Riddle of Spirit and Bone (1851)

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In contemporary Buffalo, Dan's world is upended when he unearths a young woman's skeleton while replacing the gas main in a city neighborhood. Using the meager clues available, he and his archaeologist friends embark on a quest to piece together the mystery of her death. In 1851, the newly widowed Madeleine Talmadge and her orphaned nieces, Jane and Lydia, seek the aid of a cunning spiritualist, Alexander Dodge Lewis. Lewis leads them on a perilous journey from one sé ance to the next, attempting to summon the spirit of Madeleine' s late husband and promoting Lydia's latent abilities as a medium. Jane, suspicious of his motives and fearful of his influence, seeks to disentangle her aunt and cousin from Lewis' s beguiling sphere— with dire consequences. As the past collides with the present, layers of time peel back to reveal long-buried secrets of loss, love, and murder. Alongside its riveting plot, Riddle of Spirit and Bone offers subtle rumination on what can be observed, what