The Conjurer [Paperback]

In 1842 Philadelphia, wealthy financier Lemuel Beale vanishes without a trace. His only offspring overly protected and obedient to a fault Martha finds her father's secretary Owen Simms ordering her about. Already having her fill of her demanding father, Martha begins to revolt by insisting the city investigate the disappearance of Lemuel.

Mayoral assistant Thomas Kelman is assigned to learn what happened to the influential Beale though the city government assumes he is dead. Although he is tied up with another inquiry into a serial killer murdering female child prostitutes, he makes time to search for the missing banker with the help of Martha though Simms tries every trick including drugs to keep the suddenly non-compliant heiress under his thumb as he plans to marry her and her money. As Thomas and Martha work on both of his cases, a societal conjurer favorite Eusapio Paladino makes all sorts of proclamations on the prostitution homicides that lead to him to being the prime suspect. However, complicating the Kelman inquiries, Paladino is arrested for allegedly killing John Durand, the husband of the magician's upper crust paramour Emily Durand.

In some ways this is more a historical tale than a mystery as much of the story line provides depth to 1842 Philadelphia's upper and lower classes; thus fans of American whodunits will find the mid nineteenth century tidbits at times too much as that takes away from the investigations. Still fans, especially those who appreciate a deep period piece, will enjoy Martha Beale's dangerous coming out gala.

Harriet Klausner

I'm afraid I wasn't as impressed as the other reviewers were with "The Conjurer." Initially, I had thought the novel an introduction to a new sleuth, Martha Beale. It is after all titled: The Conjurer, A Martha Beale Mystery, implying that Martha plays an active role in the resolution. As it turns out, Martha spends most of the time worriedly wringing her hands, or fainting, or shaking in her boots when her father's secretary bullies her, or worrying what society will think of her, or drugged up, or reacting to the events around her. By the time she develops a spine, the novel is at an end. I don't know what the product synopsis meant by her "investigation" with the mayor's assistant, Thomas Kelman; there is no investigating done by her at all. The mysteries in this story resolve themselves simply by means of fate, not from any intervention by Martha or Tom.

I also think the story is overburdened by too many characters, some of whom have very little or none to do with the plot. I get the feeling the novel was overpopulated for the purposes of creating complexity where none existed and to illustrate the wide breadth of classes in 1840s Philadelphia. Let's see, there's a spineless heroine, her future love interest, an odious secretary, a missing financier, another financier with bad manners, the financier's wife who rightfully should be the star because she has more gumption than Martha, an arrogant socialite, the socialite's disturbed husband, a mysterious man with a club foot, a 10-year-old prostitute, a sibling in an asylum, a beggar who lost her son, a boy who suffers from epileptic seizures, a domineering matron, a serial killer, an Italian necromancer, the necromancer's assistant to translate his master's ravings, a brothel madam, another society couple, and I'm sure there are a few more I've missed. Whew! If one is to mimic a Dickensian love for characters, at least make them memorable and central to the plot.

As a diehard mystery fan of the grim and dastardly kind (the mysteries, not me), I never thought I would ever say this, but there are TOO MANY deaths here. There are women who are poisoned, children killed ritualistically, a man (Martha's father) believed to have drowned but no body can be found, another man found dead in the streets, each with its own sub-plot that, by hook or by crook, probability issues notwithstanding, are forced to all be related.

A messy plot with a rushed and unbelievable ending. A tighter, better organized story with a dynamic heroine would have been infinitely superior. Sometimes too much does not mean multi-layered and complex. Sometimes it just means...well...too much.

To the writer's credit, she does a lovely job of capturing what life was like in 1840's Philadelphia. It's also intriguing that she writes all of the action in the present tense in order to give readers the feeling that they are experiencing everything in real time. Unfortunately, I felt that her heroine, Martha Beale, was not only a passive observer of much of the action but that the plethora of characters who were introduced are strung together with so many instances of contrivance that the resolution of the mystery felt implausible. I'd like to have seen a much tighter focus on Martha Beale if she's indeed to be the feminist sleuth of a new mystery series; this is something that should have been caught by an editor.

Christina Hamlett
Author of "Movie Girl"

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 8 reviews  3.2 out of 5 stars