I've never channelled a real ghost, far as I know. Until recently I didn't know there was any such thing. [p. 335]
Set in the USA in 1934, this is the story of Dashiel Quicke, a former medium who now travels the country debunking spiritualism, and Hermann Goschalk, a mild-mannered Egyptologist who believes that he is being haunted by an ancient spirit. Dashiel, down on his luck and pursued by his former partner and lover, Porphyrio, does his best to persuade Hermann that there are no such things as ghosts. Unfortunately, he is wrong.
The horror aspects are nicely paced: bleeding walls, things moving on their own, a freaked-out cat named Horatio, a whispered phrase in a foreign language... Hermann is very ready to be convinced that he's imagining things, until the evidence becomes overwhelming. The phenomena seem to be tied to a shabti, a small funerary figure, and it's Dashiel who devises a way to find out what the ghost wants. Meanwhile, the two are drawn together in a pleasingly slow-burn romance (they are both over forty) and the figurative ghosts of Dashiel's past are dealt with satifactorily.
This was cosy and cheerful despite dark undertones. Hermann and Dashiel are likeable, the cat excellent, the secondary characters (such as the redoubtable Agnes, Hermann's secretary) are fleshed out enough to be credible, and the ghost itself is rather pitiable. Lorenz clearly knows her Egyptology, and I was inspired to hunt down some of her references to ancient Egyptian ghost stories and magicians ... which of course is an enticing rabbithole. I look forward to more novels by this author.
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