This definitely appears to be a marmite kind of book.

I really wanted to love it but I struggled with the first part which is approximately 20% of the book. It just didn’t grab me.

In part 2 the séances begin and it gets more interesting but I’m afraid it still just didn’t wow me. It was all quite gloomy and depressing and with an arrogant main character I couldn’t root for.

The atmospheric writing is very well done and I could visualise everything.

It was only when I was nearly finished and started looking at reviews that I found this is actually based around a true story.

Mediumship was very popular at the time it is set (1920’s) and the story revolves around an engineer, William Jackson Crawford and his challenge to prove whether Kathleen Goligher, the primary medium for the well known Goligher Circle, is in fact a fraud. He undertakes countless experiments, becoming more and more obsessed. He writes books in the subject and becomes quite well off.

I will not go further into the plot to spoil your enjoyment.

Well researched and great gothic atmosphere but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

The Spirit Engineer by A.J. West is a ghost story.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Duckworth Books and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Belfast, 1914.  34 year old William Jackson Crawford, father of 3, teacher, scientist and engineer.  He is trying to complete his book on scientific calculations.

One night he follows his wife, who he suspects is having an affair.  Instead, it seems she is trying to communicate with the dead.  In particular, she is trying to contact her brother and her son.

William is a sceptic, but a scientist, and with some wealthy benefactors, is out to prove that medium Kathleen Goligher is a fake.  He surprises himself.


My Opinions:
First, I will probably be in the minority on this one, but not every book is for every person.  I am not a real fan of historical fiction, but I am a fan of ghosts and psychics and mediums, so I thought.....

This book is based on real people.  Engineer William Jackson Crawford did indeed investigate medium Kathleen Goligher.  He did, indeed, commit suicide.  The story we read here is based "around" those facts.

The book is about psychic phenomena, mediums, religion.  It is about faith, and beliefs.  It is also about grief, obsession and exploitation, and about ambition, lies and deception.

I really struggled with this novel.  I hated the main character, and found it impossible to warm to him. He's a pompous ass, so full of himself.  The book had a slow and boring start.  Between that boring beginning and my intense dislike of  William, I seriously considered giving up.  I'm not even sure how I felt with the addition of Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (of whom I am a big fan).  That felt wrong to me.

However, I really enjoyed the last 20% of the book, and I absolutely loved the ending!


(Oh, and I liked the cover)



For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, author information and a favorite quotation from the book), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

💀💀 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝔼𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕣 💀💀
𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐴 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑠ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑. 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦, 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟, 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑝 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑘. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑝, ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒.
“𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜, 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟,’ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. “𝑌𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡; 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢...“

What can I say about this book?! I loved it, I devoured it in 2 and 1/2 days, I could barely put it down I absorbed it!
The Spirit Engineer is based on real people, real events and covers the extraordinary life of William Jackson Crawford from 1914 - 1920.
It tells the story of how he meets the young girl Kathleen, who it seems can summon spirits.
I’m not going to say too much as I really don’t want to spoil anything of the story but I will say that if you like spooky you’ll love this. I urge you to read it, the writing is beautiful and really draws you into the book. The illustrations are stunning! Definitely a 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 read.

Beautiful, creepy and evocative, read it, I urge you!

Disturbing, Dark, Tragic…
Disturbing, dark and tragic in equal measure, but sprinkled with a dry dose of humour now and then, this is a Gothic treat of an historical mystery with a well drawn cast of characters and seeped in atmospherics. Based on true events and told with an accomplished sleight of hand. A rather perfect read for this particular time of year.

This was a creepy historical ghostly mystery which was good in places. I think I would have enjoyed this more though if not for the main character who I found extremely annoying and irritating throughout the novel. The actual storyline is quite good and suitably creepy in places and I loved the historical setting.

The ghostly mystery was intriguing to read about but all of that was negatively impacted by the main character and his odd behaviour and very strange relationship with his wife. I really couldn’t connect with his character or with any of the main characters but I still enjoyed bits of it. And it is well written and the atmosphere is good.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read and review this book.

Professor William Jackson Crawford is an engineering lecturer living in Belfast in 1914. Blighted by the ill fated sinking of the Titanic 2 years earlier, the people of the city have been feeling the losses of family members and friends. Although a man of science, Crawford happens across a seance led by Kathleen Golighy and is desperate to get to the bottom of her supposed otherworldly powers. 👻

5⭐- I didn't realise until I finished the book that it is based on a true story, which makes this even more interesting! I really liked the setting and the depiction of life at the time of post Titanic Belfast. It's a very decent, creepy read which is perfect for this time of year with a good twist at the end! 👻 🎃

I found this initially difficult to get into but the whole concept was extremely interesting and well executed. The writing style is also quite unique.

WOW, WOW, WOW, If you like a good creepy read that will make the hairs on your neck stand on end, or just a good creepy read to go with the time of the year then grab a copy of this excellent book now. For A.J.West’s debut novel this is brilliant I was gripped from the start.

Based in some truth of the life of William Jackson Crawford and his scientific look into the young medium Kathleen Goligher. Narrated throughout by William who is a gentleman, an academic and a scientist, with dreams of one day being famous for his scientific research. He is married to Elizabeth, and they have three children two girls and a son Robert. Money is tight and they are helped out by a benefactor Aunt Adelie, although she is not keen on William she supports Elizabeth. As the story begins it is July 1920 William is sat looking out to see as he remembers some promising words: Death is just the beginning. We then jump back to 1914 Belfast, two years after the sinking of the Titanic and with war on the horizon.

When their housemaid Hazel, seems to suddenly up and leave the family William is bewildered as to why she has left them. Until he finds a letter that she had written to Elizabeth that is a little cryptic and could be read in different ways, William wants to know what Hazel had meant. Before long they have a new housemaid a mute Rose, but where did she come from? William believes his wife has been attending church one evening a week until someone asks why they haven’t seen her for a while. This makes William wonder where his wife has been disappearing to each week, so follows her, to a rough part of the docks. As William looks up at the building his wife has entered he sees a young girl looking down on him,he later discovers this to be the young Kathleen Goligher. What is his wife doing here? Elizabeth’s brother had died on the Titanic, and she is desperate to contact him, but William believes this to be nothing but a load of nonsense and people trying to make money out of another persons loss. As the story progresses. William finds himself challenged to prove through his scientific mind that it is not possible to talk to the dead. The money would come in handy and he takes on the challenge. It’s here that the reader is drawn more into the goings on. As William looks at every possible thing he can think of to prove whether this is genuine or not. But what will his findings prove. As he becomes known as The Spirit Engineer. With meetings with the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini.

I love how even though this is a creepy sort of read there is some brilliantly added humour, with great one liners. You will be chuckling one minute, crying the next, and then jumping at every creak or groan you here. I think .A.J.West has done a great job of telling this story, making it engaging. With a number of three dimensional characters some you will love some you won’t. But if this is you kind of read then definitely grab a copy now. Perfect for a Halloween read.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #duckworthbooks for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review. An absolute gem of a book.

If I had known this book was going to be this good, I wouldn't have waited so long to read it. I find the whole Spiritualism movement fascinating and this story was yet another chance to delve into that world.

A brief synopsis: an engineering professor is exposed to the world of seances through his wife. At first entirely skeptical, his opinion changes rapidly when spectral voices speak to him, telling secrets only he could know. From that point, backed by financial supporters, he sets out not to disprove the claims of Spiritualism, but to PROVE that all the occurrences within the seance room are otherworldly and not produced by any human scheming. He quickly becomes famous for his experiments and published findings, and the events of the seances become more and more bizarre as his fame spreads and grows until that awful moment when everything comes crashing down around him.

The writing in this book, especially the second half, is so immersive that at one point I looked up from my reading and realized I had no idea where my children were or how long had passed since I last saw them (they were fine).

The story is told in first person, and our protagonist proves himself first as an extremely unlikable person, and eventually as an unreliable narrator. His own logical mind turns to madness in the end, and a time comes when the reader asks themselves just how many people he's going to take down with him.

Based on real life events, this tale takes the lives of Professor William Jackson Crawford and Spiritualist medium Kathleen Goligher and fictionalizes them, playing loose with facts in the end but making for an absorbing and fascinating story that grabbed my attention and didn't let go until the last word was read.

The Spirit Engineer is an interesting book considering it is based off a real person. This book is definitely a book suited for the spooky season. It is haunting and makes you question. The characters were interesting and the way they interacted with the world was perfect for them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis of this book. This book instantly drew me in. I really enjoyed this book and the plot. This author did amazing. I loved the writing style.

The Spirit Engineer was an annoying read in that I spent pretty much the whole book knowing which star rating I was going to give it (3 stars), only to have everything turn on its head by a superb ending which made it worthy of an additional star!

We’ll start with the 3-star elements – firstly that I found the whole book far too slowly paced. It became very repetitive in places and the first half dragged considerably. I would usually assume that books are slow because they are spending time on character-building, but I never really felt I got to know or empathised with any of the characters which is perhaps another reason I found it hard to engage in. There are also several time-jumps which also made it hard to tie yourself as a reader into the narrative.

Although I loved the idea of a skeptic trying to prove a medium and her séances fraudulent I found it difficult to picture the scenes and they were quite chaotically written. I also didn’t really understand the need to try and wedge in Sir Arthur Canon Doyle and Harry Houdini into the narrative – it seemed a bit of a gimmick rather than a necessity of the plot.

Without giving anything away the ending is brilliant and I truly did not see it coming. Huge props to AJ West for turning the story completely on its head and if you can power your way through the first half, the pay off is certainly worth it in the end, I promise!

Overall, The Spirit Engineer has a fantastic ending, it just takes a bit of effort to power through the first half of the book to get there! Thank you to NetGalley & Duckworth Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’d anticipated this book for a couple of months having been told by my BookTwitter Squad that it was going to be a fantastic read. It certainly was, and even more than that, it was surprising too. Our setting is the city of Belfast, the Titanic sinking is still fresh in everyone’s minds. It’s especially fresh at Professor William Crawford’s house since his brother-in-law Arthur was on the ship. Crawford is our narrator and he introduces us to his happy, but chaotic household as the novel opens. He is a man of science, working at an institute both furthering scientific enquiry and teaching the next generation of engineers. He’s a sceptic, so when he finds out that his wife is visiting a medium and has been trying to contact her brother Arthur, he’s shocked and angry. There’s no question that this girl is a fraud, stringing his wife along with a show put on with the help of her shady family. Yet, the couple have lost their son Robert and Crawford’s grief is overwhelming. So when he hears Robert’s voice calling to him alongside an angry, vengeful Arthur who blames Crawford for his death, a small crack grows in his scepticism. What if he were to apply his scientific rigour to to this girl medium’s powers? If he could prove a link exists between this world and the next he could make a name for himself, not just in Ireland but all over the world.

I found the tone of the book quite unique and fresh. We see Crawford’s world through his eyes and this gives us a chance to really know him. I loved that he had petty work grievances and rivalries. His pomposity and stuffiness could get him into scrapes with other people who don’t understand his Edwardian Sheldon Cooper tendencies. At home his need for routine and things done a certain way is met with a certain amount of fond irritation. The children tend to break through the veneer of grumpiness and when a mysterious new maid appears, she seems to know him so well and has what he needs ready before he even misses it. I loved comic little scenes like the undignified moving of naked statues at the institute. When chosen for a special job before an important dinner, Crawford’s self-importance starts to show itself. His disgust when he finds out he’s just a removal man is so funny, a situation that’s made worsened when family patron Aunt Adelia accuses him of manhandling a naked woman at an upstairs window. Sometimes it’s the author’s description of a character, as seen by Crawford, that raises a smile. Crawford’s colleague Stoupe is described as:

‘Damn it, there was no escape, and no creature on earth moves so quickly as an irritating man. He danced over the tiles towards me, grinning, all arms and sweat, dressed preposterously in a baggy velvet suit, pursing his lips like a kissing pig. He gave a courtly bow before standing far too near, smelling of lavender, whisky and damp, short tufts of blonde hair.’

There are other sections of the book where his privileged position as a white, middle-class man of some scientific standing, gives him so much power he starts to abuse it. One section that I found really disturbing was his insistence that the medium, Miss Goligher, prove her gift is genuine by submitting to different tests and examinations. He forces Rose, their maid, to cavity search the unfortunate girl in an enormous abuse of power. There is also the burning of his son Robert’s comfort blanket which felt particularly cruel. The seance scenes are intense and confusing. At one point attendees are tied up and blindfolded as per Crawford’s instructions, but he still finds it difficult to understand what exactly is going on. In America, a meeting with Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini show the circles he’s starting to travel in. They add authenticity to the period and subject matter, because in real life, both men were fascinated with phenomena like mesmerism and mediumship. As an aside, Conan Doyle was famously taken in by two small children who claim to have photographed fairies in their garden, so his eagerness to see proof of mediumship and his note of caution are consistent with his experience. What I loved more than anything was the author’s ability to surprise, because as we neared the end I had no idea how the book and Crawford’s investigations would conclude. The theme of dishonesty is there right from the start, in Arthur’s reasons for being on Titanic, to the hidden note from their old maid who left in a hurry, and Elizabeth’s absence at weekly church meetings. By the end I felt triple bluffed, but couldn’t help smiling at how clever the author had been. As many of our characters find out, when it comes to being dishonest, the person we deceive most often is ourselves.

Lots of twists and turns with excellent writing. This book was very frightening for me all the way through it. I had a hard time finishing it.

If you're looking for some spooky fiction to read this Autumn then this is the book for you. It's eerie and atmospheric and just the thing to give you the shivers.

The tale is based on the real life story of scientist William Jackson Crawford and medium Kathleen Goligher. William is challenged to conduct experiments to find out if Kathleen is the real deal or if the spirits are all smoke and mirrors trickery. His search for the truth becomes an obsession and ends in disastrous consequences. I don't want to give away too much of the plot though.

I was captivated by the story and the writing is beautiful. The chapters are short so it feels like a fast paced read which I like. We only hear William's POV and he's quite a character, not always likeable I must say. There are quite a few twists and turns to keep you guessing too.

This story is really well written, extremely well researched and I can't believe it's the authors debut novel. Would definitely recommend this book to everyone

This is really just kind of … unpleasant. Not necessarily in a bad way, but I did find it hard to get through. Especially when I discovered it was based on a real person, whose history is semi-lost, given his suicide and his final role as the ultimate dupe. The Spirit Engineer is, of course, a fictionalisation—though one whose genre is as ambiguous as its characters.

We meet the protagonist, William Jackson Crawford, about to kill himself in Belfast. The book then takes us to the events preceding this: Crawford’s troubled family life, his burgeoning (though ill-remunerated) career, the death of his wife’s brother and his son, and finally his involvement Golighers, particularly the sixteen-year-old medium Kathleen Goligher. Crawford, apparently convinced by Kathleen’s command of various psychic phenomenon, begins a scientific investigation into her … um. Abilities? In the book, he ultimately realises how completely he has been defrauded, not just by the Golighers but by those in his life, as well as the depths of his own various traumas, and does a suicide. Although as far as I can tell his extant letters on the subject only re-affirm his convictions:

“I have been struck down mentally. I was perfectly alright up to a few weeks ago… It is not the psychic work. I enjoyed it too well. I’m thankful to say that work will stand. It is too thoroughly done for any material loopholes to be left.”

I’m honestly having trouble processing a lot of this, partly I think because the whole spiritualism thing is beyond gross, and sadly is not an exploitation of the vulnerable restricted to the Victorians. And, obviously, that’s not the fault of the book. But I did read it in a profound state of permanent flinch. In case, one of the strengths of The Spirit Engineer, as a careful fictionalisation, is that it can, perhaps, be more generous than reality perhaps allows. Not just to its terribly flawed, terribly damaged protagonist, but to the people around him who are, in their own ways, just as exploited as he is: by poverty, by gender, by sexuality, by age, by class, by their own losses. Kathleen, possibly, gets off more lightly than she deserves, given what she does, but it also feels like the right call, given the fact she’s a young woman from a lower class family with very few other prospects that weren’t sex work (there’s also some suggestion, as far as I can tell, from the details of Crawford’s ‘research’ that he might have sexually abused her—he was certainly very interested in ectoplasm from her vagina).

In any case, it’s just a sad-feeling book in many respects. But it’s also a masterclass in atmosphere, unreliable narration, limited perspective, deft characterisation, quiet horror and slow-building tension. There’s a weight of terrible inevitability to the final denouement, the revelations losing none of their power despite the fact they should have been obvious throughout.

I can’t say I enjoyed reading this—it is just too grim—but I admired it very, very much.

this was a wonderfully done gothic novel, this was a great story with interesting characters. It was a fun read that I appreciated was based on a true story.

Kicked off my Halloween reading with this little beauty! I've seen the hype and knew I had to get my hands on a copy. It didn't disappoint at all. I've read so many seance related books that kind of always go down the same route and I was a little apprehensive that this was going to be a typical 'knock three times' book but it really wasn't. It was so much more. The ending was spectacular, so much so that I had to reread it to really soak it up. Also, whoever compared William Crawford to George Banks from Mary Poppins has nailed it. That's exactly how I saw him throughout the book. Fantastic.

Special thank you to NetGalley and Duckworth Books for the ARC of The Spirit Engineer by A.J. West!

Taking place in Belfast in the years following the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic, The Spirit Engineer takes you on a full circle journey of coming to terms with your internal struggle and the concept of karma with a side of paranormal activity. The story starts a bit slow, trying to really get the characters current states ingrained into your mental vision. Although it was a little slower in the beginning, I was really able to picture this completely in my mind with the descriptions of locations and even scents in addition to characters.

As you read, you are taken on a mental rollercoaster as you try to figure out who you should be feeling empathy towards. It brings a lot of topics to the table: from grief and mental health to notions of mans place over women’s in society to poverty and greed.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a great book to kickoff my autumn with the weather cooling down and having darker and rainy days to complete the ambience. This book really makes you question what’s real and what’s not and how far you’d go to answer just that. But what would you do once you found out? What if you weren’t happy with the answers you found?

The Spirit Engineer is a spooky, thrilling read that will have you looking over your shoulders as you read. it has me hooked from the first page and I loved the style of writing. I loved all the characters and the writing was flawless. This is a brilliant debut novel set in Belfast and the descriptions take you right back to that era. I wasn't aware going into this book that it was based on a true story. The story pace was perfect and I found myself turning the pages well into the early hours. I couldn't put it down. I will be recommending it to everyone.