A riveting novel set in 1922 London , Graved Gate strad-dles the frightening intersection of early psychiatry and the paranormal. At the center of the tale is the promi-nent author and public figure, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Accustomed to ridicule from the press and high society for his belief in the spirit world, Doyle is offered a sur-prise opportunity to confirm his unconventional views when he receives a letter purportedly written by Dr. Bernard Gussmann, the psychiatrist who had treated Doyle's father years earlier, and then died. The letter dangles a prospect before the novelist that he cannot resis t － a chance to commune with the deceased. In exchange, however, Doyle must do a puzzling favor for the mysterious correspondent: arrange for any one of three people designated in the letter, each at one time a patient of Gussmann, to visit an imprisoned woman awaiting hanging for murder.
Is the letter a preposterous hoax, or can Gussmann somehow still live? Is someone trying to exploit Doyle's beliefs by taking the identity of a dead man? Eager to learn the truth, but hoping to avoid more public embar-rassment, Doyle seeks help from Charles Baker, an American reporter with the Associated press, who served in military intelligence during World War I. In turn, Baker gains the assistance of Adrianna Wallace, the comely wife of a member of Parliament, and a battlefield nurse in the recent war. The duo investigate those named in the letter while pursuing a baffling trail that leads them to Morton Graves Hospital, where Gussmann practiced psychiatry, and to the doctor's grave, which they exhume. Interred there they find coded journals that describe a hypnotic technique dubbed “subgnostic possession,” and soon become participants in a deadly game of musical chairs. To stop the devious practices they've discovered, Charles and Adrianna try to lure Dr. Gussmann-or his imperson-ator-into a cunningly conceived trap baited with a human being.
With the rich period detail of The Alienirt, set amid evocative scenes of 1920s London, Graver Gate intro-duces an impressive new voice to the world of literary thrillers in a novel that will leave devotees of psycho-logical suspense reading late into the night.
