I love well written mysteries set in the past. I also love it when the detective is based on a historical figure as long as the books are well written. Gyles Brandreth did a wonderful job with his Oscar Wilde Mysteries. When I saw a book called Cursed in the Act: A Bram Stoker Mystery by Raymond Buckland I snatched it up. Bram Stoker was occasionally in the Oscar Wilde mysteries and I was curious to see how this author treated the character.
Bram Stoker was an Irish author whose most famous work is Dracula. He graduated with honors from Dublin's Trinity College. He worked as a civil servant during the day and wrote reviews of plays in the evening. In the late 1870's he became friends with the famous actor Henry Irving and was made manager of Irving's Lyceum Theater.
The story takes place in 1881 at the Lyceum Theater where the owner and star actor Henry Irving has been poisoned. Henry Rivers is the young stage manager and the story is told from his point of view. He describes his boss Bram Stoker like this.
I worked closely with Mr. Stoker and also became his personal assistant. I came to admire him a great deal, although I have to admit, even after three years, that I still could be caught off guard by some of his idiosyncrasies. He was not afraid to display his emotions and, despite a fine business sense, backed by years at the best Irish university, was easily swept up by tales of ancient Irish lore and legend. He openly believed in ghosts, sixth senses, and even "the little people," and spent what little spare time he had writing his own stories. I must admit that I would not change employment for any other.
Henry Irving survives his attempt of poisoning but the next day his understudy is killed. The theater is plagued with accidents and Stoker asks Rivers to do some investigating with him. He is convinced that someone is out to destroy the theater and he immediately suspects that it might be a rival theater that is behind everything.
The element that takes this mystery out of the ordinary though is the suspicion that the occult is playing a part in the attacks. Rivers is warned away from detecting by a couple of people including one gentleman who appears to be from the Caribbean. Stoker suspects that "voudon" is involved. What we call voodoo is a sensationalized version of the religion voudon that originated in Haiti. I did some research into voodoo when I was writing my short story Crystal Reflections a few years ago.
There is just enough of the occult to make the story interesting but not enough to detract from the mystery itself. The chases through London and the search for the mysterious person behind the plot are a fun read. It is an enjoyable mystery if you are looking for something fun or an escape book.
The most intriguing thing for me though was when I went to research the author. I had a feeling reading the book that it couldn't have been his first book. It was too well written. I discovered that Raymond Buckland is one of the leading authorities on the occult and Wicca. He was born in England and his father was full-blooded Romany or more commonly called Gypsy. The family emigrated to the United States. Buckland has been writing about the occult for over 30 years and he is a High Priest in the Wicca religion. He is now semi-retired.
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