The Deadly Grimoire

Arkham Horror #16

by Rosemary Jones

A daring actress and a barnstorming pilot team up to save the world from supernatural disaster in this uncanny pulp adventure set in the world of Arkham Horror

Betsy Baxter is the plucky stunt-actor star of the 1920s serial adventure, The Flapper Detective . While researching a wing-walking scene, she meets the fearless Winifred Habbamock and discovers a shared background of eerie encounters and eldritch phenomena. For years, Betsy has been investigating the disappearance of an old friend during the horror-struck filming of The Mask of Silver, when she learns of his reappearance in Arkham, she and Winifred hit the road to investigate. But Arkham is full of mysteries and danger. Betsy will need all her skills, and new allies, to prevent an otherworldly cataclysm from consuming her and all of Arkham.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Fantasy, Adventure, Audiobook, Cthulhu Mythos, Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2022

About the author

Plunged into the Roaring Twenties for the Arkham Horror titles Mask of Silver and its sequels The Deadly Grimoire and The Bootlegger's Dance. A new sequence begins with The Nightmare Quest of April May and The Arcane Gamble of Harvey Waltersin 2025. I've written novels set in the Forgotten Realms, City of the Dead and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond, as well as several short stories and novella Cold Steel and Secrets set in this Dungeons & Dragons world. When not battling cosmic horrors, animated skeletons, and other supernatural foes, I'm authoring tales of Cobalt City, a place of superheroes, super villains, and regular joes just trying to get by. A new expanded edition of Wrecker of Engines and related short stories was issued in 2024.

My other science fiction and fantasy short stories appear in various anthologies. The complete list on my website at rosemaryjones.com.

As the co-author of the Encyclopedia of Collectible Childrens Books, I spent many years collecting and often dip back into these treasures for my own pleasure and entertainment. I currently share my home with 2,000+ volumes, not all cataloged here.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And I knew the Fearless Flapper Detective was a winner. It’s the best of Pearl White’s stunts and more but with a woman in charge, not in peril. It’s what modern women want to see.”

My thanks to Aconyte Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Deadly Grimoire’ by Rosemary Jones.

There’s nothing quite as entertaining as sitting down with an Arkham Horror novel. While a sequel to Jones’ ‘Mask of Silver’, it worked fine as a standalone as enough details of past events were mentioned to provide context.

Betsy Baxter proved a delightful protagonist/narrator. Not only is she the star of the popular 1920s serial adventure, The Flapper Detective, she owns her own studio and is fully in charge of her career. While researching a wing-walking scene, she meets the fearless Winifred Habbamock, a barnstorming pilot. They discover a shared background of eerie encounters and eldritch phenomena centred around the New England town of Arkham.

Betsy has been investigating the disappearance of a friend during the filming of ‘Mask of Silver’. When she hears news of another disappearance, she and Wini fly to Arkham and into a world of trouble. There she encounters Tom Sweets, a bookseller, who has accidentally sold the Deadly Grimoire, an infamous volume, to two competing local clients. They are not happy! Adventures ensue.

I was impressed by how well plotted this novel was and by its strong cast of characters. Aside from Betsy and Wini, I was especially taken by Nova Malone, proprietor of the Purple Cat in Innsmouth. While a ruthless bootlegger, she wasn’t portrayed as a one-dimensional baddie. Her deep love for Innsmouth and her desire to free its people from malefic influences was compelling. Sequel material?

Alongside the Lovecraftian escapades for Betsy, Wini, and Tom, the novel also touched on various aspects of early 20th Century history, including social issues linked to racial discrimination and women’s rights. Jones’ period detail was impeccable as well as her commitment to vividly portraying the world of Arkham Horror. I hope that she will write more books for the series.

Overall, a fun pulp horror adventure that also had depth as a work of historical fiction. After this, I plan to read ‘Mask of Silver’ as well as looking out for Rosemary Jones’ future projects.

Note: a comment made by Tom caught my literary eye: “there’s a fellow in West Egg who keeps buying volumes to fill the shelves of his mansion’s library, and we don’t ask how he made his money. Buys books by the yard if the colors of the bindings match the colors of his shirts!”

[William Bainbridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5
A very solid and consistent read, no spikes or arcs that stood out as a 5 but none that dropped to a 3, a very steady and enjoyable 4. I was sold on Betsy from both silver mask and the first part of this book so anything on from that was always going to be good. Tom was a really cool character and I really enjoyed the role he played. The whole thing surrounding the deadly grimoire was also really enjoyable and well put together. My only gripe is with how max was dealt with. I won't give anything silver mask spoilers but I do beleive this book did him a little dirty and i would have liked more of an explanation for sure. Recommend.

[Adam Selby-Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Deadly Grimoire
Rosemary Jones
Aconyte Books

Once again I find myself reviewing an Arkham Horror novel and being deeply impressed by the way in which publisher Aconyte Books are developing the setting. Under the sure hand of editor Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells, Arkham Horror is shaping up to be one of the most impressive brands being developed by Aconyte, as well as the gold standard to which all tie-in fiction should aspire to and hope to eventually match. Because not only is Aconyte gathering together some of the most impressive authors in the horror and science-fiction genres to write novels in the series, but they are clearly being given the latitude and freedom to develop the licensed setting in ways that I haven’t seen before. The novels written by Rosemary Jones are perfect examples of this – her first Arkham Horror novel, Mask of Silver was a superbly-plotted, intensely atmospheric and deeply unsettling tale of arrogance, ambition and greed blended together with certain elements of the Lovecraftian Mythos that the setting relies upon; yet at the same time, this was a novel that was allowed to blend that occult horror together with the very real and entirely human horrors of racism, xenophobia and social discrimination against Chinese-Americans, as well as women attempting to forge their own path in the early decades of the 20th Century in the United States. It weas an absolutely phenomenal novel that I thoroughly enjoyed both reading and reviewing, putting Rosemary Jones firmly on a radar as an author to watch, and I was overjoyed when it was announced that Aconyte would be publishing another Arkham Horror novel that she had penned – and not just another novel, but a direct sequel to Mask of Silver. The cover for The Deadly Grimoire was another eye-catching piece of Art Deco art that has become the calling card of the series, and Daniel Strange has outdone himself to create by far the most impressive cover of the Arkham Horror series, and perhaps even all of the series published by Aconyte Books.  The back-cover blurb promised action, adventure and chilling horror as several key figures from Mask of Silver returned, venturing back to the town of Arkham in an attempt to uncover the secrets of what happened in the deadly, flame-filled climax of early Hollywood film-making seen at the end of that novel. I was deeply intrigued, already invested in the stories, character and author, and couldn’t wait to see what Rosemary Jones and The Deadly Grimoire had in store for me as reader and reviewer.

Intriguingly, the novel opens with a brief letter from protagonist Betsy Baxter – the titular Flapper Detective from the novel’s cover art – to someone named Jeany, both a close confidant of Betty and also the narrator and protagonist of Mask of Silver. In between harmless, run of the mill gossip about the still-nacent film industry, we discover two key facts that will set the novel’s narrative in motion: Betsy is now a popular and successful actress with her own film series; and stagehand Jim, who was thought to have perished in the mysterious and disastrous fire that claimed the lives of many of the cast and crew on the doomed Mask of Silver film set, is not only alive but now conscious. Betsy, who only barely survived the flames and other – less explicable – dangers, is determined to question Jim and find out what happened to her friend and beau Max, studio accountant and right-hand man of director Sydney Fitzmaurice. Max disappeared as the film set and mansion it was housed in went up in flames, but no body was found, and Betsy wants answers that only Jim can provide. But her journey to confront her mysteriously returned colleague is anything but simple. When a rare and cursed occult tome is accidentally sold to an academic professor and a violent gangster, and then disappears altogether, the Flapper Detective soon finds herself enmeshed in the most dangerous and realistic plot of her life yet – involving disappearing people, hijacked aircraft and the real truth behind the fire that claimed the lives of her friends. Only by teaming up with an ace female pilot, and a mysterious bookseller, can Betsy have even a slight chance of surviving the perils of Arkham in general, the attention of the Deadly Grimoire, and hopefully uncover the true reasons for the disappearance of her friends on the set of Mask of Silver.

Jones once again provides a fast-paced and deeply compelling narrative as Betsy bull-headedly strives into the morass of chaos and corruption in the midst of Arkham and Innsmouth, and her skillful prose is immediately put to work in not only developing both the overarching Arkham Horror setting, but also connecting it to the wider developments in the United States as the Jazz Age progressed – something that has always been something of a weak point of the entire Arkham Horror setting due to the insular nature of the boardgame and role-playing game. As the novel progresses, we get some fascinating insights into the wider process of producing films in the 1920s, and in particular the complexities and inherent dangers of performing the thrilling stunts that we take for granted in a 21st Century of computer-generated graphics and immaculate safety standards. An early chapter in The Deadly Grimoire involving a filmed piece of wing-walking is genuinely enthralling, both for the thrilling sequence itself, but also for the detailed look at the technical requirements for filming something so radical only a few years after films started to be made. This is a key part of The Deadly Grimoire, and Mask of Silver before it, and Jones’ research and dedication pay off in spades. The same is found in the logistics and mechanics of both flying and maintaining those early aircraft, particularly in an era when knowledge was passed along word of mouth than in technical manuals, and female pilots and mechanics were discriminated against, dismissed or even openly mocked. It’s a genuinely fascinating and little-known subject, and Jones does these early pioneers a great service by informing readers about them and their achievements. These chapters are joined later on in the novel by subtler strands of history that Jones combines with the overarching Mythos narrative of deadly tomes and greedy gangsters and shady physicians seeking profit and glory through exploiting their forbidden knowledge. Jones’ knowledge roams everywhere from voting rights and discrimination against women and minorities, to the early female pioneers of flight and stunt-flying whose names and achievements have been lost to time, and even the role of postwomen in the aftermath of the Great War. Taken altogether, these additional elements are subtly blended into the wider plot, and add an extra dimension to the tale (apart from the usual Lovecraftian non-euclidian ones that Jones also provides) as it progresses.

That excellence extends to the small cast of characters found in The Deadly Grimoire, who are just as three-dimensional and nuanced as those in its predecessor. Betsy really clicked as a protagonist, even moreso than Jeany did in Mask of Silver, and I enjoyed the way in which Jones portrayed her as a driven actress determined to prove her worth in the early days of Hollywood, yet also trying to care for the staff of the mansion she owns by setting up saving schemes, or trading dry sarcasm her butler Farnsworth. And her death-defying stunts on the sets of the various films in The Flapper Detective films provides a solid basis for her acrobatic abilities when facing the occult and human perils throughout the novel. I also appreciated how Jones developed her character in the aftermath of the events of Mask of Silver, making her more independent and determined not to blindly follow the whims of a film director or businessman. I also enjoyed the sense of friendship and camaraderie that Jones developed between some of the characters, especially those between the women behind the camera and those in front – particular director Marian, and the fearless Winifred Habbamock, ace stunt pilot and someone not unfamiliar with the occult strangeness to be found in – and above – Arkham and its surroundings. Winifred in particular is a character that I hope we see more of in the sequel (there had better be a sequel!) because she’s an intriguing, multi-faceted character who would make an excellent protagonist for her own book. The supporting cast is just as varied and sterling – bookseller Tom Sweets is a quietly amusing character – a slightly pompous scion of a family who made their money sourcing occult tomes who finds his real calling in life by becoming the ‘advance man’ for Betty and Winifred; and Jim, one of the members of the Mask of Silver film crew makes a welcome return, giving us a fascinating insight into a character rarely seen in Lovecraftian fiction: the individual who has encountered something inhuman and survived – physically and least partially mentally. Jones’ skill at characterisation fortunately also extends to the novels antagonists, particularly Miss Nova Malone, gangster and criminal mastermind; a deeply untrustworthy woman ready to shed blood if required, and yet also a deeply compelling and even somewhat admirable character with her far-sighted social views on what Innsmouth and its people require in order to truly prosper. There’s also the arrogant and overbearing Doctor Ezra Hughes, with his overbearing, arrogant and deeply misogynistic bearing and obsessive interest in mirrors and glass panes that can show hidden truths. Jones has deftly crafted sinister characters in her previous works, but the obsessive Hughes and his ‘oceanic therapy’ is especially unsettling and memorable.

Populated by a carefully-crafted cast of characters, an atmospheric and often chilling plot, and filled with some superbly cinematic and tension-filled action sequences that thake their cues from the stunts found in those early Jazz Age monochrome, silent movies, The Deadly Grimoire is not only a superb addition to Aconyte Books’ Arkham Horror series, but also the best book that Rosemary Jones has written yet. Jones manages the devilishly – or should that be squamously – difficult job of crafting a novel that works on multiple levels: as its own stand-alone occult horror novel, as a sequel to Mask of Silver that further develops the plot and characters of that novel, and also as a work of Lovecraftian fiction that further expands on Arkham Horror as a setting. Artfully constructed and painstakingly researched, and imbued with an energy and imagination that demonstrates Jones’ complete mastery of the Arkham Horror setting, The Deadly Grimoire was one of my favourite reads of 2022 – and I cannot wait to see what she and Aconyte Books come up with in their next collaboration.

[Darren K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of fantastic ideas, but lacking in execution. The Deadly Grimoire is set within the world of Arkham Horror, and functions as a soft sequel to Mask of Silver. It features the fearless actress Betsy Baxter, the skilled aeronaut Winifred Habbanock, and the lovable but shady bookseller, Tom Sweets. These characters form a solid cast and some of the more memorable characters from the Arkham line of books. They find themselves involved in a plot featuring bootlegging, grimoires, missing persons, and the weirdness of Lovecraft.

For all that it has going for it, the story stumbles with how to tell it. The story is told in the first person by Betsy. Her character has a lot of potential, but in the end the author seems to focus way too much on her daredevil trait to the detriment of the rest of her character. In a similar vein, the rest of the characters seem to view Arkham's weirdness with complacency. Weird things happen there and nobody seems overly worried about it. As such, the reader isn't particularly worried about it either. Never once did I feel as if any of the characters were actually in danger.

Still, there's a lot of tidbits in the book that are interesting. There's pieces here of a great book, but it feels like it could have used more time and some restructuring to get there. At the end of the day, it's certainly not the worst Arkham book, but it's not one I would recommend or am likely to read again.

[Storm Bookwyrm · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a little bit since I was back in the world of Arkham Horror novelizations. They're such a STRANGE concept when you really think about them, because they reek of that 'Author for Hire' odour that lingers around any book tie-in to a franchise; and yet, the franchise (That franchise being 'Fantasy Flight Games's tabletop games by the name of Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, and so on) are BASED on literary roots, in the works of H.P. Lovecraft and those who surrounded and followed him. 'Arkham Horror' takes a distinctly more 'Pulp' flavor of the mythos, proposing that the spawn of the Great Old Ones might be defeated by prolific use of bullets, or an especially plucky team of researchers willing to find the one special, magic spell that will safe the day - or at least drop a fly in the ointment of whatever doomsday spell is being brewed up. And yet, these books feel ever like tie-ins; stories that falter and stumble a little because they are not the sole concoction of the author, but have their own pre-existing rules that must be followed. Inevitably someone must mention 'Velma's Diner' in every book.
These novels are cheap junk-food. Yet, they are MY cheap junk-food of choice, because I love the Cthulhu Mythos, and I love pulp-style action and mysteries, and I love the Arkham Horror games. And so I keep reading them, however much I might nag, nit-pick or complain.

With all of this in mind and my expectations reasonably tempered, I've found that, whatever else happens, I can expect some sort of suitably lovecraftian sliminess to slouch across the pages. There will be the occasional appearance of 'spookhouse scares' (By which I mean something weird and eerie happens - sometimes for no real reason except to just tell the characters 'hey, something spooky is going on!') and a big finale where some sort of BIG Lovecraftian monster or weirdness happens.
But, in the case of the Deadly Grimoire, I found myself seeking expectantly through the pages in search of these scares. Where were the monsters? Where were the cultists? Where was- well, ANYTHING? The ending came and went, and all that we got was a bit of purple light that no one seemed terribly perturbed by. 'Just another spot of weirdness in Arkham, innit?' They seemed to think, as they did about anything odd or strange.

So if nothing spooky or frightening happens, then what DOES fill the 344 pages of The Deadly Grimoire?
The answer to that is 'a whole lot of stuff the author researched about stunt plane shows and bootleggers in the 1920's', it would seem.
Rosemary Jones returns from 'Mask of Silver' (even bringing back characters from that story - rare is the Mythos protagonist who lives and remains sane enough to embark upon TWO lovecraftian adventures!), for which I had a medium level of enjoyment. In that one I had respect for the feeling that Jones had done her research into movie-making in the '20s, and that it showed upon the page. Here in Deadly Grimoire however, I'm beginning to see an unfortunate pattern to her writing, in that she doesn't seem able to keep her research OFF the page, all of the things she's learned crowding out the monsters and ghouls that are supposed to be stalking through the book.

If some other, more mundane form of peril had replaced the shoggoths and shantak-birds I might have still stayed riveted to the page. But there is rarely a moment in The Deadly Grimoire where I felt anything in the way of peril. Rum-Runners and their goons are ever-present, and there's even a suspicious doctor with an even more suspicious sanitorium- but the hero of the novel, Betsy Baxter, never really feels in any danger at all, or even in danger of any conflict or discomfort more mild that getting some of her shoes muddy or wearing the wrong hat.
She meets the leader of a rum-smuggling gang named Nova Malone, but rather than have this be a character to fear or be intimidated by the narrative instead lavishes her with praise for being a strong, independent woman who's big and beautiful and wow golly gee whizz Betsy Baxter likes a strong gal who can make it in a man's world.
We meet a weirdo doctor named Ezra Hughes who runs a sanitorium where he makes his patients drink tea boiled from strange, otherworldly seaweed. "If there's one place that's good for a scare in any mythos story, it's a hospital/asylum!" I said. But no, ol' Hughes is just annoyingly sexist and kooky, not actually sinister. His nurses are quite nice, and Ezra Hughes is actually running a fairly reasonable practice that really does get results.
There's a scene where Winifred (The airplane pilot who serves as Betsy Baxter's companion) admits to having once or twice smuggled some rum for gangs in her plane. Rather than allow this to be any kind of conflict, no matter how temporary, Betsy Baxter just says some comforting things like "Well of course its all right to work with gangsters when you're a woman in a man's world, and really I can see it from your point of view."
Later on towards the end of the book, Nova Malone reveals that drinking 'innsmouth tea' has some very unnatural side-effects, showing off that she has some rather fishy scales. Rather than pale in any sort of horror or revulsion, Betsy Baxter just thinks "Wow, on her they look beautiful!"
The story's big climax (...I say with the loosest application of the word 'big climax') takes place when Nova Malone and Ezra Hughes, wrestling for the titular Deadly Grimoire, fall into a bit of purple light and vanish. "Oh no! What will become of them?" Well, worry not! The story ends with an epilogue that is a letter from Nova Malone, saying she's fine and good, and gee whillikers she's been inspired by two brave young women by the name of Betsy Baxter and Winnifred Habbamock, who ought to be inspirations to ALL women in the world and won't ever let anything evil or dark EVER overshadow their pioneering, female spirit!
Because stories set in the Cthulhu Mythos are so well-known for ending with someone saying "And they all lived happily ever after", aren't they? (I say with intense levels of sarcasm).
I myself do like a happy ending where the heroes come out all right, but come on. This is Arkham Horror. SOMEONE needs to die or go insane.

Now, this isn't ALL a bad package. I do LIKE the characters - I just wish their actions spoke for them more than their inner monologue, which is full of lavish praise for every woman around them, and every man who supports a woman. I was pleased that the paranormal elements seemed to follow some sense of logic instead of just happening 'because', but the price for that seems to have been a LACK of paranormal doings (besides one time they got caught in a weird storm, and another time there was a purple light, and I reckon that's pretty much it). The era seemed well-researched, and like 'Mask of Silver' which gave me a peek into the movie-making world of the 20's I DID enjoy the stuff I learned about airplanes and barnstorming, but not so much that I found it acceptable to drive out anything exciting or scary to make room for it. In the end the problem with this book was how utterly SAFE it felt, as though the author couldn't stand to put her characters in a single uncomfortable moment, or was worried that if they were anything but sensible people with modern sensibilities and values we wouldn't like them.
More than a book about Witch-Haunted Arkham (If there HAD been witches in this book I bet Rosemary Jones would have said they were strong, beautiful women of good character just trying to make it in a man's world), it felt like this really just wanted to be a bit of historical fiction advising us to go to our libraries and look up all the strong, inspirational women of history who pioneered the way for modern women's equal rights. When you consider the fairly poor attitudes of most pulp-fiction actually written in the 1920's-'30's I suppose this is a pretty fine thing. But at least those old pulps, horribly sexist though they so often could be, at least had a couple scary monsters that would eat someone, which is more than I can say for "The Deadly Grimoire".

[Sylri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sorta sequel to Rosemary Jones’ previous book in the Arkham Horror series, Mask of Silver, which answers some of the questions readers may have had about the fateful events at the end of that book. It can definitely still be read on its own, but will be more satisfying for those readers like me who became quite invested in the film crew of that disastrous movie set.

We’ve switched main characters for this one - Betsy Baxter was a side character in Mask of Silver, but here she’s become the star of the show. Quite literally, as she’s now a very successful actress and business-woman. Understandably, Betsy has some loose ends that she’s never been able to let go of, which leads her back to where it all started - Arkham.

Accompanying her are mostly new faces, her main companions being an investigator from the Arkham Horror game, and a new original character. The author did a wonderful job making you fall in love with this new set of characters (Tom Sweets was such a nerdy little sweetheart!). As a fan of romances though, some of what goes down pains me, but it was also the perfect ending for those two. UGH my feelings.

I wasn’t quite as enamored with the villain(s) of this one, but Sydney Fitzmaurice is a tough act to follow. Same with the storyline - I still had a really good time with The Deadly Grimoire, but since Mask of Silver was basically my perfect Arkham Horror book, I’d have to rate this one a tiny bit lower. Considering a good part of this story takes place in Innsmouth, I expected a bit more Mythos involvement.
But in good news, there’s a new mystical tome! The titular Deadly Grimoire. I always love a new Mythos book. I loved its history and design - and apparently it’s based on a real rare book! It’ll fit right in with some of the other volumes in the special collections at Miskatonic University’s library. And did I mention that Tom Sweets is a darling?

Yet another very fun Arkham Horror book and definitely one to pick up if you were a fan of Mask of Silver. Can’t wait for the next one - this has definitely become one of my favorite series!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
This latest book in the Arkham Horror series is a pulp action story that plays out like a mix between a Call of Cthulhu RPG adventure and the serial films popular in the early days of Hollywood. Betsy Baxter is the owner of a movie studio and star of the most popular serial movies which follow the exploits of "The Flapper Detective." To this day she regrets the failed movie project that attempted to film in Arkham, MA, but ended catastrophically when the mansion in which they were filming burned down leaving one dead and two missing, presumed dead. When one of the missing men suddenly reappears and a professor friend of Baxter's is abducted then left by the side of the road after her recent purchase of a mysterious and cursed book known as The Deadly Grimoire, Betsy heads to Arkham to investigate, mostly in hopes of finding out what happened to her other missing friend, Max. Along her journey she connects with a female barnstorming pilot, the handsome owner of the book store that sold the Grimoire and a female rumrunner who runs the crime syndicate in the Arkahm-Innsmouth region, among others.
While the story began interestingly enough, and did often times feel like taking part in a Call of Cthulhu investigation, the story became bogged down too much. While I appreciate the author did her research into the 1920s, there were too many extraneous instances and details about the era, too often being ideas Baxter had for future movie plots, than were necessary for the story. And while in the 20s serials the hero/heroine would escape one peril only to shortly encounter another, there were too many instances of new situations, many of which weren't even exciting, that only dragged the plot on for more pages. Though generally entertaining, had this been trimmed down to under 300 pages it would have been a tighter, more enjoyable book. 3.5/5*

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arkham Horror without any horror. Such a shame as the author's last Arkham Horror novel was genuinely creepy, but this one felt charmless by comparison.

[Siobhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Deadly Grimoire is a follow up to the wonderful Mask of Silver by Rosemary Jones. The tale itself is a stand-alone and while there are references to the previous novel you most definitely do not need to have read that work to understand The Deadly Grimoire. In my humble opinion you most definitely should because it is an amazing read.

We follow a barnstorming pilot (who honestly I love maybe a little too much!) and a daring actress who team up to save the world from supernatural disaster. Betsy Baxter is a plucky stunt-actor and star of the 1920s serial adventure, The Flapper Detective. While researching for a wing-walking scene, she meets the fearless Winifred Habbamock and discovers a shared background of eerier encounters and eldritch phenomena. Betsy has been investigating and trying to find leads on the disappearance of an old friend while they were filming the horror-struck The Mask of Silver. When she finds he has reappeared in Arkham, she and Winifred hit the road, or rather sky to investigate. Arkham is far from safe and full to the brim with danger and unsolved mysteries. Betsy needs to utilise her skills and allies, old and new, to prevent an otherworldly cataclysm from consuming her and all of Arkham.

Once again the authors and Aconyte team have perfected the use of tie-in fiction. Sometimes it’s difficult to transfer from one medium to another. Turning the lore of a game into a novel can face some problems – either you could follow the storyline of the games too closely that it becomes almost unnecessary or you stray too far and end up with some people less than happy. Although usually I would hope fans are just happy to have more ways to access something they love but digression aside this is not the case with Rosemary Jones’ stories. Or the whole Aconyte library to date.

Jones manages to capture the horror and mystery of the game and pairs this perfectly with a pulpy and rip-roaring 1920s setting. The horror and lead up of the tale have elements of Lovecraftian storytelling without the problematic racism and sexism. You are sure to find none of that in this book. I honestly adore the fact we have three strong female protagonists and even one morally grey strong female. It was wonderful to see, in some cases,the female taking care of and protecting the male protagonists and saving themselves and the day.

The story is told via Betsy Baxter’s point of view but this in no way undermines other characters. Sometimes first-person perspective can mean that side characters have less time to shine but this is not the case at all. Via our narrator we still get a wonderful insight into our other characters and while parts might be skewed slightly by Betsy’s view it is generally executed perfectly. The characters themselves are all fabulous and completely believable within the Arkham universe. Wini was an instant favourite, and I would happily read a book based solely on her adventures with or without the eldritch horrors and old gods. But, I also really want a Farnsworth spin off - then again, I dare anyone to say they don’t like sassy butlers!

All of the character are memorable and even the antagonists are well thought out and written. Honestly I don’t know how Jones’ fit so much action into this book but it has everything I ever wanted – daring stunts, flying, shoot outs, car cases, speakeasies, smuggling and eldritch horrors and not once did I find myself thinking this is too much. It was all perfect! The only downside is Wini isn't real!

A wonderful addition to the growing Arkham Horror line up, The Deadly Grimoire captures everything that is wonderful about the Arkham Horror games and sprinkles in high octane action, strong heroines and daring events. A must read for fans of the games, horror, pulp fiction and Lovecraftian eldritch horror.

The book is due to be released in ebook on March 1st 2022 with the paperbacks following on 15th March for the US and 9th June for the UK.
ROSEMARY JONES is an ardent collector of children’s books and a fan of talkies and silent movies. She is the author of three bestselling novels in Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms setting, numerous novellas, short stories, and collaborations.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three years ago Betsy Baxter was to be part of a Sidney Fitzwilliam film, The Mask of Silver. Three years ago she barely escaped the burning Fitzwilliam house, nearly caught in a mirror that was not a mirror as something went terribly terribly wrong. Despite the years of success that have followed, owning her own studio and the wildly popular The Flapper Detective serial, despite staring in said serial and filling her time with death defying stunts and maddening amounts of paperwork, Betsy cannot help but worry over the friends who disappeared during that fateful filming. Her personal investigating finally bears fruit when she receives word that one of her friends has reappeared. With one returned, another attacked, and rumors of a tome with a truly storied history and mysterious powers, Betsy Baxter returns to Arkham with new allies in tow to find a way to mount a rescue and, perhaps, prevent supernatural horrors from breaking loose and devouring so many more people.

When I heard that Rosemary Jones had written a follow up to Mask of Silver, I knew I very much wanted to read it. That The Deadly Grimoire is both a sequel to a book I enjoyed greatly and focused on one of the more fun side characters leads to some fantastic opportunities for a vastly different book that still follows through from Mask of Silver while also feeling like it is expanding into another big mystery rather than continuing a different facet of the same one.

And the mystery in this one is just flat fun with a strange seaweed creeping its way into Arkham and a doctor down in Innsmouth who just so happens to be offering a seaweed therapy to his patients. We have Betsy, the woman who can do it all, who uses death defying stunts as a means to relax, who is brilliantly competent and kind. We have a fearless ace pilot, Winnifred, and a poor cursed bookseller, Tom, who has found himself on the hook for a one-of-a-kind grimoire with two legitimate and legitimately dangerous buyers. All fantastic characters, and that is before I even start in on the antagonists. I feel like I could talk about the antagonists for ages with the way they are a study in contrasts from the word go.

I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed Nova Malone. She respects Betsy and Winnifred, likes them even, while also being very willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the prosperity of Innsmouth and its people. Contrast her to Dr. Ezra Hughs, he of the seaweed treatments, a man of standing and wealth who seeks only to further enrich himself despite being in a position to help a great many people. This book made me want to see a novel starring one antagonist and left me wanting to see the other punched squarely in the nose and I am entirely about it.

If there is one place where it felt like The Deadly Grimoire was a little less than expected, I admit that it felt a little light on the horror aspect. Part of this might be down to the focus being more on the human side of things, finding the grimoire, stopping the antagonists, saving Max from his disappearance. Part of it might be that Betsy herself seems to cope with the horrors by trying to fit them into ideas for movies, like there are places where she is clearly terrified, but also there was a big set piece moment and I cannot for the life of me remember it as standout horrifying. The mystery was also a little light, but that is hardly a complaint because I found myself here much more for the characters and the introduction of Innsmouth than Betsy trying to find Max or the question of the grimoire.

I very much enjoyed The Deadly Grimoire and I very much look forward to seeing what Rosemary Jones does next. This one leaves me wanting to ramble about the characters, especially the antagonists. I want to talk about how Betsy is absolutely ridiculous as a character, as in preposterous, and I love her for it. For being kind before anything else and clever beyond being an actress, director, producer. I love how weirdly kind the book felt for being set in the 1920’s and being cosmic horror. The book gets a five out of five from me.

This book was provided to me through netGalley for honest review. Review was previously posted at https://tympestbooks.wordpress.com/20...

[Michael Botterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Arkham Horror book The Deadly Grimoire by Rosemary Jones, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Arkham Horror
Anyway that put to one side, let’s look at this book, by first looking at the game Arkham Horror which is a cooperative game, originally designed by Richard Launius, and is now in its third edition which was released in 2019.

It’s published by Fantasy Flight Games, a subsidiary of Asmodee, and is set in 1926 in the town of Arkham, Massachusetts. Each player takes on the role of an investigator, who are working to stop the Ancient Ones, eldritch horrors which lurk in the void beyond space and time.

It’s a 1-6 player game and you work together to gather clues and defeat the evil of the Ancient Ones and save the world.

As I said I haven’t actually played Arkham Horror but I do own its spin off Elder Sign the cooperative dice game.

The Story
Like the rest of the Arkham Horror novels, its set in the 1920s specifically 1926 and is a sequel to Jones’s previous novel in the setting Mask of Silver.

We see the return to Arkham of Betsy Baxter who has now become a star in Hollywood in a film serial series, The Flapper Detective, which has made her very rich!

After the fire at the Fitzmaurice house three years ago, Betsy has been looking for her lost beau Max, who disappeared that night, the last thing she saw of him was him stepping through a mirror as he pushed her out of the burning building.

Teaming up with fearless pilot Winifred Habbamock and bookseller Tom Sweets, she returns to Arkham to try and find out what happened to Max, and solve the mystery of what happened that night.

But the trio find themselves caught up in a mystery involving a mysterious book that belongs to Toms family, and is being fought over between an Innsmouth bootlegger, and a local doctor, who seek the forbidden knowledge within, to travel the secret ways.

Conclusion
Now this is a curious story, despite being set within the horror universe of Arkham Horror, there isn’t actually any horror to speak of, its a very interesting paranormal mystery, but even then, its quite light on that too.

But that’s not to say it isn’t a great book, Betsy was very much a minor character in the last book, but now she has been very fleshed out into a daredevil, wanting to perform ever more dangerous stunts to keep the punters buying tickets to her movies!

Yes, it’s a sequel and whilst I do think having read the previous book is helpful, you don’t need to, it explains enough to set the scene.

What is great about this book is that it’s not presenting Betsy, our Flapper Detective, as a mere jazz baby, with interest mostly in having a good time, but she is very well aware of the issues of the time, and this book doesn’t shy away from touching on the racial and social issues that those who aren’t white, and protestant faced in 1920 US. It’s not in your face, but it’s acknowledged in a very natural way which adds to the story and creates a deeper sense of immersion.

The story itself is very very well researched and there are a lot of references to silent movies, jazz, aviation etc that I ended up grabbing my phone to read more up on.

The story moves along very well, but the conclusion did feel a little rushed, but it worked.

I really want to hear a bit more about some of the characters, I think there is room to develop some other plotlines from the two books.

It is giving me lots of ideas for RPG adventures in the setting!

I have to give this book, 4.5 out of 5.

[Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Deadly Grimoire is the latest entry in the Arkham Horror series from Aconyte Books, and follows up from last years Mask of Silver.

The story begins by introducing us to Betsy Baxter, the Hollywood star of the popular Flapper Detective series of films, as a shrewd businesswoman who owns the studios that make her movies. Her career has never been better, she's popular, the business is booming, she's recently bought herself a lavish mansion, and she's getting to perform amazing stunts. Things are going great, except for the fact that she's still haunted by the events that happened in Arkham years ago.

During her previous trip to Arkham (during the events of Mask of Silver) Betsy was witness to a strange event, and lost some of her friends during a fire on a film shoot. Her friends didn't die though, they disappeared into a mirror, never to be seen again; including her boyfriend. But when Betsy receives news that one of the missing has reappeared in Arkham, and is being taken care of in an institute, she decides that she needs to return to the city to find answers.

Needing to get to Arkham as soon as she can Betsy asks the pilot who helped her film her latest stunt, Winifred Habbamock, to take her across the country. Shortly after arriving in Arkham the two of them meet Tom, a bookseller who's in trouble with some local bootleggers because they're after a book that he's ailed to deliver. This book, the Deadly Grimoire, is said to be cursed to bring trouble to however has it, yet thanks to the promise of being able to open special pathways the local criminals want it badly. Now Betsy and Winifred find themselves caught up in Tom's plight, and have to help to find the missing book before it's too late.

I'm sorry to say that Mask of Silver is the only book in the Arkham Horror series that I've yet to read, as such, when it came to reading The Deadly Grimoire I was worried that I was going to start at something of a disadvantage; that I might get lost as to who everyone is and what's going on. Luckily, Rosemary Jones makes the book really accessible to new readers, and whilst it is a sequel for sure it feels a lot like its own adventure where knowledge of the last book isn't needed to enjoy things.

Having been used to seeing Arkham Horror stories following hardened detectives, academics, and reporters Betsy felt like a big change to the kind of person that these stories normally centre on. She's brash, opinionated, has an in-your-face attitude. She's a woman who's used to being the boss, calling the shots, and getting what she wants. She has an energy that we don't normally get to see from people living in Arkham, a kind of life to her that is normally ground down and worn out by long-time exposure to the grimness of the city.

Winifred is very similar in a lot of ways. She's a woman who's had to fight every single day in order to become the person she is. She's not only working in a male dominated field, but thriving in it. She's in a position of power and respect that a lot of people would love to see her stripped from, so she has a fierceness to her that she's needed in order to survive. She's also a woman of colour, and has had to live with being looked down upon by white people, and these experiences have definitely shaped her too. In contrast to the two women Tom is kind of what you normally expect from an Arkham book. He's a bit dour, he's not very outgoing, and he's a very insular man who's more than happy to spend his time around books instead of people (I feel you there Tom).

However, despite these differences in outlooks, these varying personalities, the three of them make for a pretty decent team. Each of them brings something different to the table, and they definitely help to support each other's weaknesses. There are times where they end up getting in trouble, not really thinking things through and get into bad situations, but they're always able to get through it by working together as a team.

Whilst the central three characters are great, they're really the only people in the book that we get any chance to get to know other than the two primary antagonists. These two, a strange doctor who runs a private clinic and seems obsessed with strange seaweed, and a bootlegger who runs a speakeasy and seems to support her local community of Innsmouth, don't really go beyond first impressions. Whilst the two of them are definitely interesting, I always found myself wanting to learn more about them. I know that they weren't the focus of the book, and that Jones had the rest of the story to tell, but I was left wishing we'd had more time with them. Perhaps if Jones ends up writing a third Arkham Horror novel these will be characters that get to make a return appearance.

The Deadly Grimoire is an interesting addition to the Arkham Horror line, one that brings a very different kind of energy to things. It has more of a focus on the glory days of Hollywood, features silent movie stars, stung pilots, and dangerous bootleggers over the more otherworldly horror aspects. Whilst this may leave some people wanting more cosmic horror than is in the book, those wanting to spend some time with some interesting characters and getting to know a bit more about Arkham will come away satisfied.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Aconyte Books for an advanced copy of this horror game tie-in novel.

Eldritch creatures and dark gods from beyond usually don't mix with speakeasies and flappers, barnstorming lady aviators, but in The Deadly Grimoire: An Arkham Horror Novel, Rosemary Jones has been able to mix all this and more in something that I would like to call Charleston Cthulu. Spills, chills, seaweed, handsome booksellers, and strange New England towns, with gin, dancing and rum runners all around.

Betsy Baxter is a silent movie actress/ studio head/ and professional thrill jockey whose serial adventure The Flapper Detective gives her both fame and money to live life as she wants it. Risking her neck doing daredevil stunts, and looking for friends who disappeared under mysterious circustances. Winifred Habbamock is female pilot with a dream of flying, and winning a cross country race for only women aviatrixes, who childhood in New England has taught her much about the spooky countryside of Arkham. And Tom, a handsome bookseller whose family is cursed with a spell book that always returns to the family, usually after causing some chaos. These three come together to fight bootleggers, find missing friends, and find out the secret of the mysterious grimoire.

This book is more fun than it should be. Silent film references, history of aviation, gangsters, dark creatures from beyond, and a real sense of inclusion. Sure a woman could do this, all types would be welcome at their air shows, no matter color, race or sexuality. Certainly not true of the twenties in which this book takes place, but not in out current twenties in this century. This is a small book with so much, characters who seem real, and comfortable with what and who they are. A big story with scares, but a story that cares about about what happens, to the good guys, the bad guys, even just small characters who might not have a big role. Not just a lot of research went into this book, but a lot of heart too.

The plot moves well, the story is interesting, and the characters are all characters I want to read more about. Even like I said the smaller characters, like the ex-sailor bookstore owner who appears for just a chapter. There is a novel in him. I hope there is. This is the first book I have read by Rosemary Jones, but not the last, and I can't wait to read more. Not just a great tie-in story, but a great story period.

[Lostinmylibrary]

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book!

I was excited to read this book because I have enjoyed playing the Arkham Horror games. So how did this book compare to what I was expecting?

Characters: The characters were fine. I did like the main characters in Betsy and Wini. Tom was fine. Nova had the potential to be a super interesting character, but she wasn't a main character. I did like seeing America through the eyes of Betsy and Wini. There was some interesting conversations that could have been had about Betsy being a business owner and Wini being a pilot. There was some talk about it, but there was no push back. It just didn't seem realistic (especially for the time) that there was just no push back or haters.

Atmosphere: Arkham and Innsmouth are super well known in HP Lovecraft lore. I loved the secret underground criminal groups. But everything about the atmosphere had already been built.

Writing: The writing was fine, but this book suffered from the lack of horror. There was very little things that came from HP Lovecraft's works. Sure there was the grimoire but there was no scariness. Sure people were disappearing, but they showed back up fine. Like why should I be scared of this? This book was more historical fiction than anything. The author had the world of HP Lovecraft and squandered it.

Plot: There was the mystery of the mysterious grimoire, and that was interesting. But again this was supposed to be horror. There just was no horror aspects to this story.

Intrigue: I was intrigued to see if this tied in with the mythos of HP Lovecraft, and it did kind of. It wasn't anything that was satisfying though.

Logic: Thinking about the world of HP Lovecraft and Arkham Horror, I just can't think of how this wasn't something bigger than it was in the end. Sure it was logical within the world, but it was so small and not horror.

Enjoyment: This was pretty meh. Not scary. Squandered the chance to write in the world of Arkham Horror. 3 stars.

[Cat Treadwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Deadly Grimoire’, a follow-up to ‘Mask of Silver’ (which I’ve previously enjoyed and reviewed). This stands alone if you’ve not read that, though, being its own tale as well as a continuation of those events.

Betsy Baxter is the Flapper Detective, daring stunt-performer and actress, who’s found great success after surviving the previous events in Arkham. However, there’s still loose ends to be tied – so with the help of a female pilot known as ‘The Woman without Fear’ and an antiquarian bookseller seeking the titular Grimoire, Betsy charges straight into an adventure that far surpasses any movie!

Again, this has the vibe of a matinee movie, but also a strong detective story. Where (and what) is the mysterious Grimoire? What do bootleggers and a local crime syndicate have to do with anything, and what are the innovative seaweed-based treatments at the local sanatorium?

Every aspect of Lovecraft is here, bound up with a fun heroine whose thinking is definitely ahead of her time.

I’m glad to say that every single one of the books in this series branches further into the Real World than Lovecraft would ever have been comfortable with – in terms of strong women, native Americans and Inuit, homosexuality and much more. The Ancient Old Ones don’t care about such things, and their tentacles affect everyone, so there’s (happily) no discrimination to be found in any of these pages.

As always, at the end of these books those who survive are forever changed by their encounters with the Great Unknown – as are we, the reader. Part of me wonders what happens next for them, but I know it won’t be necessarily good. It’s just that feeling of wanting to see more of a traditional adventure serial, feeling the jumps and gasps as skilled hands lead us further into the dark.

Hugely enjoyable and absolutely recommended.

[Vir - Física Lectora · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Success come at a price, but some people weren't even allowed to pay that price because of who they were."

Betsy Baxter es una actriz conocida por sus apariciones como protagonista de The Flapper Detective. Situada en los 20's, Betsy se sentirá movilizada a investigar una desaparición ocurrida hace años en Arkham.

"'How about the spirit writing' asked Tom. 'Oh, I think they find that much easier to believe than their own granny being a child like them.'"

Definitivamente, The deadly grimoire fue un libro que me sorprendió muchísimo. Aunque no hay una gran profundidad en el desarrollo de los personajes, la excelente atmósfera hace que este libro sea imposible de dejarlo. No es del estilo apresivo y tenebroso de Lovecraft, ya que hay mucho humor presente en los diálogos, sentí que estaba viendo una película por lo fluida que era la escritura.

Tanto el argumento como el ritmo son atrapantes, y el world building es meticuloso. No puedo decir que me haya volado la cabeza, sin embargo me generó un impacto tal que meses después de haberlo leído lo recuerdo vívidamente.

Me resultó una historia muy entretenida y definitivamente quiero volver a leer a la autora.

Por último, no suelo hacer comentarios sobre la portada, pero en este caso no puedo evitar resaltar que me encantó y que cuadra perfecto con la historia. Súper recomendado!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with The Deadly Grimoire. This book could be used as a primer for anyone learning to write cliff hanger chapter endings. It makes sense because the heroine, Betsy the Flapper Detective, produces and stars in the short films of the 1920's that always ended with a cliff hanger so audiences would spend another dime to buy a ticket to the next episode.

When two of her actors disappear during filming, Betsy finds that being a detective in life doesn't always follow a script. There's a lot of strong female characters ranging from a pilot to a bootlegger and the male characters from her advance man to her butler are a hoot. The male criminals are a little ominous, but there is no gross-out violence. The story is more like a thrilling 1920's flick rather than a gorefest like later horror. The seaweed smells pretty bad, though. It's gross. Oh, and there's sea creature/monster thingys flying through storms and biting biplanes. What more could you want?

For some thrills set at the seashore (and we know what kinds of things live in the sea) pick up The Deadly Grimoire and take yourself back to 1926 and get a little wing walking for your reading pleasure.

Thanks to Netgalley and Arkham Horror for allowing me to read and review The Deadly Grimoire.

[Christopher Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Arkham Horror novel

I received an advance reader copy of this book from Aconyte Books via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the latest in a series from Aconyte based on the Arkham Horror board game. This volume features main character Betsy Baxter, a 1920 silent film star and studio owner known for playing the lead role as “The Flapper Detective,” a very popular series of films.


I think the best thing about The Deadly Grimoire is that it features several very strong female characters. The male characters in most cases are lacking in some necessary trait or another, or are only characterized at a superficial level. Plot-wise, the horror elements are not very strong and most of the threat to the main character and her allies comes from totally human villains. The adventure elements of the story are strong, as Betsy indulges her addiction to adrenaline rushes with the assistance of her pilot friend, Wini Habbamock.

I gave The Deadly Grimoire four stars. It was fun to read about women pushing against the 1920s social conventions of what they should and should not do, and there were several exciting action sequences. On the other hand, the lack of a strong horror element in the plot brought my rating down to four stars.

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually when someone attempts to recreate a IP using another form of media, such as video games, books, or movies, they end terribly. They will either create something too similar to the source material and alienate new fans, or stray too far, creating something totally different and angering loyal fans.

The Arkham Horror books are the rare exceptions that perfectly balance the line of creating new and interesting stories, while still honoring the characters, world, and mythos of their source material. This can only be done by talented writers who understand, and love the Arkham Horror games.

Rosemary Jones uses some characters from her previous book The Mask of Silver in The Deadly Grimoire, but it is not necessary to read that to enjoy this book.

Betsy, a daring actress, Winnie, the woman without fear, and Tom, a bookworm who I felt a personal connection to, join together to find an old friend, recover a lost book, and also raise money for a flying competition. This book is sure to keep you on your toes and turning the pages as you discover why Arkham is a town best left alone.

Interesting characters and a plot that wont let up makes this read well worth your time.

[Cynde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful read in the spirit of the 1920's pulp fiction and silent movies. Wealthy actress and studio mogul, Betsy Baxter is looking for new stunts to perform as the "Flapper Detective" in her silent movies. She is filming a scene as a wingwalker on an airplane. A call from a friend in Arkham on the East Coast alerts her to a strange disappearance of a professor friend and she convinces Winnifred Habbamock, the pilot to fly her to Arkham. Arkham is a strange town where Betsy has been in an ill-fated movie three years earlier where one man was killed and two others disappeared. Betsy intervenes in a fight in an alley and finds a bookseller,Tom, being beaten by thugs. After saving him , he tells her of a grimoire that his firm owns that was accidentally sold to two different parties and now has gone missing completely. Betsy, Wini and Tom set out to find what is behind all the strange disappearances , weird happenings and hopefully Tom's missing book.
This is an action packed thrill rider of a book and I found it a very enjoyable read!!!
I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher(s) for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. The very first thing that grabbed me was the cover of this book. I have zero exposure to Arkham Horror or to any of the characters in this book. That said, if you've never, ever read anything related to this topic, I think you'll still enjoy it. There was enough back-tracking and re-explaining that I didn't feel like I had missed out on anything that may have happened elsewhere previously. This was a fun romp-when I saw the "horror" part of this, I read with one hand mentally over my eyes in case anything horrifying popped up. I was pleased at the "horror" that did pop up wasn't gory or gruesome or absolutely terrifying-just enough to keep me hooked and intrigued and now I'd like to go back and explore all of the stuff related to Arkham Horror. Betsy is a delightful character! The only thing about this book that bugged me was the weird usage of conjugations. A character would say something like "I did not see you there" where they'd just said something like "he must've left". The switch between the two styles was occasionally jarring to me, but that could just be a personal quirk of mine! Overall, very enjoyable and intriguing.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested this ARC as I was attracted to the cover and the plot. I didn't know what Arkham Horror is nor read the previous novel.
Even if I won't start playing the Arkham Horror I will surely read the previous novel as I had a lot of fun.
The author did an excellent job in mixing Lovecraft, historical mystery, and fantasy.
The storytelling and the world building were fascinating and I liked the characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Vadim Gorodetsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing sort-of a sequel to the fun and creepy "The Silver Mask". No tension, let alone horror, barely any mythos and lots of forced blunt and mostly unjustified feminist themes and tropes with complete disregard of any kind of realism or measure.
However, the prose is pleasant and pulpy and the atmosphere of the time is there. It's over before you know it, barely overstaying its welcome.
The narrator of the audio book is very good too. Very on point with the characters and the language.

[V. Arrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was finally the tone and mood I've been hoping for out of these Arkham Horror books! Betsy Baxter is an engaging heroine and protagonist whose bubbly, quick-witted personality keeps the pacing tight and quick, like a Charleston (or one of her "Hazards of Helen" stunts). The story suffers a bit from the same "throw everything promised on the covers into the last two chapters ONLY" syndrome as the rest of the Arkham Horror novel tie-ins, but Betsy is such an enjoyable lens to the world that I didn't mind this time. The narrator of the audiobook also did an excellent job in making Betsy sound "like the 1920s" without going too broad in the carefully snappy flapper accent.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read as someone unfamiliar with Arkham Horror and these characters. Reading a mystery involving a flapper detective was an amazing journey. This is a great read for Lovecraft and 1920s fans.

Thank you NetGalley and Aconyte Books for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

[Juni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Physical edition

I enjoyed it more than I thought I might. I didn't expect much from a book that's riffing on the IP of Arkham horror (or, to be fair, *any book that's written explicitly in the intellectual property of a game or other media), but I found the strong female characters a refreshing change.

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are just such a fun pulpy story that helps flesh out the world of Arkham Horror. This particular one wraps up some dangling threads from the Mask of Silver book this author had written. I really liked Betsy in this book, and I really felt as if I was watching the movie the cover of the book was the poster for. I feel these books are under rated and more should read them!

[Christoph Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly fun read. The characters work well, the horror is just beneath the surface, almost not there then almost in reach... it is more of a mystery story, but that is in line with many if not all of Lovecraft's stories, where we just hear of the actual (or imagined) horror.

Definitely one of the better ones in the new Arkham Horror series.

[Natasha Pavlitsevits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lovely Arkham horror novel by Rosemary Jones.
It's so entertaining to read 1920s characters, like the Flapper Detective or the woman without fear, trying to make sense of Eldritch phenomena. I loved Betsy Baxter as a narrator, so funny and capable of doing her own stunts. The whole novel was a pulp horror adventure that I was glad to go on.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Copy...that was good tie-in media. I only had a rough idea what Arkham Horror but fully aware of the world's Lovecraft elements and mythos which this tie-in very much does have and thought the roaring 20's world of daring hijinks and detective intrigue was portrayed well too.