seems to permeate the town.  There’s a great deal of tolerance for people and their beliefs and a strong sense of feminine power—many of the early spiritualists and mediums were women. These communities also embraced a number of progressive ideas: many were suffragettes and abolitionists.

Those looking to either validate or debunk Lily Dale may find this book to be disappointing.  Those who are curious and open minded will find food for thought.  Personally, I think I’d like to take a road trip to visit someday.

Something Buried, Something Blue by Wendy Corsi Staub

Reviewed by Jeanne

When widow Bella Jordan and her son, Max, ended up in the spiritualist community of Lily Dale, it was supposed to be just a brief stop along the way to Millicent’s house. Maleficient—er, Millicent, is Bella’s overbearing mother-in-law, and she seems determined to have Max and Bella stay with her.  Bella had agreed only because she was out of options since Sam’s death.  Then Bella was given the chance to run a B&B in Lily Dale, a town she once found a bit too odd, what with psychics, palm readers, ghosts, and tarot card readers.  Now it feels like home. Max is making friends and Bella is as loathe to uproot him again as she is to having her life under Millicent’s control.

Her greatest concern is that the B&B’s owner may decide to shut it down, especially since Lily Dale only draws tourists in the summer. Bella’s friend Odelia may have just the solution:  make Lily Dale a destination wedding location.  She even has a prospective bride and groom in mind: a wealthy young woman who is a friend of Odelia’s granddaughter.

What sounds like a grand idea quickly goes south once Bella meets the bride.  Johneen Maynard is self-centered, demanding, and extremely prickly. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Lily Dale Spirits seem to be sending a warning that the bride may be doomed. Bella isn’t sure she believes in the Spirits, but the anonymous letter she receives expresses the same opinion.

  

And then her mother-in-law shows up.

This is the second in the Lily Dale Mystery series, so the emphasis is more on the mystery and less on the setting which fascinated me in the first book.  Lily Dale, New York is a real place, a Spiritualist town that hosts various paranormal events, much the way Staub describes it.  There’s a bit of the supernatural, but that can be accepted or dismissed.  For me, the mystery took a back seat to the characters: what may be the beginning of a romance between Bella and Dr. Drew, the veterinarian, the relationship between Bella and Millicent, and, of course, the tangled web that is the bridal party.  Bella is a sympathetic character, and a reluctant sleuth.  Her objective is to try to get this wedding to go off well, creating another possible revenue source and possibly giving her a chance at continuing in this job. 

The plot is well constructed and inventive, helped along by strong characterization.  Chance the cat and her kittens are also underfoot, providing a touch of cozy comic relief. There is a prologue which provides a sense of menace as well as warning, and a satisfying ending.  This is a good choice for those who like character, atmosphere, and a touch of the paranormal but without the mystery being solved through supernatural intervention. I found it to be best read on a rainy afternoon with a hot sweet drink at hand.