The Dark Arts

1889. Edinburgh. A large family arranges a séance—a popular Victorian pastime. A fortune-teller named Madame Katerina is invited to conduct it. But the morning after the séance, all the invitees are dead—except Katerina. The fortune-teller faces execution for murdering six people, but she swears she is innocent. To unravel this mysterious case, two Scottish police inspectors must work together: the Nine-Fingered McGrew, known for his fiery temperament and love of occult sciences, and Ian Frey, a proper dandy with excellent deductive abilities.

Frey and McGrew have many ordeals ahead—from a courtroom confrontation with the most vile prosecutor in town to a meeting with the very depths of hell. "Dark Arts" is undoubtedly the best book by Oscar de Muriel, perfectly playing with the riddle of a murder in a locked room. The atmospherically grim setting of late-Victorian Edinburgh is depicted flawlessly and gives the narrative a special tone. The story is sometimes melodramatic; the action revolves around the séance—essentially a theatrical act. The plot is gothically exaggerated—and magnificently absurd—but it still proves to be an extremely pleasant, engaging, and brilliantly written historical, mystical game with a rational solution hidden inside.