In Victorian-era New York, the police and the paranormal world intersect in this “otherworldly mystery [with] gorgeous writing and slow burn of a romance” (NPR). New York City, 1899. The NYPD’s Ghost Precinct, an all-female team of psychics and spiritualists led by gifted young medium Eve Whitby, is unconventional to say the least. And now they’re stepping even further outside the bounds of … outside the bounds of normal police work—into an otherworldly realm known as the Ghost Sanctuary. It’s a place where the dead can provide answers. But will Eve and her colleagues pay a price for venturing beyond the land of the living?
Investigating a mortician’s sudden disappearance, Eve encounters a charismatic magician and mesmerist whose abilities are unlike any she’s seen before. Is he connected to the mysterious deaths around the city—or a link to the Ghost Sanctuary? Torn between the bonds of her team and her growing relationship with the dashing Detective Horowitz, Eve must discern truth from illusion and friend from foe before another soul vanishes into the ether.
Praise for The Eterna Files
“Smart, boundlessly creative gaslamp fantasy.” —RT Book Reviews
“Will have readers chomping at the bit for more.” —Suspense Magazine on Eterna and Omega
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I’m a huge fan of Leah’s Strangely Beautiful series. I’ve read it a couple times. She’s my go-to author when I’m on the mood to drown in a world of mysticism, gaslight era, and Gothic fiction (with an almost breeze of romance,). She creates these words that converge with the spiritual plane and the gaslight era and it works so well.
Though I haven’t read the first book (there is enough backstory to get the gist), this story seems to pick up right where the last left off. The world of the spiritual plane is in peril and the ladies of NYPD’s Ghost Precinct are the only ones who can help.
Mystery and hordes of ghost children crying out for help on one hand. Meanwhile, Eve feels a bud of romance for Detective Horowitz. Can she face the fact that “sham” of a courtship massive something more for her, but what about for him,?
It’s a well written plot full of creative world-building in the gaslight era. It can be read as part of the series or standalone. I look forward to more adventures of Eve and the Ghost Precint
*”I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.**
Loved the Ghost Precinct concept. New York City of the late 1800’s comes to life in this entertaining book. Women heroines of all ages. Very imaginative. Just a darn good read!
Purely Perfect Ghostly Gaslamp Suspense!
In A Sanctuary of Spirits, the second installment of Leanna Renee Hieber’s Spectral City series, Eve Whitby, head of the NYPD’s Ghost Precinct, an all female team of psychics, once again teams up with the dashing Detective Horowitz to solve a new case, one that dangerously tampers with the portal between the spectral and temporal worlds. As always in Hieber’s novels, the stakes are high, the balance between seen and unseen, immortal and corporeal a delicate tightrope walk for her intrepid heroine. There’s also a delicious romance abloom between Eve and Horowitz and a cast of unforgettable and diverse characters on both sides of the Veil. Gilded Age New York, arguably a character in its own right, comes wonderfully alive, every scene imbued with a deep-seated sense of place and period reminiscent of Caleb Carr’s The Alienist. A must-read for lovers of gothic fiction, NYC history – or both!
Three and a half
This was an interesting, well written second part of what I’m guessing is a trilogy. Certainly this book reads as a follow up although sadly I have not read the previous story. It catches up with a medium called Eve who is part of a Unit working for the Police but as this is a period piece you can imagine the constraints levelled at the women. As this book begins Eve is desperate to find her ghostly best friend who has gone missing. Still struggling with the aftermath of recent exploits and kidnapping Eve and her fellow mediums are horrified when the ghosts of children start crying out for help but trust me dear reader the horror is far worse than you can imagine.
Sadly as I hadn’t seen the first book it took me a while to immerse myself in this but I did thoroughly enjoy the idea of these amazing women working for the Police. It does actually feel really well researched and of its time so to speak so I commend the author for her diligence. Alas it is slow to start in many ways and it wasn’t until the last third that things really started to get exciting. I liked the characters although they were numerous and there’s the beginning of a romance here although slow burn is actually overstating it ! There is a resolution of sorts but it ends in a way that means the author definitely has more to tell .
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from NetGalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair