Quickshots: The Second Glass of Absinthe

 

I usually like short novels, but this one could have used a few hundred more pages.  In this self-described “A Mystery of the Victorian West“ we get, in no particular order:

·       Murder mystery

·       Helena Blavatsky

·       Spiritualism

·       Tarot

·       Bisexuality

·       Incest

·       Labor unrest

·       Violent union strikes

·       Class warfare

·       Mining politics

·       Drug-induced hallucinations

Oh, and one of the main characters is a white woman who lived with the Cheyenne for years in a prior book and is readapting to white society with her new husband.  The book is good, well researched, well written, but it’s a lot to absorb in a little over 300 pages.

Fun fact- the title comes from the eminently quotable Oscar Wilde: "After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not.”