Wednesday, May 13, 2026

A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers

 
First line:  "It's good you've finally summoned me," I said. "There's no doubt a spirit torments this house."

Setting:  Victorian London, 1852

The what:  A dead bride. A charlatan. A Gothic mystery. Secrets. Ghostly rumors. And a fake seance meant to find a murderer.

The who:  Genevieve Timmons, a young woman not quite 19, who learned how to perform seances to swindle the rich from her mother; she's got the threat of the noose hanging over her head if she can't get this last seance right.

Gareth Pemberton, the new earl of Somerset Park; he wants justice for Audra Linton, the young woman he was supposed to marry. He's not sure he can trust Genevieve, but he needs her help to flush out a murderer.

The why:  This is an entertaining mystery with atmosphere, a tangled web of secrets and suspects, interesting characters, and a few good twists. Genevieve was spunky, suspicious, stubborn, vulnerable and very alone in the world; I liked her and how she held her own even though everything was stacked against her. She and Pemberton made an interesting team. I would have liked a little more of them together at the end, but all in all I enjoyed this one.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!


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37 comments:

  1. This sounds like a book I'd love, especially the Victorian ghostly setting😁

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    1. I love that Victorian ghostly setting, too!

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  2. There was a time in my life when I devoured books like this. They were my favorite genre. I haven't actually read one in quite a while so maybe I'll add this one to my reading list.

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  3. This sounds fun - I love books about seances. I'm glad you enjoyed this one.

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    1. I love books with seances, too. Especially historical fiction ones. :D

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  4. This does sound like a fun one.

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  5. Now this sounds like fun. Seances in Victorian times, what's not to like?

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    1. Right? All we need is a few ghosts, too. ;D

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  6. This sounds like a super fun read! I hadn't heard of it before, but now I think I need to read it. Thanks for the rec.

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  7. This sounds like a fun mystery! I love a Victorian setting! :D

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  8. I think I'd enjoy this one! The cover is pretty, too! :)

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    1. It's a fun read. I liked the main characters.

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  9. I just check and I have this one on my Libro.fm account. I had completely forgotten about it so thank you for the reminder! It looks like a good read and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. It was fun. And I liked the time period and setting.

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  10. I'm really loving gothic novels lately and missed this one. It sounds like so much fun! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

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    1. I love a fun gothic...as you can tell by all the similar titles I listed at the end of this post. ;D

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  11. Oh, how fun! And sounds like it would be great timing for me to read this one, since I just finished a different book with Victorian seances!

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  12. I do enjoy the Victorian setting, and I am reading one now (The Q by Beth Brower), with that setting.

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    1. Lark, it was a very slow beginning because of a lot of world building. I wanted to DNF it, I am more than half way through, I don't love it, but I am invested. I have heard the ending is 5-star worthy, so I am curious and will see.

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    2. Fingers crossed the ending is worth it. I'm not sure I'd make it to the end with my tired brain and short attention span these days. ;D

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  13. I love Victorian settings for novels and sorry to hear that we don't get enough of Gareth and Genevieve together because they are an interesting couple who come from two different worlds and so more interaction between them would be fun.

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    1. I just wanted a few more moments at the end with them, but it's still a fun read.

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  14. Seances are in quite a few novels. They are a bit mystical whether real or fake. Hope Pemberton gets to the bottom of the case.

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    1. I think seances are always fun in a book. :D

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  15. Genevieve sounds like a lot of fun and this looks like one I would really like. The cover is pretty as well.

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