The Medium by C. J.  Archer

The séance had turned almost comical.

Celia and I were having a séance for Mrs. Wiggam. Her husband appeared, as angry and unforgiving as his wife. She wanted to know where the fortune was hidden. I knew he was lying when he said there was no fortune and so did she.

Mr. Wiggam was in the Waiting Area and I knew he couldn’t move on, until he lost all his anger. Even in death he was still afraid of his wife.  While I tried to get him to return to the Waiting Area, something sinister came through.

Others saw it. Mrs. Wiggam convinced them they were seeing things. I hoped they believed her. Otherwise, it could be bad for our reputation.

Celia had bought an amulet from an old crone of a peddler. She had been used to release the spirit. We arrived at our front door, only to be met by Jacob Beaufort, a ghost. He told us he was assigned to us by the Administrators. They controlled the Waiting Area and Otherworld, making things run smoothly in the ghostly realm. He said we had brought forth a shape-shifting demon. The amulet had been cursed, thus allowing the demon through. I told Jacob it was me to cover for Celia, but he said the demon was linked to whoever wore the amulet. He would have to banish it.

Jacob seemed more real, more solid than the usual ghosts I saw. I felt drawn to him.  He said there were few like him.

We were off to visit George Culvert, a demonologist. Jacob told me they had both went to Eton, but he neglected to tell me they had never met. I reached for the door knocker and noticed it was shaped like a paw.  When I told him I was interested in shape-shifting demons, he said he had a book that would have explained what I needed to know, but it had been stolen a week ago. He told me the shape-shifter could steal a ghost’s soul, make it cease to exist anywhere, be nothing.

Mrs Culver entered the library. She was mean tempered, until I told her I knew Jacob. She said he died under mysterious circumstance. I found out Jacob was nobility. He had told me he died at 18, just a few months ago.

All George could tell me about Jacob was he simply vanished. Nothing of him was ever found. When I tried to question George’s maid, Maree Finch, about the book, she turned violent, coming at me with a knife. Jacob pushed me out of the way. I knew she stole the book for someone, but she had run away before I could ask her anything more.

Jacob popped into my bedroom. He said it wasn’t proper at all. So why was he here? He told me there had been a death. It was the second one. He thought the deaths were connected, because the house the footman had worked at was burgled after the murder.

To keep him here, I asked if my mother was in the Waiting Room. He said no, but Aunt Catherine Sloane was. I had so many questions about how I came to be, so I called out to her and she appeared. She was an evil, mean-spirited woman. She was right when she said  I didn’t want to hear anything she had to say.

As far as I knew I was the only legitimate medium in the world. So it fell on my shoulders to help Jacob get rid of the shape-shifter before it could kill anyone else.

     3 STARS – Would Recommend To Others

I loved the clouds and reflection in the water on the cover. It created a sense of tension. The  woman takes you into a time in the past. The title is what really captured me, because I thought it would lead to the paranormal, and it did.

There were no surprises in the book. It was well written and the story was told in an almost fun and light manner. There were times where I had to laugh, like when she wondered if, even though he was a ghost, his man parts worked the same. lol

The characters were easy to relate to. I wished for Emily and Jacob to get together. But, how can a human hook up with a ghost? Is there a reason for him to be different from other ghosts that Emily could see?

I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

About The Author

C.J. Archer has loved history and books for as long as she can remember and feels fortunate that she found a way to combine the two with her historical romances. Under her other name of Carolyn Scott, she has published contemporary short stories in women’s magazines on two continents including Take A Break, Woman’s Day and That’s Life.

She has at various times worked as a librarian, IT support person and technical writer but in her heart has always been a fiction writer. She has won and placed in romance writing contests including winning RWAustralia’s Emerald Award in 2008 for the manuscript which she went on to self-publish under the title Honor Bound.

C.J. spent her early childhood in the dramatic beauty of outback Queensland, Australia, but now lives in suburban Melbourne with her husband and two children.

C. J. Archer has more books available. If you would like to order one of the books, simply click on the cover.

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