Postbellum America makes for a haunting backdrop in this historical and supernatural tale of moonlit cemeteries, masked balls, cunning mediums, and terrifying secrets waiting to be unearthed by an intrepid crime reporter.
Edward Clark is a successful young crime reporter in comfortable circumstances with a lovely, well-connected fiancĂ©e. Then an assignment to write a series of exposĂ©s on the cityâs mediums places all that in jeopardy.
In the Philadelphia of 1869, photographs of Civil War dead adorn dim sitting rooms, and grieving families attempt to contact their lost loved ones. Edwardâs investigation of the beautiful young medium Lucy Collins has unintended consequences, however. He uncovers her tricks, but realizes to his dismay that Lucy is more talented at blackmail than she is at a mediumâs sleights of hand. And since Edward has a hidden past, he reluctantly agrees that they should collaborate in exposing only her rivals.
The mysterious murder of noted medium Lenora Grimes Pastor as Lucy and Edward attend her sĂ©ance results in a plum story for Edwardâand a great deal more. The pair want to clear themselves from suspicion, but a search spanning the houses of the wealthy to the underside of nineteenth-century Philadelphia unearths a buzzing beehive of past murder, current danger, and supernatural occurrences that cannot be explainedâŠ