Synopsis
To achieve her heart’s desire, a novice actress may very well have to sell her soul.
In 1871, Lillian Nolan accepts a small role in Macbeth, and finally fulfills her dream of becoming an actress. That is until the renowned, but venomous, female star of the production is murdered onstage opening night. When her enraged spirit haunts the theater, Lillian is shocked to discover she can communicate with her. Offered a Faustian bargain in which she will be given talent and expertise way beyond her ability in exchange for uncovering the killer, Lillian can’t resist.
Her quest for the truth causes her to descend into the Underworld, the den of inequity below the streets of Chicago. What Lillian finds soon embroils her in a battle between her passion for performing and sovereignty over her own body as it all plays out in a supernatural game of good and evil
.A Walking Shadow is the first standalone book in the Backstage Mystery series. If you enjoy stories with a touch of the paranormal that blend historical fact with fiction, then you’ll love Elizabeth Ireland’s tale of history, mystery and theater.
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Shadow-Backstage-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B07NQM27YG/
US – https://www.amazon.com/walking-shadow-backstage-mystery-book-ebook/dp/B07NQM27YG/
Review
Thank you to the Author and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Now this is a different sort of book then I usually go for but I’m sure glad I got the opportunity to read this! Written as a memoir we follow Lillian and her love for the theater before it takes a supernatural/murder mystery sort of twist. This did take me a bit to get into but this may of been due to this not being my typical sort of book. I enjoyed the writing and the pacing of the book though for some reason I couldn’t connect with Lillian as much as I wanted to. This didn’t however diminish my enjoyment for the book at all and I’m already excited to read the next!
Rating: 4/5
Would I read again: No
Would I Recommend: Yes
Would I read another book from this author: Yes
THE BACKSTAGE MYSTERY SERIES
Life upon the wicked stage can be deadly.
Set against the backdrop of the Gilded Age, the Backstage Mystery Series stars Lillian Nolan, an unconventional member of Chicago’s upper class who dreams of a career of fortune and fame in the theater. Talented and ambitious, she possesses a hidden skill which she is extremely reluctant to use—the ability to communicate with those who have died and now live in the world of “The Beyond.”
The series chronicles her adventures in which she continually becomes enmeshed in solving mysteries which often require her accessing the realm of the paranormal. Filled with an incredible cast of characters—factual, fictional, and sometimes non-physical—who either help or hinder her quest for the truth, the stories take place during a a period considered to be the golden age of both acting and spiritualism in America.
About the Author
Elizabeth Ireland discovered her passion for theater early. After receiving undergraduate 
and graduate degrees in Theater, she accepted a teaching position in a vibrant performing arts department at a college in northern Illinois. For ten years, she taught, directed and ran front-of-house operations. American Theater History—particularly that of the 19th century—has always been of particular interest to her.
She has been a quarter-finalist and a semi-finalist for the Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Two of her screenplays have been optioned, but remain unproduced. Her nonfiction work, Women of Vision: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives, was published in 2008. Her work has also been published in a collection of paranormal short stories, Paramourtal: Tales of Undying Love and Loving the Undead. She lives in metro Atlanta with her ever-patient husband, and two quirky dachshunds.
Social Media Links –
www.facebook.com/BackstageMystery/
https://twitter.com/EbethIreland
