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by Lydia Kang
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.
"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
"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
This information about Opium and Absinthe was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lydia Kang is an author and internal medicine physician. She is a graduate of Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine, and she completed her training at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She lives with her family in the Midwest. Follow her on Twitter @LydiaYKang and Instagram @LydiaKang.
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