A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers

 
A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers
My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from William Morrow Paperbacks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Genevieve Timmons is a spiritualist who provides peace for the mourning people who call on her. Her side business? Robbing the people who call on her so that she can keep herself afloat. When Genevieve’s luck finally runs out, she’s caught red handed as she tries to flee her latest job and finds herself in jail waiting for the gallows. Thankfully, a dying lawyer has offered her freedom in exchange for duping a mourning man into believing his late fiancée is at peace. The only problem is that Mr. Pemberton knows she can’t speak to the spirits, but he does strike a separate deal with her. If Genevieve uses her séance to guilt the person who killed his late fiancée to come clean, he won’t have her arrested for trying to steal from his home.

When I picked up this book, I was not expecting the wild ride that I was in for. We follow Genevieve, a spiritualist who learned everything she knows from her late mother. Spiritualism is hard to get by on, so she’s resorted to stealing so that she isn’t forced to become a lady of the night under her landlord. Watching her unravel a murder mystery at Mr. Pemberton’s seems like it’d be a pretty clear case at first, but that is not the case at all. I had some theories that were totally wrong, but was it fun? Absolutely!

There’s a diary entry from the late Audry between each chapter, which gives us a glimpse into her life. Genevieve believes that Audry killed herself the night before the wedding, and she’s not the only one who thinks that. However, Mr. Pemberton and others believe that she was murdered. I was with Genevieve at first, but the longer that I read the book, the more questions arose and it became clear that not everything was as it appeared. My theories on the matter weren’t on the right track, but when everything was revealed, it certainly made a lot of sense.

One of my favorite parts of the book is watching Genevieve battle with herself about whether or not ghosts are real. At first, it appears that someone is purposely trying to spook her, but then she starts to question if Audry’s spirit is actually trying to contact her. It was so much fun to watch her go back and forth as she faced the possibility that she may be making contact with a spirit for the first time despite not believing in the possibility.

While the plot is a wild read, there are quite a few characters and different plots. Other than Genevieve and Mr. Pembrum, there’s several characters who pop in and out. One of my favorites is Flora, who is a cheerful and naïve member of the staff that Genevieve cozies up to. Through her, we learn a lot of facts as well as the most recent gossip as it happens. There’s also a couple romance plots, and one is a very slow burn that’s not obvious until the pair continue to get to know each other.

All in all, it was a wonderful read and it makes me excited to check out the author’s other works.