The Spirit Engineer is the debut novel from TV and radio journalist AJ West. This is a thrilling gothic mystery set in early 20th century Northern Ireland and based on a true story.
Title: The Spirit Engineer
Author: A.J. West
First Published: October 7, 2021
Publisher: Duckworth Books
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to publisher, Duckworth Books, for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Belfast, 1914. Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, high society has become obsessed with spiritualism in the form of seances that attempt to contact the spirits of loved ones lost at sea.
William is a man of science and a sceptic, but one night with everyone sat around the circle something happens that places doubt in his heart and a seed of obsession in his mind. Could the spirits truly be communicating with him or is this one of Kathleen’s parlour tricks gone too far?
The Spirit Engineer is based on the true story of William Jackson Crawford and famed medium Kathleen Goligher, and with a cast of characters that include Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini.
A perfectly chilling gothic mystery
Regular visitors to my blog know that I read a lot of cozy mysteries, mysteries and historical fiction. I tend to shy away from ‘ghost stories’ or anything paranormal. I’m a scaredy-cat, honestly – I don’t sleep well after reading or watching anything scary. But I saw a blurb about AJ West’s The Spirit Engineer on Facebook and was intrigued. And so I went down the rabbit-hole. West himself is personable and charming online (I’ll be posting an interview with him soon) and as soon as I saw that The Spirit Engineer was available on Netgalley, I jumped on the Request button and even though I did receive an ebook from the publisher, I also ended up purchasing a signed hardcopy for my bookshelves (it’s a gorgeous book).
Let me prepare you – this book is gripping, thrilling, and mind-twisting. To know that it’s based on a true story makes it even more interesting. I was completely hooked and couldn’t put this book down until I was done (and yes, I read it with the lights all on).
The plot is fast and evenly-paced. Part of the reason that I couldn’t stop reading this book is because there is always something chilling, or hectic, or haunting happening. There are several twists near the end that just left me gasping (one of which I saw coming a mile away but one that completely blind-sided me!) It had me thinking about the story long after I had finished reading it.
Brilliant, haunting characters
The main character, William Jackson Crawford, is an engineer and very much scientifically minded. After a family tragedy, his wife tries to deal with her grief in a more spiritual manner and William, understandably is upset and tries to prove to his wife that her beliefs are misguided.
William starts off being a full skeptic of the young medium Kathleen Goligher and her seances and goes to extreme lengths to prove that she is a fraud. But along the way certain events convince William that the spiritual world is possibly real and he changes his tune and becomes Kathleen’s strongest supporter. Was he a charlatan himself, trying to make a quick dollar, or a gullible dupe who wanted desperately to connect with his own ghosts?
William’s character is written so deftly that I found myself feeling both sympathetic and disgusted at his actions. You can almost feel the tension of the situation and see William’s mental state deteriorate from logical scientist to obsessive fanatic. It was that macabre sense of ‘I can’t look away at this inevitable train wreck’ that is part of the gripping feel of the story.
It wasn’t just William who was well-written. All the characters brought something to the story. Kathleen was the vulnerable young medium who was possibly an experienced con artist. Williams’ wife was a desperate mother trying to come to terms with her grief. Even the brief cameos of Doyle and Houdini came alive on the page as believer and skeptic respectively.
But honestly, this is William’s story. And it is brilliant.
I’m so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to read something outside of my usual genres. It was the perfect spooky read for October, but honestly, West may have triggered a hidden love of dark gothic stories in me. I’ve already added a bunch of new books to my TBR in the genre – I just hope that some of them are even half as gorgeous as The Spirit Engineer – it’s going to be a tough act to follow.
Read The Spirit Engineer for yourself
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