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 The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford. Nebula Award nominee. Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original Mystery.
(Brought to you by kat impatientreader.com) It's 1932 in Long Island, NY. The nation lies paralyzed in the grip of the Great Depression. Only the wealthy – and those who prey on them – are getting by. Diego, a 17 year-old Mexican, is one of the predators. He is the unofficially adopted son of Thomas Schell, a con man. Diego, Schell, and Schell's bodyguard Antony make their living swindling the grieving and gullible rich. Their specialty: expensive and elaborate séances at which they pretend to contact departed loved ones. When they are not stealing from the rich, they hang out at Schell's country estate. Schell tends his indoor flocks of butterflies that live in a special greenhouse. Diego studies with private tutors, and Antony cooks the dinners. Then one night Schell thinks he sees a real ghost: a little girl reflected in a glass pane beckons to him for help. No one else sees anything. But Schell cannot seem to forget about it. Days later he points out an article in the newspaper: a rich man's young daughter has been kidnapped. Schell insists that they offer this man their services free of charge to help track down the girl. Antony expresses his private opinion to Diego that Schell must be suffering guilt from fleecing so many bereaved people over the years. What Schell says, goes. So our three guys involve themselves in the case of the kidnapped little girl. This leads to the introduction of several colorful characters including a beautiful pale damsel in distress who is also a fake psychic, a lovely Mexican maid, a mad scientist, and a gaggle of freaks and carnies who pitch in to help their beloved con artist Schell when the going gets tough. Which it does because our boys have uncovered a bizarre eugenics plot. This is an enjoyable read that won an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for best paperback original mystery novel.) I'm not sure about that Nebula Award nominee (other than the fact that the author has published in the fantasy field in the past). There is no science fiction or fantasy in this novel at all. You can find The Girl in the Glass on Amazon.com through this link
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Noteworthy Links: Wonderquest - Science Q/A! The Connection - Tech blog! Author site - John the Eunuch Historical Mystery series, Cozy Mystery List for all your cozy mystery needs, Obsidian Bookshelf - reviews of gay-themed fiction. |
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