Award-winning author Lisa Tuttle delivers a riveting novel combining one man’s search for a missing woman with history’s most enduring legends of the disappeared.
“A thriller, detective story, and fantasy all in one . . . Unique, a winner!”—Dean Koontz
What happens when someone vanishes without a trace?
Ian Kennedy always had a penchant for stories about missing people—and a knack for finding them. Now a sought-after private investigator, Ian faces a case he fears he cannot solve . . . and one he knows he must.
Laura Lensky’s stunning twenty-one-year-old daughter, Peri, has been missing for over two years. But when Ian learns the details of her disappearance, he discovers eerie parallels to an obscure Celtic myth and the haunting case that launched his career—a success he’s never fully been able to explain. Though Ian suspects that Peri chose to vanish, he takes on the search. What follows leads him and those who care for Peri into the Highlands of Scotland, as the unknowns of the past and present merge in the case—and in their lives.
Praise for The Mysteries
“Lisa Tuttle never disappoints. . . . Richly imagined and beautifully written, The Mysteries lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned.”—George R. R. Martin
“A remarkable piece of work . . . Successfully balancing the miraculous and the mundane, The Mysteries offers a variety of unexpected pleasures and marks the overdue return of a stylish, distinctive storyteller.”—Washington Post Book World
“Superlative dark fantasy . . . Tuttle has total command of setting, style and her folklore sources.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Mysteries is The Cuckoo's Calling with fae. It follows private investigator Ian, from his earliest encounter with a missing person in his childhood, to his latest disappearance case. There are several timelines in the book, criss-crossing, interspersed with short memoirs of historical people gone missing.
It took me a while to figure out what The Mysteries was about. It was rather, forgive me, mysterious. The fae aspect of the book doesn't come to the foreground until relatively late, leaving the reader guessing and trying to form an image of the extent of supernatural-ness in the book. Often a lack of certainty is frustrating in a book, but the plot kept moving through the mystery/thriller conventions it relies on. A huge part of the book is a simple girl-gone-missing plot - until we find out that things aren't adding up.
The Mysteries held me enthralled for its slightly hefty 450 pages. There just is a certain something so fascinating about the fey, a quality that has intrigued people for centuries. The Mysteries does an amazing job in balancing the unworldly aspect of the fae versus the view of a modern sceptic.
I had only one issue with The Mysteries - and that was that the resolution of the main storyline didn't feel climactic enough. It was satisfying, but not epic or emotional enough for my liking. A mind-blowing ending would have carried The Mysteries into 5-star territory. As it is now, The Mysteries is the best fae-thriller mash-up I've ever seen.
It's also the only fae-thriller mash-up I've ever seen. But shhhhh.
