The Mysteries
A Novel
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning author Lisa Tuttle delivers a riveting novel combining one man’s search for a missing woman with history’s most enduring legends of the disappeared.
“A thriller, detective story, and fantasy all in one . . . Unique, a winner!”—Dean Koontz
What happens when someone vanishes without a trace?
Ian Kennedy always had a penchant for stories about missing people—and a knack for finding them. Now a sought-after private investigator, Ian faces a case he fears he cannot solve . . . and one he knows he must.
Laura Lensky’s stunning twenty-one-year-old daughter, Peri, has been missing for over two years. But when Ian learns the details of her disappearance, he discovers eerie parallels to an obscure Celtic myth and the haunting case that launched his career—a success he’s never fully been able to explain. Though Ian suspects that Peri chose to vanish, he takes on the search. What follows leads him and those who care for Peri into the Highlands of Scotland, as the unknowns of the past and present merge in the case—and in their lives.
Praise for The Mysteries
“Lisa Tuttle never disappoints. . . . Richly imagined and beautifully written, The Mysteries lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned.”—George R. R. Martin
“A remarkable piece of work . . . Successfully balancing the miraculous and the mundane, The Mysteries offers a variety of unexpected pleasures and marks the overdue return of a stylish, distinctive storyteller.”—Washington Post Book World
“Superlative dark fantasy . . . Tuttle has total command of setting, style and her folklore sources.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite its contemporary settings (Scotland, London and Texas), Tuttle's superlative dark fantasy, her first novel since The Pillow Friend (1996), draws on the classic, largely Celtic folklore of people who vanish mysteriously because they have gone to the realm of the sidhe the fairy folk. Some never return, at least not to their families. Others can be found again, such as Amy Schneider, rescued by the engaging Ian Kennedy, who took up a career of tracing such persons after going in search of his missing father. Some, like the melancholy woman who calls herself Fred, won't stay in the mundane world even if you try to force them. Ian is afraid this might be the trouble with his latest quarry, the beautiful Peri Lensky. Complications arise when Peri's boyfriend, Hugh Bell-Rivers, says she may have gone off with a man named Mider, which happens to be the name of a sidhe king. All the while, Ian is tormented by the disappearance of his own true love, Jenny Macedo, some years before. Tuttle has total command of setting, style and her folklore sources. The ambiguous ending holds out hope for both Ian and the reader. In a field overflowing with sequels, it's refreshing to find a fantasy that truly merits one. Forecasts:Advance praise from Dean Koontz, George R.R. Martin, Kelley Armstrong and Michael Moorcock will remind readers that this John Campbell Award winning author remains one of fantasy's best.
