AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

A young college professor investigates a murder in Hargrave’s mystery-series starter.

It’s 1886, and 28-year-old Hermann Horst is teaching a class on mythology at the University of Vienna when a colleague brings him a letter summoning him to Hungary, where his expertise in parapsychology and the occult may help with a murder investigation. Hermann travels to the small town of Salgótarján, home of Schattenturm, the historical estate of the Von Voitsberg family. Here, he meets Inspector OrczyGéza, who’s in charge of the murder investigation, and they team up right away. There are simple possible explanations for how the victim, estate gardener Andrej Fehér, met his end—he was in a great deal of debt and at least one resident of the household disliked him intensely—but the murder weapon was an antique war hammer, which is unusual, to say the least. There are also rumors in town that something supernatural might be trying to frighten away the house’s current owners, the unscrupulous Baum family. As Hermann investigates, he must determine if Andrej was killed by a human or by something else entirely. As he investigates, he uncovers the shocking secrets of the Von Voitsberg family as well. The novel is atmospheric and a little creepy, which is ideal for a murder mystery: “Beyond the initial three arrow-slit windows, the stair shaft grew dimmer until the men were surrounded by inky pitch darkness.” There are some great gothic elements, too: The house is full of secret passages and hidden rooms, and there’s even a mausoleum on the property. Some investigation scenes could have been a little tighter; Hermann, as a detective, is thorough almost to a fault. But he’s a novice investigator, too, and it’s intriguing whenever he stumbles onto new information. Hermann’s skills ultimately prove instrumental in solving the mystery, bringing the novel to a satisfying ending.

An often engaging gothic whodunit.