The Reluctant Mystic and The Cosmic Cabaret are gothic-tinged mysteries and elegant social fantasies in which a highly practical archivist is dragged into a world of supernatural intrigue. These two stories blend dry humour, sharp social observation, and an uncanny metaphysical menace. In The Reluctant Mystic, Vivian Vane investigates a case of social erasure, one in which memory, identity and reality are distorted. This is a polished occult detective novel with the manners of a drawing-room comedy, and all the hallmarks of darkly witty paranormal detective fiction, set amidst a fictitious version of 19th century, Victorian England.