About the Book

“Truth may be the greatest Illusion of all”

“Truth is rarely pure, and never simple.”

The Importance of being earnest

Oscar Wilde

“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind—“

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson

New York City, 1856

On a cold January morning, Evenlyn Atherton’s Knickerbocker husband is found murdered after attending an exclusive seance. Having “married up” into New York society, Evie herself is the immediate suspect. Ostracized and vulnerable, she knows that to clear her name she must retrace her husband’s last steps. And so, joining forces with her husband’s best friend—and the only Manhattan lawyer who will take her case—Evie dives into the mysterious underworld of the occult. Before long, the trail brings them to charismatic medium, Michel Jourdain. Evie’s instincts tell her the smooth-talking Jourdain is a charlatan—and her only hope for exoneration.

But getting close to Jourdain means embracing a seductive and hypnotic world where clues to murder come through the voices of the dead. Caught in a perilous game in which she is equal player and pawn, predator and victim, Evie finds there is no one to trust, perhaps not even herself. As her powerful in-laws build a case against her, and with time running out, Evie must face the real ghosts of her past if she is to have any hope of avoiding the hangman.

“Darkly mesmerizing historical suspense infused with a fabulously seductive supernatural atmosphere and riveting authenticity.”

--Amanda Quick, New York Times bestselling author of “The Third Circle”

“The Spiritualist sweeps the reader into the richly detailed world of upstairs/downstairs New York City of the 1850s. The heroine’s life and sanity are at stake in this unique murder mystery, and compelling characterization and clever plot twists abound. There’s not a ghost of a chance that Megan Chance’s enthralling story will let you put it down.”

--Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author of “The Last Boleyn”

Featured alternate of:

Book of the Month Club

Mystery Guild

Literary Guild

Doubleday Book Club

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