First published 2015
Arthur Conan Doyle sails to Africa as a struggling young writer when he learns about the Mary Celeste, an American merchant ship found drifting empty off Spain's coast in 1872. The crew had vanished without trace, leaving behind intact cargo and no signs of violence. Doyle crafts a sensational short story about the incident that ignites fierce debate back in America. Philadelphia spiritualist medium Violet Petra seizes on the tale, while journalist Phoebe Grant works to expose Petra as a charlatan. Meanwhile, the family of the Mary Celeste's captain carries generations of maritime tragedy in their blood. The ship's discovery sets these lives on collision courses through letters and diaries, connecting a famous writer's emerging career with America's growing spiritualist movement. At the story's heart lies a captain's family torn apart by the sea and a love that reaches across death itself.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, supernatural, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: historical-mystery, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Africa, America, Philadelphia, Spain
Period: 1872
320 pages · Paperback · London: Phoenix