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Aug 10, 2017Ravenya03 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I wasn't sure what to expect from Libba Bray's "The Diviners", but it ended up being a lot more macabre than I was expecting. A religious-themed serial killer is on the loose in 1920s New York City, and the reader gets up close and personal with some of his victims before they're dispatched. But the main character of the story is a vivacious teenager called Evie O'Neill, sent to NYC by her parents as punishment for her wild behaviour. This suits Evie just fine, and soon she's enjoying the sights and sounds of jazz, speakeasies and dance halls. Libba Bray obviously had a great time researching this era, as the book is filled with 1920s slang, fashion and culture. But Evie has a secret: for as long as she can remember she's been able to divine people's secrets by handling their personal belongings - and when she gets a chance to touch some of the murder victims, she becomes the closest thing the police have to a witness (assuming they'll believe her). That's not even going into the number of other diviners out there in the city, each one being drawing closer into the mystery of the terrible killings... It's a book that revels in its own atmosphere, filled with plenty of period detail to the point where it sometimes obscures the story itself. If you like the combination of New York in the Roaring Twenties and the supernatural mystery of how and why certain people are being murdered in the streets, then "The Diviners" is a thick, intriguing read - with plenty of room left for a sequel.