Opium and Absinthe - by Lydia Kang (Paperback)

About the Book

New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke's sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker's new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie's imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can't be-can it? A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won't rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister's death. Unfortunately, Tillie's addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she's taking more and more laudanum...and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied. Tillie can't bring herself to believe vampires exist. But with the hysteria surrounding her sister's death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it's becoming increasingly difficult for a girl who relies on facts and figures to know what's real-or whether she can trust those closest to her.

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author of A Beautiful Poison comes another spellbinding historical novel full of intrigue, occult mystery, and unexpected twists.

New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke's sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker's new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie's imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can't be--can it?

A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won't rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister's death. Unfortunately, Tillie's addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she's taking more and more laudanum...and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied.

Tillie can't bring herself to believe vampires exist. But with the hysteria surrounding her sister's death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it's becoming increasingly difficult for a girl who relies on facts and figures to know what's real--or whether she can trust those closest to her.

Review Quotes

"Opium and Absinthe is a compelling historical fiction...Fans of Kang's previous work (A Beautiful Poison, 2017) will best appreciate her trademark historical-mystery plot." --Booklist

"Kang's whirlwind tour of New York in the Naughty '90s is worth the price of admission." --Publishers Weekly

"Lydia Kang is one of the great virtuosos of the crime genre...Well-researched, grounded in the past, and ultra-relevant to today's opioid epidemic, Opium and Absinthe is not to be missed." --CrimeReads

"A new historical novel full of intrigue, occult mystery, and unexpected twists." --Criminal Element

"An impressively original, inherently fascinating, compulsive page turner of a novel, Lydia Kang knows how to hold her reader's rapt attention from first page to last." --Midwest Book Review

"Kang's language is exquisite, matching the fine society she writes so fluidly about. It's fair to say this is similar to a Jane Austen novel and readers of feminist literature will embrace it easily. Opium and Absinthe is a perfect concoction of romance and mystery that boils down to studies in addiction and gaining independence in a suffocating world." --Haunted by Deadlines

"Opium and Absinthe is the richly seductive tale of a young Gilded Age heiress's journey down a beguiling but dangerous path in search of her sister's blood-draining killer. Chillingly timely in its portrait of opiates' deadly allure, Kang's story shimmers with betrayed innocence and the power of trusting one's inner compass." --Marlowe Benn, author of Relative Fortunes

"Twisty and spooky and smart, Kang's mystery richly captures the era with its packed full, fast-moving plot and a complex heroine whose flaws feel both very real and tremendously sympathetic." --Megan Chance, author of A Drop of Ink, The Visitant, Inamorata, and Bone River

"Fascinating, funny, thrilling and even a little scary, Opium and Absinthe is a rare treat. Wonderfully written, and meticulously researched, Opium and Absinthe is a page-turner that left me wanting more." --Eoin Dempsey, bestselling author of White Rose, Black Forest