In 1892 the city of Portland, Maine is sent into a panic by a series of strange murders that hint at a connection with demonic forces and the Salem witch trials of two hundred years before.
Deputy Marshal Archie Lean, assisted by a local doctor and his librarian niece, and a brilliant but unnerving criminalist, Perceval Grey, works feverishly to uncover the connections between the victims --- who seem to be randomly targeted --- in order to build a profile of the killer, or killers. But when they turn up evidence that the wealthy and influential leader of the Maine temperance society is paying the man who runs the criminal underworld in Portland to keep a witness from talking to the police, the Mayor suddenly loses interest in pursuing the matter.
Although each is skeptical of the other's methods, Lean and Grey join forces to keep the investigation going, following a trail that leads them through slums, saloons, brothels, opium dens, back alley dealers in charms and potions, seances and spiritualists, graveyards, workhouses and lunatic asylums, the Portland cathedral and the library at Harvard.
The author grew up in Portland and incorporates local events and landmarks into his story, as well as the sad and sanguinary history of people and places associated with the Salem witch trials. For those who enjoy Gothic mysteries and New England settings, this should prove to be an enjoyable, although lengthy read, with an old-fashioned cliff hanger ending.
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