Grim Shadows (Roaring Twenties)
Combining the derring-do of a treasure hunter and the cheeky chutzpa of a con artist, Lowe Magnusson, brother of the bootlegger in Bennett’s first intrigue-laced, paranormal Roaring Twenties romance, Bitter Spirits (2014), returns to San Francisco with half of an antique amulet. Because he owes money to a gangster, Lowe intends to have a duplicate made to turn over to collector Archibald Bacall while selling the original. Blind, wheelchair-bound Archibald, however, wants more than just the amulet base and hires Lowe to find the four rays, or finishing pieces, that Archibald’s dead wife has hidden somewhere in San Francisco. When Lowe learns that Archibald’s demon-plagued daughter, Hadley, is also looking for the amulet, they reluctantly join forces. Lowe’s sister-in-law, a professional seer, channels Hadley’s mother, who complicates the search. As Lowe and Hadley work through the puzzles, while fighting off ancient Egyptian demons, they learn what true love is. Bennett plumbs the depths of a 1920s San Francisco beset with eerie overtones in her latest rollicking-good tale. --Pat Henshaw