Dazzlepaint

In 1919, Gavin Fellowes, a representative of the Society of Psychical Research and the cynical hero of this sprightly paranormal mystery from Obey (The Curse of the Braddock Brides), comes to Woodstock, N.Y., summoned by Mrs. Jean Storrs Adams. A wealthy do-gooder and the founder of a local artists’ colony, Mrs. Adams wants Gavin to investigate whether some magical creature haunts the colony’s bathing pool and “is snatching young girls away to their doom.” Judith , a teenage girl who recently went missing, has been found dead, though others who vanished before Judith have all returned unharmed. Gavin joins Kate Ames, a highly successful book illustrator specializing in the rendering of fairies, in a quest for answers that involve Communists, Kaiser Wilhelm, Lord Kitchener, Masons, anti-Semites, artists, trade unionists, and all manner of “bogies, bogles, boggarts, abbey lubbers and buttery spirits.” The elevated diction helps set the fairy tale mood. Obey confidently mixes folklore, history, and conspiracy theories. Even skeptics will have fun. (Feb.)