The Séance Garden: A Novel by Juliet Blackwell

(Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!)

New book alert! I just started reading this paranormal mystery for Summerween and must say, I am intrigued. I am really enjoying getting to know Harper and the town of Monterey. I can't wait to find out what happens next! 

Anyhow, I just wanted to alert you to this great new novel by Juliet Blackwell and provide a bit of information about it so that you will be enticed to grab a copy of your own. Here goes:

"After a cheesy ghost tour in one of California’s oldest towns stumbles upon an actual haunting, a skeptical historian of the occult becomes entangled in solving a murder case.

When Professor Harper Grae loses a bet with a friend, she finds herself on a local nighttime tour of “haunted” locations in Monterey. Harper’s a lifelong non-believer in the occult, though her academic career is devoted to the historical and societal significance of witchcraft, ghosts, and medicinal poisons of all sorts. But her skepticism immediately gets tested when the tour stumbles on the body of local artist Delilah Mason—who’s found murdered on the grounds of a nearly two-hundred-year-old mansion, once home to the infamous Perles family.

On the night Mason’s body is found, Harper catches sight of something in the house that she can’t shake, something that’s impossible to explain, at least not rationally. Soon the murder investigation reveals that this is the second time a woman has been found murdered beneath a sprawling cypress tree in the gardens of the Perles Mansion. And when Harper’s closest friend is questioned by the police, Harper fears the authorities will fail to uncover the real killer.

As Harper asks questions around town and digs deeper into the supernatural speculation and rumors surrounding the murders—two women killed in similar circumstances, separated by nearly two centuries —she sees evidence she can’t ignore that the notorious mansion truly is haunted by the ghost of Isabel Perles. 

What will it cost Harper to rethink everything she’s always believed to admit that the veil between the living and the dead might actually be crossed?"

How exciting does that sound? I always love these sleuthing mysteries - they make for such a fun time. Anyhow, I'm off to continue reading more - I'm still feeling under the weather, so reading all day sounds perfect. 

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

The Paris Showroom: A Novel by Juliet Blackwell

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

In Nazi-occupied Paris, a talented artisan must fight for her life by designing for her enemies. From New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell comes an extraordinary story about holding on to hope when all seems lost.

Capucine Benoit works alongside her father to produce fans of rare feathers, beads, and intricate pleating for the haute couture fashion houses. But after the Germans invade Paris in June 1940, Capucine and her father must focus on mere survival—until they are betrayed to the secret police and arrested for his political beliefs. When Capucine saves herself from deportation to Auschwitz by highlighting her connections to Parisian design houses, she is sent to a little-known prison camp located in the heart of Paris, within the Lévitan department store.

There, hundreds of prisoners work to sort through, repair, and put on display the massive quantities of art, furniture, and household goods looted from Jewish homes and businesses. Forced to wait on German officials and their wives and mistresses, Capucine struggles to hold her tongue in order to survive, remembering happier days spent in the art salons, ateliers, and jazz clubs of Montmartre in the 1920s.

Capucine’s estranged daughter, Mathilde, remains in the care of her conservative paternal grandparents, who are prospering under the Nazi occupation. But after her mother is arrested and then a childhood friend goes missing, the usually obedient Mathilde finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of Paris’s Résistance fighters. As her mind opens to new ways of looking at the world, Mathilde also begins to see her unconventional mother in a different light.

When an old acquaintance arrives to go “shopping” at the Lévitan department store on the arm of a Nazi officer and secretly offers to help Capucine get in touch with Mathilde, this seeming act of kindness could have dangerous consequences.

my thoughts:

Wow! What an engaging and entertaining story. I just loved The Paris Showroom by Juliet Blackwell. It was such a treat to read. 

The story shares a mother-daughter relationship that is non-existent, until it is forced to exist. Paris has been invaded by the Nazis and people are struggling to survive. Capucine and her father are arrested, but she manages to avoid being sent to Auschwitz. Instead, Capucine is sent to work at a prison camp within a department store. Her daughter, Mathilde, is living with her paternal grandparents - they have been raising her.  The two have no connection, apart of biology.  Except, with everything going on, Mathilde finds herself questioning the world and wondering about her mother. In fact, one day Capucine gets an offer at work - someone is willing to help her get in contact with Mathilde. The question is, should she? Is it safe? Will this turn out to be a trap? Could she be endangering her daughter's life and her own? 

Blackwell has created a lovely story about two strong women and their determination to survive and thrive. The Paris Showroom is a terrific story! I'd definitely recommend it to fans of Blackwell and to anyone looking for their next great read - you will LOVE this book! Check it out!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!