ISBN: 0-449-21318-8 Order from: Amazon.com
An episodic, loosely connected series of short stories, this book is competent but not particularly exciting.
Reviewed by David on January 30, 2000
Genre: Mystery (ESP)
Synopsis: When Madame Karitska, a gifted psychic and a former Countess, moves into a poor urban neighborhood, the local police are weary of another charlatan. However, over the course of several episodes, the energetic and optimistic seer proves her accuracy as she helps Detective Pruden solve several mysterious and deadly mysteries.
Full Review: Madame Karitska, a creation of Dorothy Gilman, the author of the popular Mrs. Pollifax series, is a mature, experienced, ever-optimistic and equanimious heroine of this rather discontinuous collection of short stories. While the individual episodes are exciting, occasionally implausible, and always suspenseful, the collection as a whole shows only mild unity, and competes poorly with true mystery novels.
Overall: 4.5; Plot: 5; Characters: 5; Style: 5; World-building: 5.5; Originality: 5.5;
Copyright date 1975, Fawcett Books, December 1996, Mass market paperback
ISBN: 0-449-21318-8 Order from: Amazon.com