I really like a good historical fiction novel and crime/mystery books are my go-to genre. This book was a really great blend of both. I think that it can be very hard to create fictional characters who are enmeshed in real historical events. I thought the author did a great job of developing well-rounded characters and placing them in the context of early 20th century gangland Chicago. I would definitely read more books by this author!

Mingling With Mobsters..
The first Mystic’s Accomplice mystery set in a 1920’s Chicago introduces the reader to reluctant sleuth Maddie Pastore as the author takes the reader into the world of speakeasies whilst mingling with mobsters and with a sprinkling of séances. A well written and solid mystery with a cast of colourful characters and brimming with historical detail and minutiae of the age. Entertaining and enjoyable.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

We meet Maddie Pastore in Chicago, 1924, just as her husband has been killed delivering illegal alcohol for the mob. Pregnant, penniless and alone, Maddie faces increasing hardship, particularly after the birth of her son, but refuses to turn to the mob for help.

A chance encounter with the mother of an old school friend, now a Spiritualist going by the name Madame Carlotta, Maddie spots a chance to earn money by acting as a “spill”. By researching clients of Carlotta’s in advance of séances, Maddie is able to provide facts and details that help the readings go more “smoothly”, much to Carlotta’s delight. During one of her investigations, Maddie stumbles across a case of two family deaths in quick succession and wonders whether foul play may be involved. She must use all of her powers of deduction to solve the riddle while finding a way to survive as a widow with a newborn baby.

This was a well-written mystery, and the characters were very charming. I enjoyed their relationships and liked the details of the time and place in which the tale is set. I would certainly read the next in the series.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Good start for a new historical mystery series! An unusual heroine, a highly entertaining plot that kept me guessing and an interesting cast of characters.
Solid mystery full of twists and turns, vivid historical background, good character development.
Can't wait to read another instalment.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Maddie Pastore lived with her baby in 1924 Chicago where she has been evicted from her home and family when she discovers that she had her baby in a bigamous relationship with her husband who has just died. Maddie becomes the Mystic's Accomplice in the story by Mary Miley. Maddie is convinced that someone has been murdered but no one wants to know. Her life as a helper to a medium is precarious. Interesting historical mystery during the Capone era.

THE MYSTIC'S ACCOMPLICE is the perfect introductory novel to the promised "A Mystic's Accomplice Mystery" series. Enough time is devoted to the principal characters' backstories to develop a familiarity with them without going overboard. In a mystery series, it is important to keep the backstory going to encourage reading the series in order.

Rival gangs, speakeasies, and corruption in 1924 Chicago is the setting for THE MYSTIC'S ACCOMPLICE. Maddie, Mrs. Tommaso Pastore, is pregnant, widowed, and suddenly homeless… her husband killed as the bootlegging business erupts in violence. She is resourceful, intelligent, and knows that she doesn't want to be beholden to the Outfit for whom her husband made deliveries. Johnny Torrio is the Outfit's boss; his young sidekick is Alphonse Capone.

Seventeen days after delivering a healthy baby boy Maddie finds herself at her lowest point. She chances to meet the mother of her girlhood friend, Mrs. Myrtle Burkholtzer. It will change her life for the better. Mrs. Burkholtzer has renamed herself Carlotta Romany and believes is reliving a past life where she was a gypsy queen. Carlotta has embraced spiritualism and is helping the bereaved contact lost loved ones. She asks Maddie for assistance. The premise is set and mystery ensues.

The writing is realistic and compelling. I found it difficult to put the book aside. I enjoy historical fiction that contains enough actual history to make the fiction believable. Mary Miley Theobald has included a section at the end where she details the facts upon which she built her fiction.

I read a couple of novels by Mary Miley from a different series set in 1920s Hollywood, so I knew she is a great researcher. I was expecting an enjoyable story with lots of historical details, and I wasn't disappointed.

This new series is set in Chicago in the 1920s but has a very different premise. Not an actress, this time, but a shill for a medium, though Meggie is the same kind of woman as Miley's other series: independent, intuitive, clever and worldly.
I liked the basic idea of the medium and her work. Madame Carlotta is a good woman who truly believes she's gifted, and Maggie and Freddy go along with her because they know she never deceives people. She actually tried to help them in every way she can, and often she manages to do it.
As a shill, Maggie has to learn as much about Madam Carlotta's clients as she can. I found the details about this part of the jobs and the different stage tricks very interesting. Also, I can see how Maggie may pass from being a shill to being an investigator. She learns to dig into people's lives for her job, and she's very good at it. She also learns very quickly how to get information from people without looking too nosy. She's a great character.

The mystery - well, that wasn't so great. But I think part of the 'problem' is that this is an introductory story. It is clearly the beginning of a series, and although the mystery is there, it seems just the excuse to introduce characters and situations. Outside the mystery, the story presents many loose ends at the end, which gives away its nature, I think.

The mystery is very mundane, there's nothing extravagant about it, and I actually appreciated it. This is a story of common people and common lives, and I like this. It's a great portrayal of how life was for so many Americans in the 1920s. But it was maybe a bit too obvious and simple. I was disappointed by the way it unfolded because it was quite easy to catch the culprit, and the ending was a bit abrupt and a bit too convenient.
But all in all, it wasn't a great problem.

I enjoyed it. It was a nice read.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.5 Hearts This was kind of interesting. I have been interested in mob life since I really learned about who Al Capone was. Not just the “Scarface” we hear about but the real man. Anyway….. I thought I would pick up this book since it is a start to a new series.

Maddie’s husband has a history with the Chicago mob but when Maddie is widowed and pregnant she will do what she needs to do for her baby. I really liked Maddie. She was going through the hardest moment in her life and she persevered.

I think fans of gangster/mob stories will enjoy this new series.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Poor Maddie’s life disastrously falls apart at the start of this book. Bad enough to suddenly find herself suddenly widowed and pregnant – but when she then loses everything, she’s desperate. Fortunately, she’s blessed with a lovely nature that people warm to and while she doesn’t want to be a charity case, Maddie is on the receiving end of a lot of genuine kindness. Though once Baby Tommy is born, she needs to find a job so she can keep a roof over their heads and feed herself – and it’s a huge struggle. She is caught in the all-too familiar dilemma facing working women with children, especially as she is breastfeeding him.

No… this book isn’t all about that. But I’m glad to see one of the plot threads running throughout the story is Maddie’s constant worry about how she will keep Baby Tommy safely cared for while she holds down a job. It certainly means that once she has a measure of financial security while helping Madam Carlotta gain information about her clients, she can’t easily find another position. Even though she is uneasy about what she is doing at times.

I was aware that in the wake of the Great War and the terrible Spanish Flu epidemic of 2018, there was a huge upsurge of interest in spiritualists on both sides of the Atlantic. Millions of grieving relatives struggled to come to terms with the loss of far too many young people well before their time and turned to spiritualists for comfort. So Madam Carlotta feels she is called upon by a higher power to help people. And there are occasions when she clearly has flashes of genuine insight that can’t be explained away. However they are infrequent and fleeting. Therefore Maddie finds out as much as she can about the clients who book in advance to attend a séance, so Madam Carlotta can drop these details in. And it is when she discovers one family who have been particularly afflicted with more than one death that it occurs to her that the latest tragedy may not have been natural.

In the meantime, we get a vivid insight into a vibrant Chicago where Prohibition is in full swing and speakeasys and illegal gin joints have sprung up on every street. This gives the major crime families a licence to print money, by getting involved in the production of illegal liquor and distributing it. Gang warfare is simmering just below the surface – and given that Tommy was driving for one of the major outfits, Maddie needs to tread very carefully if she is going to keep herself and her newborn son free of their pernicious influence.

The story rattles along full of incident and suffused with Maddie’s gutsy can-do attitude, which I found very endearing. While the murder mystery is enjoyable and well done, it isn’t the narrative engine that powers this story – that is Maddie’s struggle to regroup after two devastating blows take everything, other than her child, away from her. That’s fine by me – the pages more or less turned themselves as I was fascinated to discover what happens next. And I’m definitely going to be looking out for the next book in this enjoyable series. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, particularly 1920s America. While I obtained an arc of The Mystic’s Accomplice from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

Truly hoping this book becomes a series, because I really enjoyed the character. The premise is very creative -- a young, penniless widow in Al Capone-era Chicago finds work as the researcher and accomplice to a psychic. Really fun historical fiction/cozy mystery combination.

As a Chicago native who's heard the stories about the bootlegging and the competing crime families, I was impressed at how much about Chicago clicked with me. Mary Miley Theobald paints a picture of Chicago in the Roaring twenties, warts and all. In this milieu, the title character has to learn to live and succeed on her own and to do it without attracting the attention of the Capone mob. The story snaps--as soon as you've been drawn in, the plot takes a sudden turn and propels the reader through the book A good book to open Summer reading!

The mystic's accomplice by Mary Miley Theobald.
This was a really good read. I liked Madeleine. I liked how it was written. I don't normally read historical books but I did like this one. I was surprised with how quick I read it. 5*.

Chicago USA 1924 - Madeleine ( Maddie ) Pastore was married to Tommaso and expecting his child. Tommy as he is known drives delivery trucks for an Italian gang run by Johnny Torrio along with his young assistant Al. Capone. Tommy is shot and killed by a rival gang. Maddie is trying to come to terms with bringing a child into the World without a husband.
However worse is to come when she learns that Tommy was a bigamist and his wife has claimed Maddie's house and bank account. Maddie gives birth to a boy who she christens Tommy. She is given temporary shelter in Hull house which is a poor house.
This is the Chicago of speakeasies, gin palaces and prohibition. Jazz and flappers. Maddie needs a job if she and Tommy are not to starve. She rents a room in a rundown boarding house. Luckily she meets up with Mrs. Burkholtzer who is the mother of Maddie's best friend Alice, now married with children and moved to California.
Alice's mother now calls herself Madame Carlotta Romany, she is a spiritualist. She contacts deceased relatives for her clients. Maddie along with Freddy, a boy whom Carlotta has taken into her household, become assistants to the seances. Maddie also researches future clients and provides interesting information for Carlotta. Whilst enjoying making some money to provide independence, she stumbles into a murder mystery. Can she solve it without putting herself and Tommy into danger?
An American author I've not come across before. The book is well researched and written. Prior to this book she has published four roaring twenties mysteries, as well as fifteen nonfiction books. I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.

Mary Miley, author of The Roaring Twenties mysteries, introduces a new series set in the same time period in Chicago. Prohibition, mobsters, speakeasies, seances. It’s a tantalizing atmosphere for a mystery. And, Maddie Pastore is the perfect courageous amateur sleuth as The Mystic’s Accomplice.

Miley skillfully blends an atmospheric Chicago with tantalizing history and historical figures. The Mystic’s Accomplice is an intriguing mystery. The setting and time period might draw readers to this enjoyable mystery, but Maddie Pastore will capture their attention. She’s a determined young widow and mother, determined to keep herself and her son safe, and, determined to save someone else. I hope Maddie returns in future mysteries.

A different kind of whodunnit. The story is told in the first-person in a way that brings 1920s Chicago to life. The tale of murder, the mob and seances is amusing, although the ending is both muted and abrupt. Enjoyable overall.

Maddie Pastore feels like she has it all, a good husband, a home, a car and a baby on the way. In the blink of an eye it all changes hen husband is killed and his wife claims everything. Not Maddie, but the woman he was married to before her and didn’t bother to divorce. What’s a woman to do when she loses it all?

Down on her luck, but not out, Maddie goes to work for the Mother of an old child friend who has become a mystic and puts on seances. It’s not ideal, but it does keep Maddie and her baby boy from taking a hand out from the mob. While she knows they are conning people to some extent, she takes comfort in the fact that customers leave with a sense of peace and the mystic asks for no payment, just whatever they wish to give her. But when Maddie finds a new customer may be marked for murder, she has to find a way to save the woman who has already lost her husband and an adopted child without leaving Tommy an orphan and dying herself.

I’ll be honest, I was skeptical when I first decided to read this book, but I was pleasantly surprised! We have a strong female protagonist that wants nothing more than to raise her son to be a good person and spare him the abuse she went through growing up. I’ve gone from skeptical to adding this author to my must read list!

A wonderful new series from the talented Mary Miley introducing Maddie Pastore, a spunky heroine sharpening her sleuthing skills through the hustle and bustle of the Windy City during the prohibition era with lots of cleverness and guts. I really enjoyed this fast moving whodunit full of overdressed mobsters, burly cops, cheesy speakeasies and unforgettable characters. A richly detailed tapestry of Chicagoan life during the Roaring twenties where we follow the tribulations of a recently widowed Maddie as she tries to keep her life afloat with a new born son and the insurmountable task to survive all the odds stacked against her. Smartly plotted and deliciously scripted this delightful romp allows us little by little to follow Maddie's adventures as she gains more and more self-confidence on her way to becoming a private investigator. A sure winner from start to finish, the Mystic's accomplice will definitely keep you intrigued, hooked and hoping to get the next installment very soon. To be enjoyed without moderation👍👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Canongate/Severn House for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel

A first for me from this author and one I enjoyed very much. It’s a quick simple read with an interesting premise and story. Rich in historic detail with well developed and fun characters. It’s very well written and involves some mystery and twists and turns along the way. It’s definitely well worth a read if historical mysteries are your thing, highly recommend!

"Anyone who believes in magic is a fool." (Harry Houdini)

And no one was more against Mediums and Spiritualism than the man himself. Houdini didn't totally dismiss the idea. He did everything possible to shed light on the charlatans and frauds as possible. He just hadn't found one who was the real deal.

The Mystic's Accomplice brings us to the crowded streets of Chicago in May of 1924. The city was lined with the holy and the unholy, the innocent and the street-wise, and gangsters of every background from the pickpocket to the well-shined shoes of Al Capone and the Johnny Torrio gang. Although Prohibition was the law of the land, Chicago flowed with more booze in speakeasies than the depths of Lake Michigan.

Maddie Pastore knows Johnny Torrio up close and personal. Her husband, Tommaso, made discreet deliveries for the gang. Tommy convinced Maddie that it was on the up and up. But bad business led up to Tommy's demise one evening when a delivery went wrong. Maddie is now a widow who is about to deliver her own little package in a few months. Broke and pregnant, Maddie turns to the famous Hull House in Chicago where she gives birth to a healthy boy named Tommy.

With no other prospects and no family to support her, Maddie moves into a rundown tenement building where the roaches are tapdancing every night. She and little Tommy meet up with a former neighbor on Maxwell Street. Mrs. Burkholtzer is now known as Madame Carlotta Romany, a newly turned out Spiritualist. She offers Maddie a job in which Maddie can bring her baby. Desperate, Maddie accepts. And so our story raises its stakes........

Mary Miley Theobald envelopes Maddie into the Spirit World of communicating with souls who have passed. Maddie is not quite sure that Madame Carlotta is the real thing, but with no other options and a newborn, it's a few dollars in her pocket. In the course of dealing with this clientele, Maddie comes upon a woman whose relative may be punching her ticket to leave this world faster than nature intended. With quick wit and an inquisitive mind, Maddie hits the pavement in order to stop it from happening.

The Mystic's Accomplice is certainly not a heavy-laden mystery thriller with car chases and dead bodies piling up. Theobald surrounds us in old Chicago with fine descriptors of its shady streets and its shady characters. Maddie proves to be a snappy main character with potential for a series here. It's an enjoyable read that fits the bill for escapism. I kicked it up from a 3.5 to 4 Stars for its creativity and timely depictions of the Windy City where Al Capone left more than impressions behind.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Severn House and to Mary Miley Theobald for the opportunity.