"wonderful Victorian Paranormal"
What a delightful late Victorian story, from a gently deft
writer! In this paranormal, Sophie Haversham is lady of
quality, even though she lives in genteel poverty with her
aunt Violet. Since her uncle's death, Aunt Violet has
turned her Mayfair home into a boarding house. Sophie
helps
with the borders, spends her time in the gardens and in
the
observatory growing orchids. She is happy with her life,
though it is not the life her mother hoped for. Only,
Sophie is plagued with visions. Sometimes they come in her
dreams, leaving her to wake up shaking, knowing something
very horrid will happen; sometimes they seize her while
she
is up and about causing her to faint and suffer a
lingering
headache. When she awakens from one of her dreams, where
she saw a man dead and bleeding in the park, she knows she
just cannot ignore it, so she goes to Scotland Yard with
hopes of preventing it. It's Mick Dunbar's birthday. One of the best roving
inspectors of the Yard, he is not facing his birthday with
much joy. First, looking in to the mirror he decides to
shave his mustache, hoping to hide he is not getting old -
after all, thirty-six is NOT old, or so he kept telling
himself and everyone at the yard. He arrived to find his
office and been moved, while it's being painted, leaving
him in the middle of the traffic of the yard. So, he hears
the pretty but slightly disheveled young woman trying to
report a murder. When Sophia spies Mick sitting there, she knows he's the
man she sees dead in her vision. She describes the park
that it is at night, below the statue of Robbie Burns. But
she cannot convince Mick the threat is real; he believes
it's another birthday joke being played upon him. Later,
after he leaves the pub and crosses the park to get to his
boarding house, he discovers he is passing right by the
statue of Burns. Being alerted, he catches shadows moving
in time to fall to the ground to keep from being shot. Now Mick is convinced Sophia is a nut shooting at him, or
she knew someone was going to shoot at him and is trying
to
protect this person, so Mick is coming after her. He
investigates Sophia and those connected to her, and
eventually takes a room in Violets Mayfair home. Nothing
Sophia tells him changes his mind, so he sets about to
find
out what she is hiding. Sophie is telling the truth about her vision, but there
are
other secrets she is hiding. Their butler was a former
criminal. Aunt Violet is "overly fond" of other people's
jewellery - not a thief, but a kleptomaniac. Her sister
Charlotte is married to a lawyer, who does not love his
wife, is stealing from his clients, and keeps a blonde
mistress on the side! Just before Mick moves in, Sophie
discovers Violet has "borrowed" her cousin's diamond and
emerald necklace. When Mick searches the house, and finds
it hidden in Sophie's underwear draw, he arrests her. As Sophie tries to convince Mick he's still in danger,
they
both are drawn into an affair. Sophie and Mick are
delightful characters, and Gurhke bring the end of the
1800's alive. The whole book is just such a wonderful read!
Reviewed by Deborah Macgillivray
Posted November 10, 2006
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In this wonderfully captivating and sensual page-turner from award-winner Laura Lee Guhrke, a woman who "foresees" a crime and tries to prevent it finds white-hot passion with a sexy, skeptical Scotland Yard inspector. Sophie Haversham would give anything not to have the gift of foresight. After all, her "talent" has already cost her one fiancé. And reporting a crime that hasn't happened yet is no easy task -- especially when the future victim turns out to be the tough, devastatingly attractive policeman handling the case. Inspector Mick Dunbar doesn't believe in visions, and he's convinced that Sophie is actually shielding a would-be murderer. Only when Sophie's life is in danger does Mick realize he has fallen in love with this beautiful, courageous woman who can see into his very mind and heart -- but will the knowledge come too late to save her?
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