MISS MORTON AND THE SPIRITS OF THE UNDERWORLD

A lady’s companion and her shrewd and curious employer take up sleuthing when a friend of theirs becomes a murder suspect.

When Lady Caroline Morton and her sister, Susan, are left penniless by the death of their father, the Earl of Morton, Caroline becomes the companion to Mrs. Frogerton, whose money comes from trade and who hopes that the dowry for her beautiful daughter, Dorothy, may be large enough to arrange an aristocratic marriage. Their acquaintance Dr. Harris, who’s taken a job in London, soon becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. Mrs. Frogerton, who’s been attending séances at the home of Madam Lavinia Dubois, convinces the skeptical Caroline to join her at one. Among the guests are a masked young woman; the equally skeptical Professor Brown, who’s doing a study on mesmerism and spiritualism; and others desperate to hear from loved ones. Caroline is shaken when Madam gives her a note with information about her that very few others would know. Dr. Harris offers to accompany her to another séance in order to judge Madam Lavinia’s authenticity; there he meets Brown, who’s a colleague of his. The event is interrupted by an irate Sir Alfred Fielding, who barges in to extract his mother, Lady Fielding. Harris tells Caroline that he needs to speak to Madam Lavinia privately and asks her to accompany him back to her house the next day—and when they arrive, they find the woman dead. Harris rifles through her desk and appropriates some papers, including letters addressed to both himself and Caroline. Provoked by the police, who fasten on Harris as Madam’s most socially acceptable poisoner, the duo manage to fit snooping into their busy social schedule. If Madam was blackmailing some of her clients, the field of suspects is broad indeed.

A charming combination of mystery, Regency romance, and social mores.