Synopsis:

A poisonous secret. 

A terrifying curse.
And a client she’d just as soon see dead in a ditch….

Summer 1889. Harrison Fearing Pell hoped for adventure when she signed on with the Society for Psychical Research as an occult investigator. Slogging through New York’s sewers in pursuit of a “mud man” wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. But the reeking monster terrorizing the dance halls of the Tenderloin leads her to an even more peculiar mystery — and the last man on earth Harry wishes to become entangled with.

James Moran is a prodigy in music, mathematics . . . and crime. Harry’s older sister, the famed detective Myrtle Fearing Pell, has vowed to put him behind bars. But Harry owes Moran a personal debt, so when he demands her aid she can hardly refuse. It turns out that the brilliant black sheep of New York Society is part of a secret club at Columbia College whose members have started dying in bizarre ways that may not be accidents.

Thus begins one of the strangest cases of Harry’s career, a tale of murder, cold-blooded revenge and fairytale bogeymen to make the Brothers Grimm shudder. As the bodies pile up, each preceded by sightings of the victim’s doppelgänger, Harry and her stalwart friend John Weston must race against time to save a man who arguably deserves his macabre fate.

Book details:

Title: DeadRinger (Gaslamp Gothic #5)

by: Kat Ross
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: December 13th 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Retelling

Book Links

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My Review

What can I say, another home run from Kat Ross. I started off on the Tour for Bad Breed and the Necromancer’s Bride, so here I am at number five in this series with Dead Ringer. I have to say this one is so completely different from the last two, I mean the supernatural elements are there, but this one I loved for different reasons.

This book was not the passionate love story with a side of mystery, instead, it was a bit reversed. It was the focus of a mystery with a possible hint of romance, definitely there in the background and I loved it for that.

There’s a golem on the loose in the sewers, a strange string of deaths and doppelgängers being sighted while their other versions are already dead.

Creepy, but not so scary or gory that it’ll put some people off.

I love the setting of New York during this era, and Harry/Harrison is such a fun MC to follow whether it’s through the sewers or talking to her older sister’s nemesis.

She gets entangled in this investigation more than she thought possible as she’s hired on privately by someone connected to the doppelgängers and she, of course, drags her swoon-worthy partner John Weston along for the adventure.

The question is, did their ‘mud-man’ case really end, and is there any connection?

Harry knows that being hired on as a private investigator is probably not the smartest move as it clashes with her day job but the ‘reward’ of the hire is enough to make her take it on anyway, not to mention, the curiosity of the case gets to her enough. Though well, her client, is difficult, to put it mildly.

All the characters are so well fleshed out, and I loved them all. I probably loved Moran more than I should have, but, I have questionable tastes at times lol. I think I could have done to learn more about Weston but I really did enjoy all the characters and just had so much fun reading this in general. I may be biased however because I do adore Ross’s works.

Ross is a master at pacing and drawing out small connections in the mystery. This is also focusing on different characters and can be easily read as a standalone. So don’t worry if you haven’t read the rest yet!

Thank you so much to Giselle from Xpresso Tours for a copy of this to read and review honestly as part of the blog tour!

About the Author

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She’s the author of the Fourth Element and Fourth Talisman fantasy series, the Gaslamp Gothic paranormal mysteries, and the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day. She loves myths, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Check out Kat’s Pinterest page for the people, places and things that inspire her books.

Author Links

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