Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery [Kindle Edition]

M. Louisa Locke (Author)

Book Description

In this sequel to Maids of Misfortune, it is the fall of 1879 and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, has a problem. Despite her growing financial success as the clairvoyant Madam Sibyl, Annie doesn't believe in the astrology and palmistry her clients think are the basis for her advice. 
 
Kathleen Hennessey, Annie Fuller's young Irish maid, has a plan. When her mistress is asked to expose a fraudulent trance medium, Arabella Frampton, Kathleen is determined to assist in the investigation, just like the Pinkerton detectives she has read about in the dime novels. 
 
Nate Dawson, up-and-coming San Francisco lawyer, has a dilemma. He wants to marry the unconventional Annie Fuller, but he doesn't feel he can reveal his true feelings until he has a way to make enough money to support her.
 
In Uneasy Spirits, this cozy historical mystery of romantic suspense, Annie delves into the intriguing world of 19th century spiritualism, encountering true believers and naïve dupes, clever frauds and unexplained supernatural phenomena. She will soon find there are as many secrets as there are spirits swirling around the Frampton séance table. Some of those secrets will threaten the foundation of her career as Madam Sibyl and the future of her relationship with Nate Dawson, and, in time, they will threaten her very life itself. 
 
Uneasy Spirits is the second book in M. Louisa Locke's Victorian historical mystery series, the first is Maids of Misfortune, and there are currently two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a skillfully crafted mystery with wonderful recurring characters who are the kind of people that live with the reader long after the book is finished" -- RP Dahlke, author of A Dangerous Harbor 

"The resolution was suspenseful and harrowing. This cozy has great characters, interesting plot, period detail, and suspense sprinkled with romance for a great mystery. If you like the Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson, you will most likely enjoy this series." -- Ariel Heart, Mystery and My Musings

About the Author

M. Louisa Locke is a retired professor of U.S. and Women's History, who has embarked on a second career as an historical fiction writer. The first two published books in her series of historical mysteries set in Victorian San Francisco, Maids of Misfortune and Uneasy Spirits, feature Annie Fuller, a boardinghouse owner and clairvoyant, and Nate Dawson, a San Francisco lawyer, who together investigate murders and other crimes, while her short stories, Dandy Detects and The Miss Moffets Mend a Marriage, give secondary characters from this series a chance to get involved in their own minor mysteries. Locke is a frequent contributor to Publetariat, an active member in the Alliance of Independent Authors, and a Director of the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative. Dr. Locke is currently living in San Diego, where she is working on Bloody Lessons, the next full-length installment of her Annie Fuller/Nate Dawson series. For more about M. Louisa Locke and her work, see mlouisalocke.com/ or follow her on twitter and facebook.

Product Details

• File Size: 881 KB
• Print Length: 388 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: M. Louisa Locke (October 8, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005U570I0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,054 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Americas > United States > State & Local > West
  • #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Cozy
  • #29 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Historical

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable Reading October 17, 2011

By V.V.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Locke's use of dialogue is excellent. I hate getting to the end of her books. It feels like I am moving away from friends. I think is perfect reading on a rainy day while sipping a warm cup of tea. Although, I must admit I read it on hot summer afternoon.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Better and Better! October 18, 2011

By RP Dahlke

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is Ms. Locke's delightful sequel to Maids of Misfortune, and the second in the Annie Fuller historical mystery series. Set in the late 1800's in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco, California, I felt like I was there, walking these streets as they were a hundred years ago.
By day, Annie Fuller makes her living as the proprietor of a respectable and well established boarding house, but at night, she becomes Madame Sybil, fortune teller. Annie may have been brought up studying finance at her father's knee, but this is the only way any grown man in the 1800's will accept the financial advice from a twenty-six year old woman, much less pay for the privilege. And, Annie, has finally found someone who isn't like her dead husband in the attractive young lawyer, Nate Dawson whose awkwardness around Annie, is both touching and charming.
The story opens with the scene in which we witness the murder of an elderly woman, and in a totally separate venue, we're introduced to a very strange young girl. The two incidents, we later learn, are intricately woven together and the result will culminate in a surprise ending.
Annie gets involved when one of her boarders, Miss Pinehurst, fearing for her sister's sanity, begs Annie to help her prove that the clairvoyants her sister insists upon paying, are fake. Stepping into the world of Simon and Arabella Frampton, Annie is sure that Miss Pinehurst is right and determines to expose them... until she meets with Evie May, the odd child we saw in the beginning.
Evie May is a chameleon, a child whose different personas are used by the unscrupulous Simon and Arabella Frampton as a way of making lots of money.
But, there's a more sinister plot underway here between the Framptons and a shadowy figure who is actually directing the whole show from the sidelines.
Nate and Annie become pawns of this person's nefarious plans, and though we don't find out who this person is until almost the end, there's every reason to believe that one or both of these young people may become the next victim.
This is a skillfully crafted mystery with wonderful recurring characters who are the kind of people that live with the reader long after the book is finished. And of course, the bad and really bad characters get what's coming to them... perfect!
Last, but not least, when I read this book I was reminded of one of my favorite historical mystery authors, Anne Perry. I've read almost all of her books, and I can honestly say that Ms. Lock's work is right up there with Anne Perry's.

RPDahlke
Kindle author

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Annie Takes On Some Truly Good Con Artist Spiritualists or Are they for real? May 16, 2012

By Sophia Rose

Format:Paperback

This book is the second book in the Victorian San Francisco series, but it was the first on that I read. I had no trouble reading it without having read the first one without it spoiling the earlier mystery though it does take up with the inter-character relationships where it left off.

There is a prologue and little flash away bits at the end of each chapter that are seemingly detached from the main story line, but they do eventually make sense when it all ties together. The prologue tells us about a murder from the victim's perspective.

The main part of the story opens with business as usual for the widowed boarding house owner Annie Fuller. Her husband's death left her destitute so she has turned a home inherited from her uncle and aunt into a boarding house. This does not quite pay the expenses so she tried using her good head for business to become a financial adviser, but that failed because in Victorian times nobody took a woman seriously when it came to that sort of thing. So this forced her to get creative and offer the same advice in disguise as a palm reader and maker of horoscopes. She does not believe in the clairvoyant, but if that's what it takes to give the advice and get paid for it then so be it. It is because of this very knowledge that one of her boarders seeks her out with a family dilemma. Miss Pinehurst's sister is in the snares of an unscrupulous pair who hold seances and the sister Mrs. Veck believes she is now communicating with her lost child. Annie agrees to participate in de-bunking the Framptons by attending their seances.

Meanwhile, Nate Dawson, Annie's lawyer clerk friend and love interest is just returning to town after helping with round up on the family ranch. He is disappointed with the changes at the ranch that have come now that his father is getting too old and his younger brother is now the boss. He is nervous because he left things with Annie in a bad way when he left. A tentative reconciliation takes place as they pair up once again to solve the mystery. Besides the mystery, Nate is also concerned by a possible future career move that might take him away from his place with his uncle who seems content to allow the law firm to stagnate which keeps Nate from the possibility of earning enough to support a wife and family.

He has the typical Victorian male mindset in many ways which are even more exasperated because of his deep feelings for Annie which make him want to protect and provide. Annie's past has caused her to mistrust men and have a strong streak of independence which will not allow her to accept this. Through much of the story, there is a lot of tension which leads to regrettable moments between the two of them. Nate has gradually learned his lesson and is moderately more supportive, but Annie's way behind him on working through her own issues. Her desire to go it her own way has dangerous consequences and may drive the final wedge between them.

The historical backdrop is so authentic and amazing. I learned so much about the Spiritualism movement. I'm very familiar with San Francisco so I truly appreciated all the historical references regarding the city, the culture, and even the transportation mentioned. The references to the time period and even the Victorian 'voice' of the story were fascinating. Ms. Locke has a real gift for balancing the historical description without bogging down the plot.

The plot was engaging from the very beginning of the prologue. I liked the blend of the slow way the detecting teased out the facts, relationship building between Annie, Nate and the other characters, and the suspenseful drama that interspersed with the rest. I actually worked out the solution to the mystery of the Framptons and Evie May as well as the prologue murder well before the final solution, but that took nothing away from my enjoyment for the story itself.

The characters are so well written. I love the opportunity that a series can give to a longer story arc for the 'regulars' in the story like Nate and Annie. They dynamics just within Annie's boarding house are pretty interesting as minor characters go. The characters at the seances both who lived in the Frampton household and who came seeking advice were not cardboard characters at all.

It was an enjoyable read and I definitely plan to re-visit this series both to get the first one, but the next one when it comes. If you love a light historical mystery or stories set in the Victorian age, I recommend this one.

More About the Author

M. Louisa Locke is a recently retired professor of U.S. and Women's history at San Diego Mesa College. Dr. Locke has now taken her story telling in a new direction with her Victorian San Francisco mystery series. The first of that series, Maids of Misfortune, was a finalist in the historical fiction category of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, a 2012 B.R.A.G. MedallionTM Honoree, and it, and the sequel, Uneasy Spirits, are historical mystery bestsellers on Kindle. Her short stories, Dandy Detects and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage, are based on characters from her novels and can also be found on Kindle.

For those of you have read any of her work, Locke would love to hear from you at [e-mail], and she would really appreciate if you could spend a few minutes writing a review on Amazon.com.

Locke is currently living in San Diego with her husband and assorted animals, where she is working on Bloody Lessons, the next installment of her series of historical mysteries set in Victorian San Francisco.

If you are interested in learning more about Victorian San Francisco and the events and places in her books, please join her author facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/mlouisalockeauthor or her website/blog at http://mlouisalocke.com/

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#45 in Kindle eBooks > History

#83 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#45 in Kindle eBooks > History

#83 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical