Gentle Reader,

In December of 1855, I found myself once again in Boston, temporarily separated from my beloved family, living as a seamstress by day and writing my secret "blood and thunder" stories by night. I welcomed the companionship of my dear friend Sylvia Shattuck, but was quite taken aback by her strange desire to contact her long-dead father through a medium.

Nevertheless, I found myself at the home of the city s most famous crystal gazer, attending a séance with none other than the notorious showman Mr. P. T. Barnum. But what began as an idle curiosity became a compelling investigation -- for upon our second visit to the medium, Sylvia and I found she d been murdered! And to solve the mystery of her untimely death, I first had to uncover the surprising truth about her life....

Louisa May Alcott