A Trick of the Light

London had Sherlock Holmes. The dark alleys of Edinburgh had Inspector McLevy.

Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in a thrilling mysteryamp;mdash;the third in a seriesamp;mdash;set in dark, violent Victorian Edinburgh.

Halloween 1881, Edinburgh, and the dead are restless. In respectable Edinburgh society, beautiful young American spiritualist Sophia Adler is causing a furor with her dramatic séances. But the ghosts of the past seem hell-bent on retribution.

Inspector James McLevy finds his investigations distracted by more earthly concerns when Muriel Grierson, an outwardly genteel widow, is robbed at home. Her knight in shining armouramp;mdash;one Arthur Conan Doyle, recently graduated from medical schoolamp;mdash;is keen to learn from such a master of detection as the renowned inspector, but McLevy is less sure that he requires a new acolyte.

A vicious murder occurs with evidence of supernatural strength and violence. Treachery revenged from a battle long ago. All roads lead to Sophia Adler, and the inspector becomes involved with one of the most dangerous women he has ever encountered.