Sunday, October 8, 2023
Uneasy Spirits, my Halloween novel, with discounts and excerpt.
Daily Diary, Day 1133:
Brief Check-in: Another sunny day, another day using the A/C and glad to have it, another day when I got over 1200 words written! And another day where my walk after dinner shows me that once daylight saving time here comes (early November this year) that it will probably be dark after dinner, so I will need to find a different time to do my second walk. But last night there was not only interesting clouds coming in from the ocean, but they were lit beautifully by the setting sun, and I caught a rabbit out and about!
Every October, I like to discount the price of Uneasy Spirits, the second book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, because it not only deals with the theme of how Halloween was celebrated in the late 19th century (you might wish to look at the post from last year) but because the plot permitted me to illuminate one of the female occupations of the period, Spiritualism and trance mediums…an appropriately spooky subject for the weeks leading up to All Hallow’s Eve. Someday when I have a lot of time, I will write an Historical Tidbits on why I gave my protagonist, Annie, the occupation of a pretend clairvoyant, as well as some background on Spiritualism in general in this period.
But, not today. Today, I am going to provide an excerpt from the book itself, to encourage you who have not yet read it to go out and buy it, and perhaps even motivate some of you to go back and reread this book, which is one of my favorites. In case you wish to buy the book, the ebook, which is $2.99 (half price) and can be found in all major retailers. The audiobook edition, which has been discounted down from $11.95 to $1.99 on Chirp, AppleBooks, and Barnes and Noble.
And, if you are in the mood for cozy mysteries, here is a link to a whole bunch of cozy mysteries, many of them historical mysteries, all discounted for the month of October.
Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
by M. Louisa Locke
Prologue
San Francisco, 1879
Why hasn’t that good-for-nothing boy come up to get me ready for bed yet? The hall clock just chimed quarter past nine! Eighty-four years old and I can still hear everything that goes on in this house. There! Sounds like he just knocked something over, down in the parlor. Probably he’s smashed up all my pretty treasures by now. Counting on me never making it downstairs again. Hah! Well, son, you have a surprise coming to you. Next fine day, I’ll holler down to the garden for Manny and get him to come up here and use those muscles of his to carry me all round the house. See what mischief you’ve been up to. I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve damaged.
Won’t I make you pay! You and that young wife of yours, too. Haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since noon. A blessing, really. Watching her gallivanting around the place like she owns it. Makes me sick. She can’t keep house worth a damn. Lets the tradesmen and that thieving cook take advantage of her. That’s why the housekeeping money don’t last! Between the two of you, robbing me blind.
I never should have let you move back in when your pa got so sick. That was a mistake. But he wanted his son nearby, didn’t he? Wanted to keep an eye on how you were running the company is more like it. If just one of the other boys had lived, oh things’d be different. Six sons, and the sorriest one of them all is the only one that outlasted their pa. If Zeke just hadn’t gotten killed in that brawl. Now that was a man who loved his mother. He wouldn’t have left me up here all alone. It’s time for my heart pills, and I want to go to bed!
Wedged in a massive wing-backed chair facing the fireplace, the old woman fretfully moved her head from side to side. The few glowing embers in the grate left the room in near darkness, except where the glow from the gas fixture in the hallway showcased the porcelain figurines of shepherds and shepherdesses preening across the top of a mahogany dresser. Ropes of pearls cascaded down the front of the stiff satin dress that stretched over the woman’s colossal frame. Wispy white hair capped a face of concentric soft circles, from her multiple chins to the drooping round hole of her mouth. But the pale cold eyes that glittered in the faint light ruined any illusion of amiability.
She suddenly raised an elegant wooden cane and began to pound furiously on the floor, setting every piece of jewelry and china to prancing. Just as abruptly, she stopped and cocked her head, the silence filled by her ragged breathing.
There, I hear you coming up the stairs. Forgot me, didn’t you, sonny boy? Left me to freeze up here. How many times have I told you my poor feet can’t take the cold evening air? But now you’ve let my fire go out, and it will take forever for me to warm up. It’s Nurse’s night off and good riddance to her, sneaky thieving woman, but that means you or that good-for-nothing wife of yours will just have to rub my feet for me tonight, won’cha!
What are you waiting for? Think I can’t hear you standing out in the hallway? You know it’s past time for my pills; I can hardly breathe. Dr. Hodges told you how important it is to give them to me on time. Too scared to come in by yourself, are you? Want me to say ‘pretty please?’ I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.
That’s better, come right on in and quit trying to sneak up on me. I know that trick, always trying to frighten me to death. There you go, ran right into the end of the bed, you clumsy oaf. Now, why are you just standing there breathing down my neck? Irritating boy. You just come around in front where I can see you, and I’ll rap you one with my . . . What are you doing? Stop it! No, no, get that away, I can’t brea . . .
The pillow was carefully placed on the floor, the clock in the hallway struck nine-thirty, the last ember snuffed out, and the Dresden figurines stared silently as hundreds of tiny pearls clattered softly to the carpet.
Across town, a young girl sat in the attic in a large armchair, her face in deep shadow. A shaft of moonlight from one of the two eastern facing windows cut diagonally across her chest, revealing multiple loops of colored beads that fell down to her waist. Her feet dangled, not touching the floor. In her arms lay a china doll, whose painted frozen features exhibited more life than could be found in her own face.
A song issued tunelessly from those rigid lips.
“Hot cross buns, hot cross buns! One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny, hot cross buns. If you have no daughters, give them to your sons. One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny, hot cross buns! Hot Cross . . .”
The girl straightened and pointed, her index finger contorted in a grotesque fashion. “You stop it right now.” Her voice, despite a quaver, was sharp and strong, and its force twisted her face into a mask of fury. “I see what you did. I see everything. You can never hide from me . . . stop . . .” The girl clutched at her chest, and the beads broke, cascading to the floor. The girl slumped, again immobile, humming.
“Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one ha’penny . . .”
Maybe next week I will give you an excerpt of a scene of a seance from the book, do let me know if that sounds like something you would like to read!
In case you aren’t sure how you got here, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. This is my newsletter reflecting on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully. If you aren’t already subscribed but are interested in doing so, you can subscribe by clicking the little button below. If you enjoyed this post, please do click on the little heart and/or share with your friends, and I always welcome comments!
Now I will have to re-read Uneasy Spirits!