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Bernadette Pajer's two-book series sparkles with energy, as it should, for the books are set at the turn of the 20th century and deal with the early days of electricity. In Pajer's second book, FATAL INDUCTION, Professor Benjamin Bradshaw returns to solve another mystery. An abandoned wagon with the lettering "Ralph's Restorative" is found in the alley behind his Seattle home. The wagon belongs to Ralph Hopper, who hawks tonics – but instead of healing, at least one person has been blinded after drinking the toxic brew – and Ralph's 10-year-old daughter, Emily. Both Ralph and Emily are missing. Bradshaw is not really a detective – he insists he is someone who specializes only in "electrical forensics." But it's a mystery too close to home to ignore, especially when Bradshaw finds Hopper dead – and fears the daughter may be in danger. Although he trusts his friend Det. James O'Brien, Bradshaw has doubts about other officers in a department filled with graft and corruption. Bradshaw has also entered a competition to develop a telephonic listening system that will bring live music from the Seattle Grand Theater to phone subscribers. The system proves adaptable to use as a hidden listening device, perfect for this investigation. Pajer's second book is much stronger than the first. The book is still steeped in historical reality; the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901 and the city's reaction to it is especially well-written. But this book is less bogged down in the technicalities of electricity, which sometimes slowed the story in the first book. FATAL INDUCTION flows smoothly, while still delivering insights into early inventions and the use of electricity. The regular cast of characters are back: Bradshaw's 8-year-old son, Justin; his housekeeper, Mrs. Prouty; and Bradshaw's possible love interest, Missouri Freemont, the independent and beautiful niece of his best friend, Henry. They form a family of sorts that provides emotional depth to the book. This is a series that promises to only get better, so if you haven't done so yet, plug into it now. § Lourdes Venard is a newspaper editor in Long Island, N.Y.
Reviewed by Lourdes Venard, May 2013
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