Either of the stories that twine their way through Carol Goodman’s latest literary mystery would stand up just fine on their own. Their interaction, however, ups the ante and gives “The Ghost Orchid” fresh twists that keep the reader guessing until the end.
Ellis Brooks has been invited to Bosco, a writers retreat in upstate New York, to work on her novel. This is a writer’s dream, several months of room and board at a mansion, with only the expectation of work. It should be a fruitful place for Ellis. Her work-in-progress is built around events that occurred in and around the mansion during the summer of 1893.
In the late 19th century, Bosco was the opulent home of lumber magnate Milo Latham and his wife, Aurora. Named for the Italian Sacro Bosco, or Sacred Wood, the lands of the estate were marked by intricate mazes, statuary and a grand scheme of fountains. But Aurora’s life was molded by grief more than wealth, and the artist colony of the present was established as a tribute to the power of art to console.
Mentalist Corinth Blackwell arrives at Bosco in summer 1893, summoned to help a bereaved Aurora contact three children who have recently died. (The belief that the living could contact the dead, through the help of a medium, was especially strong at the time.) Corinth brings with her the usual bag of tricks to fool the gullible, but she is unique among practicing spiritualists. She has a psychic gift, though it causes her such pain she rarely chooses to use it.
Back in the present, Ellis has stumbled on the events of the summer when a pamphlet, “The True and Intimate Account of the Blackwell Affair,” literally fell into her lap. She had been staying with her mother at her childhood home in Lily Dale, a town that remains dedicated to the practice of spiritualism. Ellis was well familiar with the topic of mediums; she had been raised by one.
The events of more than a century before provide a rich vein to mine. Soon after Corinth arrived on the estate, an artist died, reportedly of a heart attack. Then the final surviving Latham child, Alice, disappeared. The mystery behind the child’s disappearance was never solved, though it was long thought Corinth and her one-time lover, who was working at the estate, were behind the kidnapping.
The short story that inspired Ellis’ novel had come much more quickly than the novel is progressing. She is cowed by the ensemble of artists who share the workshop space: an esteemed novelist, a critic, a poet and a landscape architect who is studying the gardens to see if they can be returned to their former glory.
Goodman’s novel alternates between Ellis’ first-person narrative and her third-person work-in-
progress and the two story lines reinforce each other like reflected waves. As Ellis delves into and imagines Corinth’s story, it starts to become clear there was a good deal more going on at the estate than had been described in the pamphlet. More disturbing, though, is the growing realization that whatever forces were at work more than a century earlier have not dissipated.
The finale comes as a bit of a surprise because the turn of events has more of a supernatural focus than one might expect. But “The Ghost Orchid” is a fine mystery, more driven by character than most, and those who have enjoyed Goodman’s previous works won’t be disappointed in the unexpected direction of this one.
Robin Vidimos is a freelance writer who reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
