THE MUSEUM OF UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE

An elaborately staged murder rocks a town that’s already all too devoted to the bizarre.

Wyndale, Florida, was founded by “true believers”: Christians hoping to reconnect with their dearly departed. Magic has permeated the fabric of the place so deeply that even mixing bowls are sold with the assurance that they’ve been “blessed by certified mediums.” Even practical, skeptical Alcyone Orlean isn’t immune from Wyndale’s preoccupation with the dark arts. After all, she’s run her father’s Museum of Unusual Occurrences ever since his death and her mother’s abrupt departure. And she’s abandoned her studies in anthropology at the University of Florida to care for her teenage sister, Merope. Still, she’s always regarded the museum’s exhibitions, including the current “Rituals and the Undead,” as artifacts rather than gateways to a higher truth. So when she discovers a dead woman surrounded by tableware, with bloody pinpricks on her fingers, lying next to a cabinet once owned by the medium Elwood Babbitt, she can’t decide whether to consult the local police chief or one of the town’s many clairvoyants. In the end, she does both, although it’s her own persistence that unravels the central puzzle. Wright’s writing is vivid but nuanced. She’s kind to all her characters but doesn’t balk at exposing their flaws. Her plot is ingenious, revealing that despite all the occult Wyndale has on offer, nothing is more mysterious than the human heart.

A promising series debut that will have cozy lovers and occult fans begging for more.