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Louisa May Alcott Mystery #3
Louisa and the Crystal Gazer: A Louisa May Alcott Mystery
A young Louisa May Alcott accompanies her friend Sylvia to visit Boston's most famous spiritual medium, Mrs. Agatha D. Percy, to contact Sylvia's long-dead father. Louisa isn't one to believe such foolishness-until one of the seer's predictions comes true.
Louisa and Sylvia visit the seer again, but Mrs. Percy's days of divination have been cut brutally short by a killer. Now, Louisa must solve the mystery of the crystal gazer's untimely death by uncovering the shocking truth about her life.
Louisa and Sylvia visit the seer again, but Mrs. Percy's days of divination have been cut brutally short by a killer. Now, Louisa must solve the mystery of the crystal gazer's untimely death by uncovering the shocking truth about her life.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 5, 2023
In December 1855 Louisa is living in Boston, away from her family in Walpole. She's busy sewing shirts to earn money for Christmas presents for her family. When she learns the music store has beautiful leather bound portfolio's of the newest Liszt music, she knows Lizzie would just love that gift. The store is also holding a raffle to win private lessons with Signor Massimo. Louisa just HAS to save enough for the portfolio and hope Lizzie wins the raffle. Louisa becomes distracted when her friend Sylvia drags her off to a séance with the exclusive Mrs. Percy. Louisa knows it's all a humbug but goes along as research for a potential new story. The séance is as hokey as Louisa expects but dear Sylvia seems to take it seriously. Still, Louisa strikes up a friendship with P.T. Barnum and that interests her. When the guests arrive for the second séance, Mrs. Percy is late and her servant issues orders to return later. Not taking no for an answer, Louisa is determined to find Mrs. Percy. When a Mr. Phips breaks the window into the parlor, Mrs. Percy is found dead. At first her death appears to be of natural causes or perhaps too much opium but a postmortem reveals the woman was suffocated with her own pillow. The medium's maid, Suzie Dear, is arrested for stolen jewelry. The police feel this is an open and shut case. Louisa feels there's something not quite right about the situation and begins an investigation of her own. What she discovers leads to a burst of creative inspiration! Will she ever get her work done in time? Will it be another lean Christmas for the Alcotts or can Louisa solve the case AND sew shirts at the same time, all before Christmas?
I had forgotten how great this series was. It was an exciting find to discover this last novel at a used bookstore near me during their going out of business sale. I had read the other two and enjoyed them but the library never got this one and I never asked for it. The writing style sounds somewhat period, that is to say maybe a bit stiff and formal for the average reader. I can't say that it sounds like Louisa though. There are little Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout that show how Louisa modeled the character of Jo after herself. Fans of the Alcotts will enjoy all the references and letters between the family. The historical details of 1850s Boston were excellent and I enjoyed reading about the city as it appeared back then. I have The Literary Trail of Greater Boston: A Tour of Sites in Boston, Cambridge, and Concord so I can go follow in Louisa's footsteps. This novel will have to come along to make sure I find the spots fictional Louisa visited as well.
The mystery is very good. I figured out whodunit pretty much right away. Mostly by process of elimination and partly because of Louisa's early ramblings she said would become important later on. There's one big clue. However, I wasn't entirely positive I was right and could not put the story down. The big finale is highly implausible and ridiculous. It's fun, yes but unrealistic.
The cozy part of the story is done well and we see Louisa's development as a writer. We get to know the Alcott family and their circle and how they relied on other people to help them out because Bronson was too noble to work for money. There is a fair amount of judgment in the form of middle class respectability visited on Mrs. Percy and Suzie Dear but not a whole lot directed at Louisa. Louisa does sort of castigate herself for writing blood and thunder tales when she knows her parents would disapprove but she NEEDS the money and NEEDS a creative outlet. Sewing shirts doesn't help her mental state at all or her physical health. She wants to be out doing, using her brain and enjoying the freedoms enjoyed by men and boys. Since her father is a bum who won't and can't support the family, Louisa and her older sister Anna have to go out to work to help the family. I am not a fan of Bronson Alcott at all. Here he's portrayed as a loving father but he's also preachy. He pushes his beliefs on Louisa but still fails to understand that it is his beliefs that forced her to go to Boston and force her to write trashy stories to earn a living because he won't. I've read how much he disliked his second daughter because she was temperamental and how he adored Lizzie, the angelically good one. In this novel we see Lizzie as a young woman eager to be helpful like her older sisters and more capable than anyone realizes. They all make her out to be an angel and put her on a pedestal. Her heath is not robust so I don't think she should be helping with work but neither do I think making her into an angel is smart. I like this fictional Lizzie because she has opinions of her own and stands up to people in her own quiet way. I also like that she's active, sledding and skating and getting roses in her cheeks. She's more like Louisa than anyone realizes. She's still very, very good, but also very determined. Long suffering Marmee is kind and patient with Louisa, offering motherly advice and comfort when needed. The Alcotts are a close-knit family and Louisa misses them, especially Marmee, when she needs help with the puzzle of solving a murder.
The victim, Mrs. Percy, was a widow and earning a living as a psychic medium. She's portrayed as a nasty woman, preying on people who believe in spirits. She seeks out gossip and information about people to earn their trust and keep them coming. Her predictions are pretty generic and her tricks are silly, as Louisa soon discovers. Mrs. Percy is an amateur psychic at best. Mrs. Percy is portrayed as an awful person. Was she really or was she just a poor woman in a cruel masculine world trying to earn some money? She was good to her employees because she understood how it is to struggle and survive. I think she got a bad reputation based on middle class ideas about respectability. Maybe... She could, however, be a jewel thief. At best she's just tricking people. If people are really that gullible then is she doing something wrong? At worst, she's involved somehow in the saga of the necklace Mrs. Deeds is wearing.
The guests at the séance are there for various reasons. Louisa's friend Sylvia is a sweet girl. She's been sheltered her whole life and she's wealthy so her mother is pressuring her to marry. Sylvia longs for the guidance of the father she never knew and thinks Mrs. Percy can help contact him. Like Louisa, I'm concerned for her friend. Sylvia is so innocent. She's also very bored and tries out new fads frequently. Louisa hopes this fad won't last too long and I agree. Sylvia could find herself in debt to this woman, as I suspect has happened with some other guests. I think Sylvia is a bit of a flirt and she's headed for trouble flirting with Constable Cobban. She may think she's in love but I think she's leading him on. Constable Cobban is kind-hearted, intelligent and thoughtful. She has to know she can't marry him. Sylvia has built a fantasy in her head and refuses to believe otherwise. Constable Cobban works hard but he's an honest man and in Boston in the 19th-century, I don't see him going far. Investments can be risky. Constable Cobban works with Louisa to piece together the clues to the murder. He respects her intelligence and perception and doesn't seem to mind her gender. I quite like him, but not for Sylvia.
Louisa quite likes P.T. Barnum. He's kind to her and she's aware that his greatest show on earth is full of tricks. Like Louisa, he's cynical and doesn't believe in psychics but he needs some new acts for his show. He's interested in having Bronson Alcott come lecture to his paying audience, which is not Bronson's style of education at all. (Do it Bronson! You need the money!) Barnum claims he's a businessman and business is business. He indicates ethics and morals have no bearing on business and if people choose to believe in the Fiji mermaid, then why not? Obviously I have more knowledge than Louisa so I don't trust him. Louisa doesn't trust him either and begins to suspect Phineas T. Barnum is the murderer! He has motive. Did he have the opportunity? Louisa must find out. I don't think he's the killer because he's a real person! Let's eliminate him from the suspect list. Watching Louisa investigate the greatest scammer on earth is fun though, until somebody gets hurt and he could be the perpetrator.
Mr. Phips, an older soldier from the East India Company, was in Canton in the 1830s when the Chinese were angry with the British for providing opium from India in exchange for tea. Mr. Phips was a hero who was wounded and saw his best friend fall. Louisa, like modern readers, is horrified by this tale of western glory and knows her family has stopped drinking Chinese tea for ethical reasons. Like Louisa, I don't like this man because of his military history and the glorification of it. I also don't like him because he takes an interest in Louisa that is partly paternal or avuncular and partly not. His wife has only been dead a few years and he's much older than Louisa. I was wishing she'd tell this creeper to get lost but of course she can't. He's under suspicion for murder so she wants to investigate him. She doesn't believe he's the murderer but do we really know he didn't break the window, sneak into the parlor and kill Mrs. Percy and then announce it? If she was drugged and asleep, she wouldn't have cried out. Louisa has to take him at his word and hope he's not the murderer.
Miss Amelia Snodgrass, a young woman of an old family, admires Bronson Alcott. She is obviously very poor as is common with these old families. Louisa is curious why Miss Snodgrass is wearing a sort of costume of brown velvet. It's very unusual. Miss Snodgrass also appears to have crashed the party and the spirits aren't interested in her. I suspect she's there because there's some connection to the new money couple, Mr. and Mrs. Deeds. Mrs. Deeds wears expensive jewelry and Mr. Deeds has bragged about his wife's necklace but now says it's a loan and hasn't been paid off yet. I think there has to be some connection between the necklace, Mrs. Percy and Amelia Snodgrass. I think perhaps Miss Snodgrass had to sell some of her jewels and Mr. Deeds cheated her somehow and perhaps Mrs. Percy was the go-between. Or perhaps Miss Snodgrass needed the spirits to tell her how to get rich again? Mr. Deeds is a typical new money braggart and his wife is awful. She's showy and gauche. She's also a harpy who harangues her husband about the message he got from the spirit world. Who is Mickey? What is her connection to Mr. Deeds?
Mrs. Percy also had a stepbrother, Eddie Nichols, is involved in the murder business somehow. He's also connected to P.T. Barnum and sure looks like the prime suspect. Eddie Nichols is not a good man. He uses his charm to con people and get what he wants. He uses people and then discards them. Eddie is wanted for a crime already so what is one more? Was his sister going to reveal something incriminating and he had to silence her? The police are looking at Suzie Dear as the chief suspect merely because she ran off with some jewelry. She claims Mrs. Percy gave her the jewelry as a gift. Louisa suspects the girl means bribe. Suzie also has a prior record. She's young and not too bright. She's poor and saw a chance and seized it. She was probably scared the murderer was going to come after her next and/or she would be blamed. I feel sorry for her and I think Louisa does too. Louisa isn't so sure Suzie isn't the killer but she has a hunch that Suzie is not a murderer. I don't think she's clever enough to have done it. Mrs. Percy also employed a Chinese cook, Meh-ki. The woman fled Mrs. Percy's home before the murder was discovered. Did she flee before the murder after an argument with Mrs. Percy or did she flee knowing her employer was dead? I'm certain she didn't do it. The foreigner would most certainly be blamed if she could be found. Louisa shows a lack of tact but compassion for the woman. I had no idea there were Chinese in Boston in the 1850s! Meh-ki's story is pretty tragic but not entirely surprising.
Other characters in the story include Auntie Bond, Louisa's landlady. They don't appear to be close kin, maybe distant cousins by marriage or family friends but Auntie Bond is a dear woman who looks after Louisa and Lizzie. She's very kind and warm. Her home is warmth itself and Louisa is happy there. Auntie Bond's only vice is playing cards for penny stakes. She feels guilty about it but enjoys a night with her ladies. There's nothing wrong with that. Mrs. O'Connor is an informant friend of Louisa's. A freelance Irish cook, she enjoys gossip and moonlighting as a psychic- the real thing. She's cheeky but her information helps Louisa. Mr. Crowell, the music store owner, knows the Alcotts well. He understands their poverty and how much Lizzie loves music. He blames his good business practices on his wife and seems inclined to indulge Lizzie. He tries hard to help them in ways he can. He's a good friend. Uncle Benjamin in Walpole sounds cranky and forgetful. He puts a lot of demands on his niece. Louisa probably doesn't get along with him well! Signor Massimo, a famous singer, was supposed to be at the séance too. It's unknown why he didn't come. He seems nice enough. He's select about who he performs for, preferring small parlor performances to large venues. I'm sure P.T. Barnum has his sights set on Signor Massimo!
This was a fun mystery and I'm sorry the series was cancelled after only three books. Read this series if you love Louisa May Alcott. It's similar to Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries in tone and style. No doubt Louisa and Jane have much in common!
I had forgotten how great this series was. It was an exciting find to discover this last novel at a used bookstore near me during their going out of business sale. I had read the other two and enjoyed them but the library never got this one and I never asked for it. The writing style sounds somewhat period, that is to say maybe a bit stiff and formal for the average reader. I can't say that it sounds like Louisa though. There are little Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout that show how Louisa modeled the character of Jo after herself. Fans of the Alcotts will enjoy all the references and letters between the family. The historical details of 1850s Boston were excellent and I enjoyed reading about the city as it appeared back then. I have The Literary Trail of Greater Boston: A Tour of Sites in Boston, Cambridge, and Concord so I can go follow in Louisa's footsteps. This novel will have to come along to make sure I find the spots fictional Louisa visited as well.
The mystery is very good. I figured out whodunit pretty much right away. Mostly by process of elimination and partly because of Louisa's early ramblings she said would become important later on. There's one big clue. However, I wasn't entirely positive I was right and could not put the story down. The big finale is highly implausible and ridiculous. It's fun, yes but unrealistic.
The cozy part of the story is done well and we see Louisa's development as a writer. We get to know the Alcott family and their circle and how they relied on other people to help them out because Bronson was too noble to work for money. There is a fair amount of judgment in the form of middle class respectability visited on Mrs. Percy and Suzie Dear but not a whole lot directed at Louisa. Louisa does sort of castigate herself for writing blood and thunder tales when she knows her parents would disapprove but she NEEDS the money and NEEDS a creative outlet. Sewing shirts doesn't help her mental state at all or her physical health. She wants to be out doing, using her brain and enjoying the freedoms enjoyed by men and boys. Since her father is a bum who won't and can't support the family, Louisa and her older sister Anna have to go out to work to help the family. I am not a fan of Bronson Alcott at all. Here he's portrayed as a loving father but he's also preachy. He pushes his beliefs on Louisa but still fails to understand that it is his beliefs that forced her to go to Boston and force her to write trashy stories to earn a living because he won't. I've read how much he disliked his second daughter because she was temperamental and how he adored Lizzie, the angelically good one. In this novel we see Lizzie as a young woman eager to be helpful like her older sisters and more capable than anyone realizes. They all make her out to be an angel and put her on a pedestal. Her heath is not robust so I don't think she should be helping with work but neither do I think making her into an angel is smart. I like this fictional Lizzie because she has opinions of her own and stands up to people in her own quiet way. I also like that she's active, sledding and skating and getting roses in her cheeks. She's more like Louisa than anyone realizes. She's still very, very good, but also very determined. Long suffering Marmee is kind and patient with Louisa, offering motherly advice and comfort when needed. The Alcotts are a close-knit family and Louisa misses them, especially Marmee, when she needs help with the puzzle of solving a murder.
The victim, Mrs. Percy, was a widow and earning a living as a psychic medium. She's portrayed as a nasty woman, preying on people who believe in spirits. She seeks out gossip and information about people to earn their trust and keep them coming. Her predictions are pretty generic and her tricks are silly, as Louisa soon discovers. Mrs. Percy is an amateur psychic at best. Mrs. Percy is portrayed as an awful person. Was she really or was she just a poor woman in a cruel masculine world trying to earn some money? She was good to her employees because she understood how it is to struggle and survive. I think she got a bad reputation based on middle class ideas about respectability. Maybe... She could, however, be a jewel thief. At best she's just tricking people. If people are really that gullible then is she doing something wrong? At worst, she's involved somehow in the saga of the necklace Mrs. Deeds is wearing.
The guests at the séance are there for various reasons. Louisa's friend Sylvia is a sweet girl. She's been sheltered her whole life and she's wealthy so her mother is pressuring her to marry. Sylvia longs for the guidance of the father she never knew and thinks Mrs. Percy can help contact him. Like Louisa, I'm concerned for her friend. Sylvia is so innocent. She's also very bored and tries out new fads frequently. Louisa hopes this fad won't last too long and I agree. Sylvia could find herself in debt to this woman, as I suspect has happened with some other guests. I think Sylvia is a bit of a flirt and she's headed for trouble flirting with Constable Cobban. She may think she's in love but I think she's leading him on. Constable Cobban is kind-hearted, intelligent and thoughtful. She has to know she can't marry him. Sylvia has built a fantasy in her head and refuses to believe otherwise. Constable Cobban works hard but he's an honest man and in Boston in the 19th-century, I don't see him going far. Investments can be risky. Constable Cobban works with Louisa to piece together the clues to the murder. He respects her intelligence and perception and doesn't seem to mind her gender. I quite like him, but not for Sylvia.
Louisa quite likes P.T. Barnum. He's kind to her and she's aware that his greatest show on earth is full of tricks. Like Louisa, he's cynical and doesn't believe in psychics but he needs some new acts for his show. He's interested in having Bronson Alcott come lecture to his paying audience, which is not Bronson's style of education at all. (Do it Bronson! You need the money!) Barnum claims he's a businessman and business is business. He indicates ethics and morals have no bearing on business and if people choose to believe in the Fiji mermaid, then why not? Obviously I have more knowledge than Louisa so I don't trust him. Louisa doesn't trust him either and begins to suspect Phineas T. Barnum is the murderer! He has motive. Did he have the opportunity? Louisa must find out. I don't think he's the killer because he's a real person! Let's eliminate him from the suspect list. Watching Louisa investigate the greatest scammer on earth is fun though, until somebody gets hurt and he could be the perpetrator.
Mr. Phips, an older soldier from the East India Company, was in Canton in the 1830s when the Chinese were angry with the British for providing opium from India in exchange for tea. Mr. Phips was a hero who was wounded and saw his best friend fall. Louisa, like modern readers, is horrified by this tale of western glory and knows her family has stopped drinking Chinese tea for ethical reasons. Like Louisa, I don't like this man because of his military history and the glorification of it. I also don't like him because he takes an interest in Louisa that is partly paternal or avuncular and partly not. His wife has only been dead a few years and he's much older than Louisa. I was wishing she'd tell this creeper to get lost but of course she can't. He's under suspicion for murder so she wants to investigate him. She doesn't believe he's the murderer but do we really know he didn't break the window, sneak into the parlor and kill Mrs. Percy and then announce it? If she was drugged and asleep, she wouldn't have cried out. Louisa has to take him at his word and hope he's not the murderer.
Miss Amelia Snodgrass, a young woman of an old family, admires Bronson Alcott. She is obviously very poor as is common with these old families. Louisa is curious why Miss Snodgrass is wearing a sort of costume of brown velvet. It's very unusual. Miss Snodgrass also appears to have crashed the party and the spirits aren't interested in her. I suspect she's there because there's some connection to the new money couple, Mr. and Mrs. Deeds. Mrs. Deeds wears expensive jewelry and Mr. Deeds has bragged about his wife's necklace but now says it's a loan and hasn't been paid off yet. I think there has to be some connection between the necklace, Mrs. Percy and Amelia Snodgrass. I think perhaps Miss Snodgrass had to sell some of her jewels and Mr. Deeds cheated her somehow and perhaps Mrs. Percy was the go-between. Or perhaps Miss Snodgrass needed the spirits to tell her how to get rich again? Mr. Deeds is a typical new money braggart and his wife is awful. She's showy and gauche. She's also a harpy who harangues her husband about the message he got from the spirit world. Who is Mickey? What is her connection to Mr. Deeds?
Mrs. Percy also had a stepbrother, Eddie Nichols, is involved in the murder business somehow. He's also connected to P.T. Barnum and sure looks like the prime suspect. Eddie Nichols is not a good man. He uses his charm to con people and get what he wants. He uses people and then discards them. Eddie is wanted for a crime already so what is one more? Was his sister going to reveal something incriminating and he had to silence her? The police are looking at Suzie Dear as the chief suspect merely because she ran off with some jewelry. She claims Mrs. Percy gave her the jewelry as a gift. Louisa suspects the girl means bribe. Suzie also has a prior record. She's young and not too bright. She's poor and saw a chance and seized it. She was probably scared the murderer was going to come after her next and/or she would be blamed. I feel sorry for her and I think Louisa does too. Louisa isn't so sure Suzie isn't the killer but she has a hunch that Suzie is not a murderer. I don't think she's clever enough to have done it. Mrs. Percy also employed a Chinese cook, Meh-ki. The woman fled Mrs. Percy's home before the murder was discovered. Did she flee before the murder after an argument with Mrs. Percy or did she flee knowing her employer was dead? I'm certain she didn't do it. The foreigner would most certainly be blamed if she could be found. Louisa shows a lack of tact but compassion for the woman. I had no idea there were Chinese in Boston in the 1850s! Meh-ki's story is pretty tragic but not entirely surprising.
Other characters in the story include Auntie Bond, Louisa's landlady. They don't appear to be close kin, maybe distant cousins by marriage or family friends but Auntie Bond is a dear woman who looks after Louisa and Lizzie. She's very kind and warm. Her home is warmth itself and Louisa is happy there. Auntie Bond's only vice is playing cards for penny stakes. She feels guilty about it but enjoys a night with her ladies. There's nothing wrong with that. Mrs. O'Connor is an informant friend of Louisa's. A freelance Irish cook, she enjoys gossip and moonlighting as a psychic- the real thing. She's cheeky but her information helps Louisa. Mr. Crowell, the music store owner, knows the Alcotts well. He understands their poverty and how much Lizzie loves music. He blames his good business practices on his wife and seems inclined to indulge Lizzie. He tries hard to help them in ways he can. He's a good friend. Uncle Benjamin in Walpole sounds cranky and forgetful. He puts a lot of demands on his niece. Louisa probably doesn't get along with him well! Signor Massimo, a famous singer, was supposed to be at the séance too. It's unknown why he didn't come. He seems nice enough. He's select about who he performs for, preferring small parlor performances to large venues. I'm sure P.T. Barnum has his sights set on Signor Massimo!
This was a fun mystery and I'm sorry the series was cancelled after only three books. Read this series if you love Louisa May Alcott. It's similar to Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries in tone and style. No doubt Louisa and Jane have much in common!
May 24, 2018
I'm glad I gave this series a chance. A gentle read.... with a murder! to be solved.
December 25, 2020
I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. It was an interesting 'who done it' mystery with developed suspects. Often fantasy fiction about real people feel to fake or forced that they aren't that enjoyable, but this was not the case here. And while this book was not very realistic it was a fun read that served as a good reminder that everyone has skeletons in the closet, especially in the case of this mystery.
I was seriously concerned as I neared the end and more suspects got added to the suspect list, but the author did a good job resolving the motive and making it worth killing over. Although, like any amateur sleuthing story, there were points you wanted to scream...please don't do that because we all knew it wouldn't end well.
I was seriously concerned as I neared the end and more suspects got added to the suspect list, but the author did a good job resolving the motive and making it worth killing over. Although, like any amateur sleuthing story, there were points you wanted to scream...please don't do that because we all knew it wouldn't end well.
July 20, 2020
In this third of the series, Louisa has taken a job as a seamstress in Boston while the rest of her family remains in Walpole, New Hampshire. When her friend Sylvia wishes to contact her long-dead father, she accompanies her to a session with medium Agatha Percy, thinking she can use the experience as fodder for a future story. When they find the medium murdered on a return visit the next week, Louisa sets out to solve the mystery of the crystal gazer's death by uncovering the truth about her life.
This imaginative series is true to the life and writings of Louisa May Alcott, and is recommended for her myriads of fans.
This imaginative series is true to the life and writings of Louisa May Alcott, and is recommended for her myriads of fans.
October 7, 2019
I absolutely LOVED this book! It was a good little mystery with all the loose ends tied up and nicely explained. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, and this was a goody! I plan to go find more of her books.
June 4, 2020
Louisa is back in Boston after spending time in Walpole, New Hampshire. Sylvia invites her to a seance and then things take a turn for the worst. A web of relationships and secrets make Louisa’s head spin. The last Louisa mystery is one that readers won’t want to put down!
March 29, 2020
This is the third case to solve for Louisa May Alcott, aspiring author.
Really good murder mystery story.
Really good murder mystery story.
April 24, 2020
Since Alcott wrote gothic mysteries, it only seems fitting that she got involved in a few! This is fun.
March 29, 2023
Very enjoyable.
March 2, 2012
Originally posted at http://its-raining-books.blogspot.com...
I cannot remember when I have enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed this one. I felt as though it was actually written in that time and place by the real Louisa. It was so factual, and included so many little details that one would think only someone who lived in that time would have known.
Louisa became so real to me that that I felt I was actually living with her in that time. I was able to follow her thought processes as the mystery unfolded. This story actually included people who were alive then, and not just as part of the setting, they were included in the mystery. I got to know so much more than I had ever known about them before, it was an additional bonus to the story.
I followed Louisa as she moved step-by-step in her thinking process about the mystery. Because it was first person POV, it was written in a wonderfully clever way. I never once felt that I was being told a story, but that I was actually in on her thinking process as she tried to solve the murder.
The mystery involved a medium and spiritualist, of which there were many in those times. The people involved all wanted to contact a departed loved one, and of course the medium was a fraud. How she worked was important and also important was all the intertwined stories of the people who attended the séance.
Louisa determines to solve all the mysteries, while spending time working to help with Christmas presents for her family. She is so clever and, like Jo in little women, she is also writing to make a little additional money. She just can’t quit thinking and working on solving the case, even though the police think they have it solved. She is confident that they are wrong and she is right. It was so fun letting the story unfold. I found it difficult to put this book down. There were so many people that could have committed the murder, and I could not figure out who had done it. The end was a surprise in a way, but then looking back I could see how, if I had been just a bit more careful and alert, I should have known. All the clues were there for me to find.
If you enjoy reading about this time in our history, and if you loved any of the books that Louisa May Alcott wrote, you will love this one even more. I swear this author went back in time and lived in Boston while she wrote this story.
While my rating system only goes up to five, if I could give this MORE than five flowers, I would. It's that good.
I cannot remember when I have enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed this one. I felt as though it was actually written in that time and place by the real Louisa. It was so factual, and included so many little details that one would think only someone who lived in that time would have known.
Louisa became so real to me that that I felt I was actually living with her in that time. I was able to follow her thought processes as the mystery unfolded. This story actually included people who were alive then, and not just as part of the setting, they were included in the mystery. I got to know so much more than I had ever known about them before, it was an additional bonus to the story.
I followed Louisa as she moved step-by-step in her thinking process about the mystery. Because it was first person POV, it was written in a wonderfully clever way. I never once felt that I was being told a story, but that I was actually in on her thinking process as she tried to solve the murder.
The mystery involved a medium and spiritualist, of which there were many in those times. The people involved all wanted to contact a departed loved one, and of course the medium was a fraud. How she worked was important and also important was all the intertwined stories of the people who attended the séance.
Louisa determines to solve all the mysteries, while spending time working to help with Christmas presents for her family. She is so clever and, like Jo in little women, she is also writing to make a little additional money. She just can’t quit thinking and working on solving the case, even though the police think they have it solved. She is confident that they are wrong and she is right. It was so fun letting the story unfold. I found it difficult to put this book down. There were so many people that could have committed the murder, and I could not figure out who had done it. The end was a surprise in a way, but then looking back I could see how, if I had been just a bit more careful and alert, I should have known. All the clues were there for me to find.
If you enjoy reading about this time in our history, and if you loved any of the books that Louisa May Alcott wrote, you will love this one even more. I swear this author went back in time and lived in Boston while she wrote this story.
While my rating system only goes up to five, if I could give this MORE than five flowers, I would. It's that good.
May 29, 2013
It has become quite fashionable and profitable in the American writing world for a writer to take a well known person and turn them into a detective. They have to be an historical person of course and publishers love this as they know that readers will buy the book to see what the famous person does. The problem is that this fashion has led to a quantity of whodunits rather than quality whodunits. Of great concern to me and other readers who like historical novels is the poor historical research, resulting in infuriating howlers.
'Louisa and the Crystal Gazer' is set in America, Boston, Mass. in 1855, and the main character is Louisa M Alcott. It's the third in a series and more quality than many of its ilk. The dialogue is overly heavy with Victorian polysyllabic words, and if you can imagine a grown-up Jo from 'Little Women' as heroine then you have the story. Louisa's friend takes her to a medium, a second visit leads to a dead body and then it's a race to find the villain. P.T. Barnum is a minor character, other names are dropped along the way.
This is a simple mystery, an easy read, and Louisa, telling the reader what happens, is a charming character. Is she the real Louisa May Alcott though?
December 4, 2010
I liked this one. Nice Christmas tie-in, too.
Read
July 29, 2013Fun, but not much of a mystery
September 26, 2014
Louisa May Alcott fans will enjoy this cozy mystery. It held my attention and I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series.
September 2, 2014
I remember liking previous books (book?) in this series, but this one just feel smarmy.
April 6, 2016
Third in a series about Louisa May Alcott before she became famous. While living in Concord ans Boston she helped solve several mysteries
July 2, 2012
Cute little book!
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