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Maddie Pastore Mystery #1
The Mystic's Accomplice
Miley, Mary. The Mystic’s Accomplice. Severn House. (Mystic’s Accomplice Mystery, Bk. 1). Jun. 2021. 224p. ISBN 9780727850423. $28.99. M
Grieving pregnant widow Maddie Pastore didn’t know what her husband did for a living, until the Chicago mob shows up at his 1924 funeral. She ends up broke and loses her house, but she’s determined to make a living without calling on the mob for help. When the mystic Madam Carlotta, asks her to a séance, Maddie sees opportunity. She offers to research Carlotta’s clients, and discovers she’s good at digging through newspapers and wills and talking with servants. One of the mystic’s clients always cancels her sessions, claiming illness; Maddie learns the woman lost her husband and a nephew to tragedy and she begins to worry that the client could be the target of a killer. Courageous Maddie uses her new skills to attempt to save a life and trap a murderer. VERDICT Miley (“Roaring Twenties” series) returns to the jazz age in this mystery introducing a remarkable amateur sleuth, widow, and mother. It skillfully combines the tantalizing atmosphere of a speakeasy- and mob-filled Chicago, historical figures, and an intriguing mystery.—Lesa Holstine,
Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
Grieving pregnant widow Maddie Pastore didn’t know what her husband did for a living, until the Chicago mob shows up at his 1924 funeral. She ends up broke and loses her house, but she’s determined to make a living without calling on the mob for help. When the mystic Madam Carlotta, asks her to a séance, Maddie sees opportunity. She offers to research Carlotta’s clients, and discovers she’s good at digging through newspapers and wills and talking with servants. One of the mystic’s clients always cancels her sessions, claiming illness; Maddie learns the woman lost her husband and a nephew to tragedy and she begins to worry that the client could be the target of a killer. Courageous Maddie uses her new skills to attempt to save a life and trap a murderer. VERDICT Miley (“Roaring Twenties” series) returns to the jazz age in this mystery introducing a remarkable amateur sleuth, widow, and mother. It skillfully combines the tantalizing atmosphere of a speakeasy- and mob-filled Chicago, historical figures, and an intriguing mystery.—Lesa Holstine,
Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2021
137 people want to read
About the author
Mary Miley
18 books152 followersI'm an Army brat who has lived in Virginia most of my adult life. I received my BA and MA in history from the College of William and Mary and taught American history and museum studies at Virginia Commonwealth University for thirteen years. I am the author of 200 magazine articles, most on history, travel, and business topics, 12 nonfiction books, and 9 historical mysteries set in the Roaring Twenties. When I'm not writing, I'm probably at Valley Road Vineyard, our winery in the mountains of Virginia where everything we do would have been illegal in the 1920s.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 6, 2021
"Anyone who believes in magic is a fool." (Harry Houdini)
And no one was more against Mediums and Spiritualism than the man himself. Houdini didn't totally dismiss the idea. He did everything possible to shed light on the charlatans and frauds as possible. He just hadn't found one who was the real deal.
The Mystic's Accomplice brings us to the crowded streets of Chicago in May of 1924. The city was lined with the holy and the unholy, the innocent and the street-wise, and gangsters of every background from the pickpocket to the well-shined shoes of Al Capone and the Johnny Torrio gang. Although Prohibition was the law of the land, Chicago flowed with more booze in speakeasies than the depths of Lake Michigan.
Maddie Pastore knows Johnny Torrio up close and personal. Her husband, Tommaso, made discreet deliveries for the gang. Tommy convinced Maddie that it was on the up and up. But bad business led up to Tommy's demise one evening when a delivery went wrong. Maddie is now a widow who is about to deliver her own little package in a few months. Broke and pregnant, Maddie turns to the famous Hull House in Chicago where she gives birth to a healthy boy named Tommy.
With no other prospects and no family to support her, Maddie moves into a rundown tenement building where the roaches are tapdancing every night. She and little Tommy meet up with a former neighbor on Maxwell Street. Mrs. Burkholtzer is now known as Madame Carlotta Romany, a newly turned out Spiritualist. She offers Maddie a job in which Maddie can bring her baby. Desperate, Maddie accepts. And so our story raises its stakes.....
Mary Miley Theobald envelopes Maddie into the Spirit World of communicating with souls who have passed. Maddie is not quite sure that Madame Carlotta is the real thing, but with no other options and a newborn, it's a few dollars in her pocket. In the course of dealing with this clientele, Maddie comes upon a woman whose relative may be punching her ticket to leave this world faster than nature intended. With quick wit and an inquisitive mind, Maddie hits the pavement in order to stop it from happening.
The Mystic's Accomplice is certainly not a heavy-laden mystery thriller with car chases and dead bodies piling up. Theobald surrounds us in old Chicago with fine descriptors of its shady streets and its shady characters. Maddie proves to be a snappy main character with potential for a series here. It's an enjoyable read that fits the bill for escapism. I kicked it up from a 3.5 to 4 Stars for its creativity and timely depictions of the Windy City where Al Capone left more than impressions behind.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Severn House and to May Miley Theobald for the opportunity.
And no one was more against Mediums and Spiritualism than the man himself. Houdini didn't totally dismiss the idea. He did everything possible to shed light on the charlatans and frauds as possible. He just hadn't found one who was the real deal.
The Mystic's Accomplice brings us to the crowded streets of Chicago in May of 1924. The city was lined with the holy and the unholy, the innocent and the street-wise, and gangsters of every background from the pickpocket to the well-shined shoes of Al Capone and the Johnny Torrio gang. Although Prohibition was the law of the land, Chicago flowed with more booze in speakeasies than the depths of Lake Michigan.
Maddie Pastore knows Johnny Torrio up close and personal. Her husband, Tommaso, made discreet deliveries for the gang. Tommy convinced Maddie that it was on the up and up. But bad business led up to Tommy's demise one evening when a delivery went wrong. Maddie is now a widow who is about to deliver her own little package in a few months. Broke and pregnant, Maddie turns to the famous Hull House in Chicago where she gives birth to a healthy boy named Tommy.
With no other prospects and no family to support her, Maddie moves into a rundown tenement building where the roaches are tapdancing every night. She and little Tommy meet up with a former neighbor on Maxwell Street. Mrs. Burkholtzer is now known as Madame Carlotta Romany, a newly turned out Spiritualist. She offers Maddie a job in which Maddie can bring her baby. Desperate, Maddie accepts. And so our story raises its stakes.....
Mary Miley Theobald envelopes Maddie into the Spirit World of communicating with souls who have passed. Maddie is not quite sure that Madame Carlotta is the real thing, but with no other options and a newborn, it's a few dollars in her pocket. In the course of dealing with this clientele, Maddie comes upon a woman whose relative may be punching her ticket to leave this world faster than nature intended. With quick wit and an inquisitive mind, Maddie hits the pavement in order to stop it from happening.
The Mystic's Accomplice is certainly not a heavy-laden mystery thriller with car chases and dead bodies piling up. Theobald surrounds us in old Chicago with fine descriptors of its shady streets and its shady characters. Maddie proves to be a snappy main character with potential for a series here. It's an enjoyable read that fits the bill for escapism. I kicked it up from a 3.5 to 4 Stars for its creativity and timely depictions of the Windy City where Al Capone left more than impressions behind.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Severn House and to May Miley Theobald for the opportunity.
June 30, 2021
When pregnant Maddie's husband is killed, the Chicago mob says they'll take care of her. But Maddie doesn't want Capone and his friends messing with her life. Too bad that her husband's previously unknown first wife took all her money. Hull House helps her when she's giving birth, but now she needs a salary. Just when she's getting desperate, an old friend who's become a medium offers her a job of sorts--pretending to be what she is, a mourning widow, to help at a seance. Maddie parlays this into a real job, finding information on other seance participants to help her boss when the spirits don't come through. Digging for information on a recently deceased judge, Maddie realizes that she's found clues to a double murder--and the killer isn't finished yet.
August 31, 2021
This is not really a mystery but it is a charming and fun historical fiction novel. Great characters, great setting.
December 10, 2024
“The Mystic’s Accomplice” is the first novel in a three book mystery series set in the 1920s that focuses on Maddie Pastore, a young woman who goes from being the pampered wife of a mob associate to a single mother who unexpectedly begins working as an investigator for a woman who believes she can communicate with the spirits of the dead.
The novel consists of thirty-seven chapters.
The novel begins by transporting the reader to a funeral of Tommaso “Tommy” Pastore, husband of pregnant main character Maddie Pastore. During the funeral, Maddie is surprised when two dozen men in black suits attend the funeral service then follow her to the cemetery for Tommy’s burial. After being seated on a bench in the cemetery, Maddie is confused as to why strangers are giving her money for her and Tommy’s unborn child as well as promises to avenge his death since she never knew what Tommy did for work, only that his job provided them with a nice house and a car.
When Maddie is approached by famous Chicago mobster Johnny Torrio and his young sidekick Al Capone, Torrio tells her that all of Tommy’s funeral arrangements will be paid for including but a gravestone, but Maddie just wants to be left alone to grieve the death of Tommy. After the burial, Maddie leans that Tommy was a section boss for Torrio and was killed after retrieving a truck in rival mobster Dion O’Banion’s territory.
Just as Maddie begins to accept that Tommy is really dead, she gets the shock of her life when she learns that Tommy was previously married and never got divorced, leading to his first wife evicting Maddie from her home and freezing his bank accounts, leaving Maddie homeless and broke.
Luckily, Maddie is temporarily given a place to stay by her neighbor Lucy Dillingham while she works to get the situation with Tommy’s first wife resolved. Surprisingly, Lucy’s husband Bob helps Maddie break into her former house to retrieve her personal property as well as clothing for the baby and Tommy’s gun.
As the novel progresses, Maddie gives birth to a baby boy she names Tommy at Hull House, a settlement home for poor immigrant women. Although Maddie is the daughter of immigrants from Quebec, Canada, she decides since she is poor and has a child to support, she will do whatever it takes to not rely on Torrio for financial assistance.
Two weeks after Baby Tommy’s birth, Maddie moves to a boarding house and begins looking for work to support the both of them. Despite the abysmal state of the boarding house room, Maddie accepts it because the owner, Mrs. Jones takes her and Baby Tommy in without asking any questions.
When Maddie tries to find work to support her and baby Tommy at her old job as a retail clerk at Marshall Fields department store, she is angered when her former supervisor suggests she not work but instead find another man to marry. Her former supervisor tells Maddie that she since is twenty-seven, hasn’t cut hair in the flapper bobbed hairstyle, and had produced a baby, this will make her appealing as marriage material. Maddie is incredulous at her former supervisor’s suggestion to become a kept woman and decides to search for work elsewhere.
As Maddie visits where Tommy used to work, she receives a message that Tommy’s death has been avenged as well as a job offer from Al Capone to Baby Tommy once he turns thirteen. After hearing the job offer from Capone, Maddie shudders at the thought of her son getting involved in mob business, lest he suffers the same fate as Maddie’s brother and his father Tommy.
In desperation, Maddie decides to visit her parents for help and the interaction ends with her parents insulting her and baby Tommy. Upon seeing Myrtle Burkholtzer, the mother of her best friend from her school days, Maddie is able to secure a job playing a grieving widow during séances given by a woman named Madame Carlotta Romany.
When attending Madame Carlotta’s séance for the first time, Maddie begins to believe that Carlotta can communicate with the dead and that the seance is real until she provides incorrect information about Maddie’s and Tommy’s wedding. Following the end of the seance, Maddie finds a common connection between her and two sisters Aldo attending the seance since they Aldo had a family member killed by the mob. After having gotten information from the sisters, Maddie returns to Madame Carlotta and is able to secure steadier employment by investigating seance clients for Carlotta prior to them attending the seances.
Through Maddie’s investigations of seance clients before their appointment with Madame Carlotta, she is soon making twelve dollars week and Madame Carlotta also gives a raise to Freddy, a sixteen-year-old boy who also helps during the seances. Although Maddie feels bad for doing such dishonest work, she makes peace with her conscience by saying she’ll quit once Baby Tommy is weaned and feels her current job is better than selling herself on the street.
Since things going well working for Madame Carlotta, Maddie decides to visit two speakeasies with Freddy and Maddie feels empathy for Freddy after he shares an abusive childhood leading him to run away from home. Just as Maddie and Freddy prepare to leave the speakeasy, police storm the place and announce that everyone is under arrest. Upon arriving at the police station, Maddie is able to convince police officers to let her and Freddy go after becoming agitated about being away from Baby Tommy and pretending to faint.
Following their brief jail experience, Maddie tells Freddy that she’s never going to a speakeasy again and encourages him to do the same. The next morning, Maddie resumes her investigation of seance clients and establishes a friendship with Ellen, the maid of Daniela Weidemann, a wealthy widow and Madame Carlotta’s newest seance client. As she spends more time with Ellen, Maddie realizes that there may be foul play. While investigating a possible murder, Maddie is grabbed and confronted by a former mob friend of Tommy’s, Hank Russo.
Following more investigation work and conversations with Tommy through her dreams, Maddie is able to solve the mysterious death of Daniela Weidemann’s husband. As the weeks pass and Baby Tommy gets older, Maddie is surprised to receive baby clothing and other baby items from Hank. As part of Maddie’s investigation, she ends up working with Daniela Weidemann’s cook Bessie and police office Kevin O’Rourke to solve the mystery of how Daniela has suddenly become deathly ill as well as the murder of her husband and twelve-year-old nephew possibly done by her other nephew Noah.
Maddie made the unheard of and dangerous attempt to get information about Noah’s debts by visiting mobster Torino at a secret headquarters before receiving an invitation for a lunch meeting with Al Capone beginning with an offer of free housing with a pampered and ending with a request for a seance from Capone to reconnect with his deceased brother.
Maddie and Baby Tommy unknowingly find themselves in a shootout when trying to pick up flowers from a local florist shop which she later discovers was run by rival mobster Dion O’Banion. Upon surviving the deadly encounter, Maddie realizes that she and Baby Tommy will never be safe, especially since she saw the faces of three of the murders.
When Capone arrive at Madame Carlotta’s for the seance to reconnect with his brother Salvatore aka Frank, it goes awry when Carlotta says Salvatore is not there leading Capone to assume his brother is in hell and leaving her home angry.
As Daniela Weidemann’s health improves, Maddie also receives happy news from Carlotta that a former boarder is moving out of her home and offers the space to Maddie and Baby Tommy. After agreeing to move in rent free and paying for her and Baby Tommy’s share of food, Maddie happily vacates her room at the halfway she was living at.
The novel ends with Daniela finally returning for a second seance with Madame Carlotta, a shocking revelation being made during the séance, and Maddie along with Baby Tommy starting a new chapter in their lives by settling into Carlotta’s home.
As I finished novel, I was impressed by how resourceful and resilient Maddie was even after learning of Tommy’s deceit. While society wanted Maddie to remarry for the sake of a home and male companionship, she rebels and instead chooses to be independent for the sake of her son as well as reclaim her own sense of self other than being only viewed as Tommy’s wife.
The novel consists of thirty-seven chapters.
The novel begins by transporting the reader to a funeral of Tommaso “Tommy” Pastore, husband of pregnant main character Maddie Pastore. During the funeral, Maddie is surprised when two dozen men in black suits attend the funeral service then follow her to the cemetery for Tommy’s burial. After being seated on a bench in the cemetery, Maddie is confused as to why strangers are giving her money for her and Tommy’s unborn child as well as promises to avenge his death since she never knew what Tommy did for work, only that his job provided them with a nice house and a car.
When Maddie is approached by famous Chicago mobster Johnny Torrio and his young sidekick Al Capone, Torrio tells her that all of Tommy’s funeral arrangements will be paid for including but a gravestone, but Maddie just wants to be left alone to grieve the death of Tommy. After the burial, Maddie leans that Tommy was a section boss for Torrio and was killed after retrieving a truck in rival mobster Dion O’Banion’s territory.
Just as Maddie begins to accept that Tommy is really dead, she gets the shock of her life when she learns that Tommy was previously married and never got divorced, leading to his first wife evicting Maddie from her home and freezing his bank accounts, leaving Maddie homeless and broke.
Luckily, Maddie is temporarily given a place to stay by her neighbor Lucy Dillingham while she works to get the situation with Tommy’s first wife resolved. Surprisingly, Lucy’s husband Bob helps Maddie break into her former house to retrieve her personal property as well as clothing for the baby and Tommy’s gun.
As the novel progresses, Maddie gives birth to a baby boy she names Tommy at Hull House, a settlement home for poor immigrant women. Although Maddie is the daughter of immigrants from Quebec, Canada, she decides since she is poor and has a child to support, she will do whatever it takes to not rely on Torrio for financial assistance.
Two weeks after Baby Tommy’s birth, Maddie moves to a boarding house and begins looking for work to support the both of them. Despite the abysmal state of the boarding house room, Maddie accepts it because the owner, Mrs. Jones takes her and Baby Tommy in without asking any questions.
When Maddie tries to find work to support her and baby Tommy at her old job as a retail clerk at Marshall Fields department store, she is angered when her former supervisor suggests she not work but instead find another man to marry. Her former supervisor tells Maddie that she since is twenty-seven, hasn’t cut hair in the flapper bobbed hairstyle, and had produced a baby, this will make her appealing as marriage material. Maddie is incredulous at her former supervisor’s suggestion to become a kept woman and decides to search for work elsewhere.
As Maddie visits where Tommy used to work, she receives a message that Tommy’s death has been avenged as well as a job offer from Al Capone to Baby Tommy once he turns thirteen. After hearing the job offer from Capone, Maddie shudders at the thought of her son getting involved in mob business, lest he suffers the same fate as Maddie’s brother and his father Tommy.
In desperation, Maddie decides to visit her parents for help and the interaction ends with her parents insulting her and baby Tommy. Upon seeing Myrtle Burkholtzer, the mother of her best friend from her school days, Maddie is able to secure a job playing a grieving widow during séances given by a woman named Madame Carlotta Romany.
When attending Madame Carlotta’s séance for the first time, Maddie begins to believe that Carlotta can communicate with the dead and that the seance is real until she provides incorrect information about Maddie’s and Tommy’s wedding. Following the end of the seance, Maddie finds a common connection between her and two sisters Aldo attending the seance since they Aldo had a family member killed by the mob. After having gotten information from the sisters, Maddie returns to Madame Carlotta and is able to secure steadier employment by investigating seance clients for Carlotta prior to them attending the seances.
Through Maddie’s investigations of seance clients before their appointment with Madame Carlotta, she is soon making twelve dollars week and Madame Carlotta also gives a raise to Freddy, a sixteen-year-old boy who also helps during the seances. Although Maddie feels bad for doing such dishonest work, she makes peace with her conscience by saying she’ll quit once Baby Tommy is weaned and feels her current job is better than selling herself on the street.
Since things going well working for Madame Carlotta, Maddie decides to visit two speakeasies with Freddy and Maddie feels empathy for Freddy after he shares an abusive childhood leading him to run away from home. Just as Maddie and Freddy prepare to leave the speakeasy, police storm the place and announce that everyone is under arrest. Upon arriving at the police station, Maddie is able to convince police officers to let her and Freddy go after becoming agitated about being away from Baby Tommy and pretending to faint.
Following their brief jail experience, Maddie tells Freddy that she’s never going to a speakeasy again and encourages him to do the same. The next morning, Maddie resumes her investigation of seance clients and establishes a friendship with Ellen, the maid of Daniela Weidemann, a wealthy widow and Madame Carlotta’s newest seance client. As she spends more time with Ellen, Maddie realizes that there may be foul play. While investigating a possible murder, Maddie is grabbed and confronted by a former mob friend of Tommy’s, Hank Russo.
Following more investigation work and conversations with Tommy through her dreams, Maddie is able to solve the mysterious death of Daniela Weidemann’s husband. As the weeks pass and Baby Tommy gets older, Maddie is surprised to receive baby clothing and other baby items from Hank. As part of Maddie’s investigation, she ends up working with Daniela Weidemann’s cook Bessie and police office Kevin O’Rourke to solve the mystery of how Daniela has suddenly become deathly ill as well as the murder of her husband and twelve-year-old nephew possibly done by her other nephew Noah.
Maddie made the unheard of and dangerous attempt to get information about Noah’s debts by visiting mobster Torino at a secret headquarters before receiving an invitation for a lunch meeting with Al Capone beginning with an offer of free housing with a pampered and ending with a request for a seance from Capone to reconnect with his deceased brother.
Maddie and Baby Tommy unknowingly find themselves in a shootout when trying to pick up flowers from a local florist shop which she later discovers was run by rival mobster Dion O’Banion. Upon surviving the deadly encounter, Maddie realizes that she and Baby Tommy will never be safe, especially since she saw the faces of three of the murders.
When Capone arrive at Madame Carlotta’s for the seance to reconnect with his brother Salvatore aka Frank, it goes awry when Carlotta says Salvatore is not there leading Capone to assume his brother is in hell and leaving her home angry.
As Daniela Weidemann’s health improves, Maddie also receives happy news from Carlotta that a former boarder is moving out of her home and offers the space to Maddie and Baby Tommy. After agreeing to move in rent free and paying for her and Baby Tommy’s share of food, Maddie happily vacates her room at the halfway she was living at.
The novel ends with Daniela finally returning for a second seance with Madame Carlotta, a shocking revelation being made during the séance, and Maddie along with Baby Tommy starting a new chapter in their lives by settling into Carlotta’s home.
As I finished novel, I was impressed by how resourceful and resilient Maddie was even after learning of Tommy’s deceit. While society wanted Maddie to remarry for the sake of a home and male companionship, she rebels and instead chooses to be independent for the sake of her son as well as reclaim her own sense of self other than being only viewed as Tommy’s wife.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2022
This was a solid 3.5-star book. I enjoyed reading about a young woman's experience in Chicago during prohibition in the 1920s.
Seeing how Jane Addam's Hull House helped women who were poor, immigrants and/or widows was great. Maddie Pastore was a believable protagonist and a great researcher.
This book was about a young widow trying to make her way in the World alone without family and trying to stay away from "The Outfit," as it was called in the story. Al Capone and the killing of a rival gang boss make an appearance in this book.
There is a mystery, and information about Spiritualism. I read the book for a glimpse of the Spiritualists in the 1920s.
I had not heard of this book, but the cover caught my eye at the library and I am glad that I read the book.
It is a quick, easy read that was enjoyable.
If you are interested in historical fiction, the history of Spiritualism, or to see a glimpse of life as a widow during the 1920s, I recommed this book.
Seeing how Jane Addam's Hull House helped women who were poor, immigrants and/or widows was great. Maddie Pastore was a believable protagonist and a great researcher.
This book was about a young widow trying to make her way in the World alone without family and trying to stay away from "The Outfit," as it was called in the story. Al Capone and the killing of a rival gang boss make an appearance in this book.
There is a mystery, and information about Spiritualism. I read the book for a glimpse of the Spiritualists in the 1920s.
I had not heard of this book, but the cover caught my eye at the library and I am glad that I read the book.
It is a quick, easy read that was enjoyable.
If you are interested in historical fiction, the history of Spiritualism, or to see a glimpse of life as a widow during the 1920s, I recommed this book.
August 7, 2021
THE MYSTIC'S APPRENTICE by Mary Miley
Maddie, determined her son will have a good life far away from his dead father’s life in the Torrio-Capone gang, finds her options limited, no one willing to hire a new mother. Then she stumbles into work with a sincere mystic, Madam Carlotta Romany, doing “research” to help clients find the answers they seek, sometimes literally matters of life or death. This compelling, fun, suspenseful tale of intrigue and friendship had me quite unwilling to stop reading. I love a well-written tale!
Maddie, determined her son will have a good life far away from his dead father’s life in the Torrio-Capone gang, finds her options limited, no one willing to hire a new mother. Then she stumbles into work with a sincere mystic, Madam Carlotta Romany, doing “research” to help clients find the answers they seek, sometimes literally matters of life or death. This compelling, fun, suspenseful tale of intrigue and friendship had me quite unwilling to stop reading. I love a well-written tale!
June 17, 2021
Poor Maddie’s life disastrously falls apart at the start of this book. Bad enough to suddenly find herself suddenly widowed and pregnant – but when she then loses everything, she’s desperate. Fortunately, she’s blessed with a lovely nature that people warm to and while she doesn’t want to be a charity case, Maddie is on the receiving end of a lot of genuine kindness. Though once Baby Tommy is born, she needs to find a job so she can keep a roof over their heads and feed herself – and it’s a huge struggle. She is caught in the all-too familiar dilemma facing working women with children, especially as she is breastfeeding him.
No… this book isn’t all about that. But I’m glad to see one of the plot threads running throughout the story is Maddie’s constant worry about how she will keep Baby Tommy safely cared for while she holds down a job. It certainly means that once she has a measure of financial security while helping Madam Carlotta gain information about her clients, she can’t easily find another position. Even though she is uneasy about what she is doing at times.
I was aware that in the wake of the Great War and the terrible Spanish Flu epidemic of 2018, there was a huge upsurge of interest in spiritualists on both sides of the Atlantic. Millions of grieving relatives struggled to come to terms with the loss of far too many young people well before their time and turned to spiritualists for comfort. So Madam Carlotta feels she is called upon by a higher power to help people. And there are occasions when she clearly has flashes of genuine insight that can’t be explained away. However they are infrequent and fleeting. Therefore Maddie finds out as much as she can about the clients who book in advance to attend a séance, so Madam Carlotta can drop these details in. And it is when she discovers one family who have been particularly afflicted with more than one death that it occurs to her that the latest tragedy may not have been natural.
In the meantime, we get a vivid insight into a vibrant Chicago where Prohibition is in full swing and speakeasys and illegal gin joints have sprung up on every street. This gives the major crime families a licence to print money, by getting involved in the production of illegal liquor and distributing it. Gang warfare is simmering just below the surface – and given that Tommy was driving for one of the major outfits, Maddie needs to tread very carefully if she is going to keep herself and her newborn son free of their pernicious influence.
The story rattles along full of incident and suffused with Maddie’s gutsy can-do attitude, which I found very endearing. While the murder mystery is enjoyable and well done, it isn’t the narrative engine that powers this story – that is Maddie’s struggle to regroup after two devastating blows take everything, other than her child, away from her. That’s fine by me – the pages more or less turned themselves as I was fascinated to discover what happens next. And I’m definitely going to be looking out for the next book in this enjoyable series. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, particularly 1920s America. While I obtained an arc of The Mystic’s Accomplice from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10
No… this book isn’t all about that. But I’m glad to see one of the plot threads running throughout the story is Maddie’s constant worry about how she will keep Baby Tommy safely cared for while she holds down a job. It certainly means that once she has a measure of financial security while helping Madam Carlotta gain information about her clients, she can’t easily find another position. Even though she is uneasy about what she is doing at times.
I was aware that in the wake of the Great War and the terrible Spanish Flu epidemic of 2018, there was a huge upsurge of interest in spiritualists on both sides of the Atlantic. Millions of grieving relatives struggled to come to terms with the loss of far too many young people well before their time and turned to spiritualists for comfort. So Madam Carlotta feels she is called upon by a higher power to help people. And there are occasions when she clearly has flashes of genuine insight that can’t be explained away. However they are infrequent and fleeting. Therefore Maddie finds out as much as she can about the clients who book in advance to attend a séance, so Madam Carlotta can drop these details in. And it is when she discovers one family who have been particularly afflicted with more than one death that it occurs to her that the latest tragedy may not have been natural.
In the meantime, we get a vivid insight into a vibrant Chicago where Prohibition is in full swing and speakeasys and illegal gin joints have sprung up on every street. This gives the major crime families a licence to print money, by getting involved in the production of illegal liquor and distributing it. Gang warfare is simmering just below the surface – and given that Tommy was driving for one of the major outfits, Maddie needs to tread very carefully if she is going to keep herself and her newborn son free of their pernicious influence.
The story rattles along full of incident and suffused with Maddie’s gutsy can-do attitude, which I found very endearing. While the murder mystery is enjoyable and well done, it isn’t the narrative engine that powers this story – that is Maddie’s struggle to regroup after two devastating blows take everything, other than her child, away from her. That’s fine by me – the pages more or less turned themselves as I was fascinated to discover what happens next. And I’m definitely going to be looking out for the next book in this enjoyable series. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, particularly 1920s America. While I obtained an arc of The Mystic’s Accomplice from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10
August 12, 2021
I read a couple of novels by Mary Miley from a different series set in 1920s Hollywood, so I knew she is a great researcher. I was expecting an enjoyable story with lots of historical details, and I wasn’t disappointed.
This new series is set in Chicago in the 1920s but has a very different premise. Not an actress, this time, but a shill for a medium, though Meggie is the same kind of woman as Miley’s other series: independent, intuitive, clever and worldly.
I liked the basic idea of the medium and her work. Madame Carlotta is a good woman who truly believes she’s gifted, and Maggie and Freddy go along with her because they know she never deceives people. She actually tried to help them in every way she can, and often she manages to do it.
As a shill, Maggie has to learn as much about Madam Carlotta’s clients as she can. I found the details about this part of the jobs and the different stage tricks very interesting. Also, I can see how Maggie may pass from being a shill to being an investigator. She learns to dig into people’s lives for her job, and she’s very good at it. She also learns very quickly how to get information from people without looking too nosy. She’s a great character.
The mystery – well, that wasn’t so great. But I think part of the ‘problem’ is that this is an introductory story. It is clearly the beginning of a series, and although the mystery is there, it seems just the excuse to introduce characters and situations. Outside the mystery, the story presents many loose ends at the end, which gives away its nature, I think.
The mystery is very mundane, there’s nothing extravagant about it, and I actually appreciated it. This is a story of common people and common lives, and I like this. It’s a great portrayal of how life was for so many Americans in the 1920s. But it was maybe a bit too obvious and simple. I was disappointed by the way it unfolded because it was quite easy to catch the culprit, and the ending was a bit abrupt and a bit too convenient.
But all in all, it wasn’t a great problem.
I enjoyed it. It was a nice read.
This new series is set in Chicago in the 1920s but has a very different premise. Not an actress, this time, but a shill for a medium, though Meggie is the same kind of woman as Miley’s other series: independent, intuitive, clever and worldly.
I liked the basic idea of the medium and her work. Madame Carlotta is a good woman who truly believes she’s gifted, and Maggie and Freddy go along with her because they know she never deceives people. She actually tried to help them in every way she can, and often she manages to do it.
As a shill, Maggie has to learn as much about Madam Carlotta’s clients as she can. I found the details about this part of the jobs and the different stage tricks very interesting. Also, I can see how Maggie may pass from being a shill to being an investigator. She learns to dig into people’s lives for her job, and she’s very good at it. She also learns very quickly how to get information from people without looking too nosy. She’s a great character.
The mystery – well, that wasn’t so great. But I think part of the ‘problem’ is that this is an introductory story. It is clearly the beginning of a series, and although the mystery is there, it seems just the excuse to introduce characters and situations. Outside the mystery, the story presents many loose ends at the end, which gives away its nature, I think.
The mystery is very mundane, there’s nothing extravagant about it, and I actually appreciated it. This is a story of common people and common lives, and I like this. It’s a great portrayal of how life was for so many Americans in the 1920s. But it was maybe a bit too obvious and simple. I was disappointed by the way it unfolded because it was quite easy to catch the culprit, and the ending was a bit abrupt and a bit too convenient.
But all in all, it wasn’t a great problem.
I enjoyed it. It was a nice read.
March 25, 2021
Maddie Pastore feels like she has it all, a good husband, a home, a car and a baby on the way. In the blink of an eye it all changes hen husband is killed and his wife claims everything. Not Maddie, but the woman he was married to before her and didn’t bother to divorce. What’s a woman to do when she loses it all?
Down on her luck, but not out, Maddie goes to work for the Mother of an old child friend who has become a mystic and puts on seances. It’s not ideal, but it does keep Maddie and her baby boy from taking a hand out from the mob. While she knows they are conning people to some extent, she takes comfort in the fact that customers leave with a sense of peace and the mystic asks for no payment, just whatever they wish to give her. But when Maddie finds a new customer may be marked for murder, she has to find a way to save the woman who has already lost her husband and an adopted child without leaving Tommy an orphan and dying herself.
I’ll be honest, I was skeptical when I first decided to read this book, but I was pleasantly surprised! We have a strong female protagonist that wants nothing more than to raise her son to be a good person and spare him the abuse she went through growing up. I’ve gone from skeptical to adding this author to my must read list!
Down on her luck, but not out, Maddie goes to work for the Mother of an old child friend who has become a mystic and puts on seances. It’s not ideal, but it does keep Maddie and her baby boy from taking a hand out from the mob. While she knows they are conning people to some extent, she takes comfort in the fact that customers leave with a sense of peace and the mystic asks for no payment, just whatever they wish to give her. But when Maddie finds a new customer may be marked for murder, she has to find a way to save the woman who has already lost her husband and an adopted child without leaving Tommy an orphan and dying herself.
I’ll be honest, I was skeptical when I first decided to read this book, but I was pleasantly surprised! We have a strong female protagonist that wants nothing more than to raise her son to be a good person and spare him the abuse she went through growing up. I’ve gone from skeptical to adding this author to my must read list!
August 27, 2021
We meet Maddie Pastore in Chicago, 1924, just as her husband has been killed delivering illegal alcohol for the mob. Pregnant, penniless and alone, Maddie faces increasing hardship, particularly after the birth of her son, but refuses to turn to the mob for help.
A chance encounter with the mother of an old school friend, now a Spiritualist going by the name Madame Carlotta, Maddie spots a chance to earn money by acting as a “spill”. By researching clients of Carlotta’s in advance of séances, Maddie is able to provide facts and details that help the readings go more “smoothly”, much to Carlotta’s delight. During one of her investigations, Maddie stumbles across a case of two family deaths in quick succession and wonders whether foul play may be involved. She must use all of her powers of deduction to solve the riddle while finding a way to survive as a widow with a newborn baby.
This was a well-written mystery, and the characters were very charming. I enjoyed their relationships and liked the details of the time and place in which the tale is set. I would certainly read the next in the series.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.
A chance encounter with the mother of an old school friend, now a Spiritualist going by the name Madame Carlotta, Maddie spots a chance to earn money by acting as a “spill”. By researching clients of Carlotta’s in advance of séances, Maddie is able to provide facts and details that help the readings go more “smoothly”, much to Carlotta’s delight. During one of her investigations, Maddie stumbles across a case of two family deaths in quick succession and wonders whether foul play may be involved. She must use all of her powers of deduction to solve the riddle while finding a way to survive as a widow with a newborn baby.
This was a well-written mystery, and the characters were very charming. I enjoyed their relationships and liked the details of the time and place in which the tale is set. I would certainly read the next in the series.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.
March 21, 2021
⁸A wonderful new series from the talented Mary Miley introducing Maddie Pastore, a spunky heroine sharpening her sleuthing skills through the hustle and bustle of the Windy City during the prohibition era with lots of cleverness and guts. I really enjoyed this fast moving whodunit full of overdressed mobsters, burly cops, cheesy speakeasies and unforgettable characters. A richly detailed tapestry of Chicagoan life during the Roaring twenties where we follow the tribulations of a recently widowed Maddie as she tries to keep her life afloat with a new born son and the insurmountable task to survive all the odds stacked against her. Smartly plotted and deliciously scripted this delightful romp allows us little by little to follow Maddie's adventures as she gains more and more self-confidence on her way to becoming a private investigator. A sure winner from start to finish, the Mystic's accomplice will definitely keep you intrigued, hooked and hoping to get the next installment very soon. To be enjoyed without moderation👍👍
Many thanks to Netgalley and Canongate/Severn House for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel
Many thanks to Netgalley and Canongate/Severn House for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel
June 9, 2021
Maddie Pastore is eight-and-a-half months pregnant when her husband Tommy is killed by a rival Chicago gang. She finds out that he never divorced his first wife so she is left homeless and penniless. She seeks advice and shelter at Hull-House, the renowned settlement agency founded by Jane Addams. After baby Tommy is born she meets a former neighbor who is going into business as a medium to help clients communicate with their dead relatives. Maddie goes to work for Madam Carlotta as a background-checker, digging up details about the clients to make Carlotta's "spirit connections" seem more realistic. When Maddie discovers that one client's husband may have been murdered she is determined to find out the truth, even if she has to ask a favor from Tommy's boss in The Outfit.
Snappy dialog, a plucky heroine, and historical accuracy add up to a satisfying first entry in a new series.
Snappy dialog, a plucky heroine, and historical accuracy add up to a satisfying first entry in a new series.
June 20, 2021
Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com
3.5 Hearts This was kind of interesting. I have been interested in mob life since I really learned about who Al Capone was. Not just the “Scarface” we hear about but the real man. Anyway….. I thought I would pick up this book since it is a start to a new series.
Maddie’s husband has a history with the Chicago mob but when Maddie is widowed and pregnant she will do what she needs to do for her baby. I really liked Maddie. She was going through the hardest moment in her life and she persevered.
I think fans of gangster/mob stories will enjoy this new series.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 Hearts This was kind of interesting. I have been interested in mob life since I really learned about who Al Capone was. Not just the “Scarface” we hear about but the real man. Anyway….. I thought I would pick up this book since it is a start to a new series.
Maddie’s husband has a history with the Chicago mob but when Maddie is widowed and pregnant she will do what she needs to do for her baby. I really liked Maddie. She was going through the hardest moment in her life and she persevered.
I think fans of gangster/mob stories will enjoy this new series.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2026
This is a slow build historical fiction mystery. Recently widowed Maddie is left with nothing after her husband is killed in the bootlegger wars plaguing 1920s Chicago. To make ends meet for her and her newborn son, she takes a job helping a spirit medium gather information on clients. Amidst the research, she discovers that a client’s husband may have been murdered, and the client may be next. While gathering evidence to convince the client that her life is in danger, Maddie risks her own safety between run-ins with the police, and The Outfit. Can she find justice for those who have been hurt by all the violence?
The Mystery doesn't start until halfway through and there were some pacing issues with the narrative arc. I am already familiar with Chicago History, so it wasn't super thrilling, but for a historical novel, not bad.
The Mystery doesn't start until halfway through and there were some pacing issues with the narrative arc. I am already familiar with Chicago History, so it wasn't super thrilling, but for a historical novel, not bad.
March 24, 2022
3.75 stars
Enjoyable series debut set in Gangland Chicago in the 20s. Terrific opening sentence: "I didn't learn exactly what my husband did for a living until the day of his funeral." Young widow Maddie Pastore is pregnant and penniless, her husband gunned down while doing courier work for mobsters.
She vows to rise above her circumstances and ends up working for a supposed clairvoyant. Maddie's investigation into clients supplies the details for the seances but also reveals some sordid goings on and two possible murders.
Enjoyable series debut set in Gangland Chicago in the 20s. Terrific opening sentence: "I didn't learn exactly what my husband did for a living until the day of his funeral." Young widow Maddie Pastore is pregnant and penniless, her husband gunned down while doing courier work for mobsters.
She vows to rise above her circumstances and ends up working for a supposed clairvoyant. Maddie's investigation into clients supplies the details for the seances but also reveals some sordid goings on and two possible murders.
August 8, 2021
Good start for a new historical mystery series! An unusual heroine, a highly entertaining plot that kept me guessing and an interesting cast of characters.
Solid mystery full of twists and turns, vivid historical background, good character development.
Can't wait to read another instalment.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Solid mystery full of twists and turns, vivid historical background, good character development.
Can't wait to read another instalment.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
April 2, 2022
One of the better concepts I've read in a while. An investigator for a mystic/fortune teller/speaker to spirits, Carlotta, how she went about it while lugging an infant along with her was very well done. Very pleased with the way the detective told her what obstacles she faced in providing real evidence.
Hope there are more to come, especially want her to meet the 'first wife'.
Hope there are more to come, especially want her to meet the 'first wife'.
May 31, 2021
The mystic's accomplice by Mary Miley Theobald.
This was a really good read. I liked Madeleine. I liked how it was written. I don't normally read historical books but I did like this one. I was surprised with how quick I read it. 5*.
This was a really good read. I liked Madeleine. I liked how it was written. I don't normally read historical books but I did like this one. I was surprised with how quick I read it. 5*.
January 12, 2022
The Mystery Book Club discussed this title at our January 2022 meeting. Members enjoyed the historical setting (prohibition-era Chicago) of this mystery and found the tactics used to aid in the illusion of the medium's séances very entertaining.
June 25, 2022
The murder of maid Ursula can be easily guessed in the beginning when it was mentioned that she ran away with silverware.
This story is definitely NOT a typical nail-biter mystery and the plot could have been stronger.
This story is definitely NOT a typical nail-biter mystery and the plot could have been stronger.
February 28, 2023
Slow, slow, slow.
I did finish it, though.
Completely predictable plot , albeit with some good historical detail of 1920s Chicago (including Al Capone).
This is first in series and I will not continue.
I did finish it, though.
Completely predictable plot , albeit with some good historical detail of 1920s Chicago (including Al Capone).
This is first in series and I will not continue.
July 7, 2023
Really about a 3.4. The mystery aspect is pretty obvious, but I quite enjoyed the historical setting. I also appreciated the way the author carefully has the character walk the line between scam and belief. That was artfully done. I'll read the next one.
June 13, 2021
The story kept me interested from beginning to the end. The author did a good job of creating
the setting of Chicago during prohibition and Capone. The characters seemed real and interesting.
the setting of Chicago during prohibition and Capone. The characters seemed real and interesting.
November 27, 2021
What a wonderful start to a new series. Spiritualist, mediums, gangsters, murders and Al Capone. I can't wait for the next book.
February 27, 2022
Excellent story! I soaked up every1920's word & phrase that made this an exciting authentic adventure. Well done!
March 13, 2024
A library find.
March 2024.
Interesting.
March 2024.
Interesting.
July 27, 2021
The time is 1924 and the location is Chicago, Ill. Maddie Pastore who is pregnant is attending the funeral of her beloved husband Tommy. She notices men dressed similarly in suits attending. Her husband had been working as a delivery person it turns out for the the Outfit. Prohibition is in full swing and speakeasies are all over the town. Law enforcement turns the other way in part due to the bribes to look the other way and also due to it being an unpopular law. It seems that financially Maddie will be ok since they own their own house but the apple cart was upset. Don't want to give away what happened so will say Maddie goes searching for a job.
It is hard since her baby boy was born (at Hull House) and she needs to be able to take him to work to nurse him. She can go to the Outfit for money or sell her body. She wants to do neither. She meets a past neighbor who is now a mystic and Maddie starts working for her for one dollar a day. Maddie finds she is good at her job.
I liked this book. I liked the time period and the location. I, also, liked watching Maddie making a new life for herself through difficult times. Upon doing her investigations for the mystic, she believes a future client is going to be murdered. She sets out to stop this from happening.
The book was interesting and I am looking forward to the next book. As a reader, you get to attend seances. I had been reading some heavier books previously and reading this book was what was needed.
It is hard since her baby boy was born (at Hull House) and she needs to be able to take him to work to nurse him. She can go to the Outfit for money or sell her body. She wants to do neither. She meets a past neighbor who is now a mystic and Maddie starts working for her for one dollar a day. Maddie finds she is good at her job.
I liked this book. I liked the time period and the location. I, also, liked watching Maddie making a new life for herself through difficult times. Upon doing her investigations for the mystic, she believes a future client is going to be murdered. She sets out to stop this from happening.
The book was interesting and I am looking forward to the next book. As a reader, you get to attend seances. I had been reading some heavier books previously and reading this book was what was needed.
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