Nevermore Loth

Hjortsberg has created an interesting recipe for his novel. The characters of Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are the main ingredients. Throw in a farm girl who thinks she's the reincarnation of Isis. Set the story in 1923 New York City and have the characters cross paths with Damon Runyon, W. C. Fields, Fanny Brice, and other notables of the jazz age. Spice these ingredients with Houdini's amazing illusions and Doyle's belief in the occult. Add a few pinches of romance. Stir up the mixture with a killer inspired by the stories of Poe. One has to suspend belief to enjoy this concoction, but once the reader can do that, s/he will discover that Hjortsberg has managed to combine these improbable elements into a fun mystery. It won't take much for the avid mystery fan to figure out whodunit, but that won't dim the enjoyment of being pulled into the age of crystal sets, speakeasies, flappers, and vaudeville. And, of course we know the killer will have to be hideously clever to outwit both Houdini and the creator of Sherlock Holmes. NEVERMORE is like Houdini's magic ---only an illusion.

Houdini and Conan Doyle are two of my favorite people from history. This story was fun and enjoyable. It reminded me of "The Alienist" quite a bit, too. It is fun stuff--spritualism, magic, illusion, detective work...all happening during a great time in history.

I found this book facinating! It intertwined one of the genre's greats (Poe) with another author (Hjortsberg) who is destined to join the ranks of great authors. It mixed the occult with intrigue and kept me up all night reading. It was impossbile to put down.

I am not really a fan of most mysteries, but I found this one to be very appealing. What does it have? It credibly brings together Harry Houdini and Conan Doyle who shared a common interest in spiritualism, mixes in a fascinating (lady) psychic, and then provides a macabre tale of murder. An interesting twist in the plot is the regular appearance of the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe who appears to Conan Doyle, a believer in spirits. I enjoyed the book very much, in that I found it to be very well plotted, with believable characterizations of Houdini and Doyle. There were many twists in the book, and enough to keep me turning pages as the plot progressed. I'd very much recommend the book to people interested in either Houdini or Conan Doyle (or Sherlock Holmes for that matter). My only qualm is that I don't think the appearance of Poe's ghost added much -- it would have been a good mystery novel set in the past (somewhat on the level of the Alienist) without the elements of a ghost story

Hjorrtsberg gives us another, but far too infrequent, glimpse into the spiritual world. A good read of historical fiction laced with the occult