Pearls and Poison (A Rose Gallagher Mystery, 4)
Pearls and Poison is Erin Lindsey’s much-awaited fourth Rose Gallagher novel. Since book 3 (2020), I had almost forgotten what fun these paranormal mysteries are. Rose is the New York agent with the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the late 1880s, working for the paranormal special division. At the series origin, she was housemaid to the wealthy Thomas Wiltshire, who recognized her unique talents and promoted her to work with him. Now, she hobnobs with well-to-do friends, and Thomas has deserted her for reasons unknown. Ghosts are real in Lindsey’s New York, and the city is chock full of an elite whose genes contain “luck”. Those who don’t inherit luck are “blanks”! Luck is confined to the well-connected and can be any extraordinary ability not explained by science – communing with the dead, telekinesis, mental telepathy, reading the future, manipulating electricity (Tesla), and before you say it: yes, Rose was a housemaid, yet she can sense shades (ghosts).
Our tenacious sleuth is called to investigate a series of suicides in an unoccupied building where triangular symbols are worked into a brick wall. She calls on the help of friends – Nikola Tesla, who needs no introduction; Mei Wang, excellent at research; best friend, Clara; and in particular, Thomas’ best friend, Jonathan Burrows, an ultra-rich, adorable rake. Suicide is ruled out, and Tesla discovers a spiritual alchemy in the electromagnetic waves in the building which may connect to the dangerous otherworld fae.
Rose has much to do. Her mother sees her own mother in physical form and drinks salt water before bed to dispel the image; mum’s carer, Pietro, isn’t happy about Rose’s pretence about her job; Jonathan’s smiling advances require some forestalling; Clara needs assistance with a wedding dress; and the aristo ladies’ cattiness at Rose’s expense is frustratingly frequent. However, New York is safer with Rose on the job, so we will await her next assignment with pleasure.
