Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn

In Things Half in Shadow, the reporter for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Edward Clark, has been asked to use his knowledge about magic and magicians to expose mediums in the city of Philadelphia just after the American Civil War. He plans to expose Lucy Collins first, but when she learns of a secret in his past and plans to blackmail him, he has no choice but to team up with her. Soon they find themselves at the murder scene of a seemingly legitimate medium, Lenora Grimes Pastor, and work together to find her real killer.

To say I loved this book would be an understatement. I absolutely adored it! The author had me hanging on every word, from the first page to the very last. I found it immediately engaging and quite the page turner throughout. It's so well written and perfectly paced.

I especially love the way the book was written. The book starts out in the first person narrative with Clark looking back on his life, recording the events for his granddaughter. A perfect style for this story.

The historical information and subject matter were both terrific. I like reading historical fiction, but hadn't read any in quite awhile. This one had me feeling like I had been transported to a period in Philadelphia's history. As for the subject matter, even though I don't believe that ghosts exist or that mediums can talk to the dead on the other side, I found the storyline intriguing. Finn didn't change my mind in either of these matters (I don't think he meant to), but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book immensely.

I especially loved Clark as the main protagonist, but all of the characters were sensational. Lucy Collins, the Willoughbys, the Pastors, the Duttons, and everyone else. I love it when authors incorporate real-life people into the story. Here, Finn uses P.T. Barnum, the famous showman as a character interested in using a medium in his travelling show. Fantastic!!

The ending or at least part of it were a complete surprise. While I didn't have any ideas about how it would end, I certainly didn't see those events coming at all. The author hints at another book, possibly a series. I couldn't be more pleased.

Alan Finn is the pseudonym of Todd Ritter. I've read two other books by Ritter, Bad Moon and Death Notice. I adored them both. I'll have to track it down the other book in the Kat Campbell series.

Highly recommended!!! I hope to read many more books by this author.

For more information about this book, please visit Simon & Schuster website.

For more information about the author and his other books, please visit Alan Finn's or Todd Ritter's website.

Thanks to those nice people at Kaye Publicity for this review copy.

Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn, Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster), ©2015. ISBN 9781476761725(Advance Uncorrected Proof), 434p.