The Problem of the Spiteful Spiritualist — Roberta Rogow

The creators of Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland unite to solve a sea captain's murder in a historical mystery that will appeal to Anne Perry fans ( Booklist ). The reverend Charles Dodgson comes to Portsmouth hoping for rest, relaxation, and a few days' peace in the company of his friend Arthur Conan Doyle, physician and aspiring author of mysteries. But within a minute of their reunion, Doyle is talking about murder. One of his patients, a gout-ridden ex-sailor, has dropped dead in his study, and Doyle is not convinced by the coroner's verdict of natural causes. Besides being the author of Alice in Wonderland , Dodgson is a renowned mathematician, and Doyle begs him to use his deductive brilliance to find the man who snuffed out the old sea dog. When an Indian raja arrives to accuse the dead man of stealing treasures from India, a local mystic volunteers to help unravel the case. Doyle and Dodgson are wary of taking help from a psychic, but they will soon find that it may take more than logic to solve this case.