Other Worlds

Barbara Michaels

May 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

One foggy evening, the most famous crime specialists in the world meet in an exclusive club, their minds on murder. On the agenda: two tantalizing, unsolved cases of ghostly terror. New York Times bestselling author and unsurpassed master of suspense Barbara Michaels delivers a fireside story in the grand tradition with her latest work, Other Worlds. The smoky room glows with a mix of cigars, brandy, and genius. Those present include Harry Houdini, king of illusion; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, father of the modern detective novel; Dr. Nandor Fodor, a psychoanalyst of international acclaim; and an elegant writer who can rival them all with her sleuthing talent. These masters of mystery put their minds to a pair of gripping stories of families beset by poltergeistly pranks and bewitched by inexplicable horrors. Gripping puzzles, yes, but the terror is all too vicious and all too real. In the hollows of Tennessee, a family is threatened by a dire spirit whose predictions of despair and death come frighteningly true. In a small Connecticut town, a newly married widow and her children move into her second husband's home to find their lives possessed by an unimaginable demon.For the gathering at the club, a brilliant battle of wits is at hand. Were these villains phantoms from beyond or evildoers of flesh and blood? Each expert has a theory. Which of them is correct? Whether writing as Barbara Michaels or Elizabeth Peters, this author is a master chef crafting richly atmospheric, suspense-filled delights. Other Worlds is an up-all-nighter guaranteed to still haunt in the morning, a tale as chilling by daylight as it is by darkness.

About the author

Elizabeth Peters (writing as Barbara Michaels) was born and brought up in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. Peters was named Grandmaster at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986, Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar® Awards in 1998, and given The Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic in 2003. She lives in an historic farmhouse in western Maryland.