The author’s ability to let me walk in the shoes of her characters and experience what her characters are seeing, hearing, or smelling is most impressive indeed as everything feels so real here. I can’t spoil everything about this story, after all.

Yes, this is a paranormal story, but I’d let readers of this story discover the paranormal elements of the story on their own, heh.

The self-described “illusionist, hypnotist, and spiritualist extraordinaire” wastes no time manipulating virginal Edwin into a seductive game of hanky-panky. Of course, his physical appearance makes him the perfect bishie, which is what he is in this story when, on a train with his mother and sister, he catches the eye of Sir Marco Satori. After a charming medical regime involving phlebotomy and purgative bitters, Edward is now supposedly better, although the poor dear looks like he’s at death’s door. Suffering from alternating bouts of ennui and restlessness, Edward is diagnosed by the medical specialist at the asylum to be suffering from an overactive spleen. At 19, he is already a sickly fellow due to his recent stay at an asylum. In a way, this is a pity as the cover art is too pretty not to be featured on the cover of an actual print book. Sleight of Hand is a very short story, as you can no doubt tell from its $2.50 cover price.

Sleight of Hand by Katrina Strauss