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The Haunting of Avis Lovelock
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Expected 27 Aug 26A professional sceptic must join forces with the professional spiritualist who has a knack for getting under her skin in this supernatural Victorian mystery for fans of Voyage of the Damned and The London Seance Society
Avis Lovelock is a professional sceptic. Using her sharp insights and powers of observation, she sets out to debunk every nefarious spirit medium and psychic she can find. When American businessman Carlton Brooksbank invites her aboard the ocean liner Excambion to take her skills to America, Avis discovers she has been hired to prove to potential buyers that the vessel is not haunted.
As she begins her investigations, she runs afoul of the famous twin spiritualists onboard, Gideon and Rachel Duquesne. They are her polar opposites, and Rachel especially has a knack for getting under her skin. The more Avis works to discredit her adversaries and absolve the ship of its haunted reputation, the more she starts to have visions of water filling her cabin, drowned bodies on decks, and flickering lights on the sea. Then someone is found dead.
To discover the truth, Avis must join forces with her opponents, and confront some haunting secrets of her own.
Avis Lovelock is a professional sceptic. Using her sharp insights and powers of observation, she sets out to debunk every nefarious spirit medium and psychic she can find. When American businessman Carlton Brooksbank invites her aboard the ocean liner Excambion to take her skills to America, Avis discovers she has been hired to prove to potential buyers that the vessel is not haunted.
As she begins her investigations, she runs afoul of the famous twin spiritualists onboard, Gideon and Rachel Duquesne. They are her polar opposites, and Rachel especially has a knack for getting under her skin. The more Avis works to discredit her adversaries and absolve the ship of its haunted reputation, the more she starts to have visions of water filling her cabin, drowned bodies on decks, and flickering lights on the sea. Then someone is found dead.
To discover the truth, Avis must join forces with her opponents, and confront some haunting secrets of her own.
350 pages, Paperback
Expected publication August 27, 2026
About the author
M.K. Hardy
8 books35 followersMK Hardy is the pen name for two geeky women living and writing together in Scotland.
Their debut Sapphic Gothic Horror, The Needfire, is out now from Solaris Books!
Their debut Sapphic Gothic Horror, The Needfire, is out now from Solaris Books!
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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April 13, 2026An intensely readable sapphic historical mystery, with a professional sceptic facing off against a pair of self-proclaimed mediums (media?) on board an ocean liner.
Marvellous characterisation of spiky, awkward, in-denial Avis and a great slow burn romance with the deceptive, damaged Rachel. The large cast is well handled and the increasing atmosphere of psychic doom builds up to be proper scary. Great historical grounding makes it fully immersive. A compelling, spooky slow-burn delight: I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Marvellous characterisation of spiky, awkward, in-denial Avis and a great slow burn romance with the deceptive, damaged Rachel. The large cast is well handled and the increasing atmosphere of psychic doom builds up to be proper scary. Great historical grounding makes it fully immersive. A compelling, spooky slow-burn delight: I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This one hit a lot of sweet spots for me: full of ghostly and Gothic flourishes, an intriguing mystery in an interesting setting, slow burn enemies to lovers romance, and a strong female protagonist who is not afraid to buck the conventions that sought to reduce a woman's power and influence during the Victorian period. Avis is an astute but abrasive professional skeptic who is hired to discover the truth behind an allegedly haunted ship. Rachel, along with her twin brother, is one of a pair of famous spiritualists, and as such, fair game to a determined debunker like Avis. Circumstances of an alarming nature force the two women to band together to get to the bottom of the increasingly eerie and dangerous events onboard an elegant passenger liner on its trans-Atlantic voyage from Europe to the United States.
Avis is a prickly, at times even maddening, character that may rub some readers the wrong way, but I enjoyed her aggressive style which hides a desperate effort to mask her own insecurities and overcome past trauma. Rachel is a great foil, more tuned into human emotions and motivations, and also more open-minded when it comes to the idea of worlds we can only barely comprehend existing just beyond the sight of most people. Together, they are a very effective team that I could easily see combining their unique skills in further occult detective adventures.
The supporting cast is large but generally well-defined and play their own parts in the story while the ship details and class differences in passengers were well-researched and fun for history buffs. Some of the twists were not too surprising to anyone who is well-versed in ghost and mystery tales, but the fact that I guessed some of the plot points in advance did not lessen my enjoyment of this well-written novel. I certainly did not predict the grand set piece that forms the climax of the story and was pleasantly surprised at the veering off into a kind of cosmic horror vibe that I really appreciated. Overall, a highly-entertaining and accomplished entry for fans of this genre with great potential for future installments as a series.
Avis is a prickly, at times even maddening, character that may rub some readers the wrong way, but I enjoyed her aggressive style which hides a desperate effort to mask her own insecurities and overcome past trauma. Rachel is a great foil, more tuned into human emotions and motivations, and also more open-minded when it comes to the idea of worlds we can only barely comprehend existing just beyond the sight of most people. Together, they are a very effective team that I could easily see combining their unique skills in further occult detective adventures.
The supporting cast is large but generally well-defined and play their own parts in the story while the ship details and class differences in passengers were well-researched and fun for history buffs. Some of the twists were not too surprising to anyone who is well-versed in ghost and mystery tales, but the fact that I guessed some of the plot points in advance did not lessen my enjoyment of this well-written novel. I certainly did not predict the grand set piece that forms the climax of the story and was pleasantly surprised at the veering off into a kind of cosmic horror vibe that I really appreciated. Overall, a highly-entertaining and accomplished entry for fans of this genre with great potential for future installments as a series.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book was a lot of fun, with enjoyable banter and delightful characters in a Victorian setting. In particular, I loved reading about our narrator Avis' interactions with the supporting cast. The mystery itself started off intriguing, but I was surprised at the direction the plot went in as I hadn't read the blurb properly, and personally I thought it would have been much more interesting without the supernatural aspect. All in all it was a great read and would love to explore more of Avis' adventures.
Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris Books for providing a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris Books for providing a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
4.5 stars
Love me a good historical gothic mystery involving séances, lesbians, and locked rooms. In this case, the locked room is a ship; what a wonderful setting! I vote for more gothic mysteries set on boats immediately.
I think that readers of T. Kingfisher will appreciate this book; it has those 'cozy horror' vibes.
Can't wait to see what other mysteries and adventures Avis Lovelock will go on next (please make this a series)!
Love me a good historical gothic mystery involving séances, lesbians, and locked rooms. In this case, the locked room is a ship; what a wonderful setting! I vote for more gothic mysteries set on boats immediately.
I think that readers of T. Kingfisher will appreciate this book; it has those 'cozy horror' vibes.
Can't wait to see what other mysteries and adventures Avis Lovelock will go on next (please make this a series)!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5 ⭐
A nice slow burn of a book, both in terms of romance and storyline.
I enjoyed Avis, and the clever way she could guess at certain things about people.
I also liked how it wasn't all guess work.
Very enjoyable setting of an ocean liner, giving it locked room, and against the clock vibes to solve the mystery of the haunting.
I'd be very happy to see some of these characters again.
Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy.
A nice slow burn of a book, both in terms of romance and storyline.
I enjoyed Avis, and the clever way she could guess at certain things about people.
I also liked how it wasn't all guess work.
Very enjoyable setting of an ocean liner, giving it locked room, and against the clock vibes to solve the mystery of the haunting.
I'd be very happy to see some of these characters again.
Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Lucky to have read this one early! The maritime gothic you didn't know you needed. The Haunting of Avis Lovelock is an evocative, delicious slice of the historical, brimming with wit and mystery and vividly drawn characters you cannot help but fall for.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Netgalley and Solaris for the eARC
4,25/5. Review coming closer to release date
4,25/5. Review coming closer to release date
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews