‘This is a fiendishly clever tale of ambition, deception, and power, engineered by some excellent sleight of hand. What a debut – and what a rich, beautifully written, gothic treat.’ 

DERREN BROWN

‘I adored this book. Haunting, witty and deeply moving, The Spirit Engineer is surely set to become a gothic classic. I was instantly drawn into the mystery and swept along by the shocking twists and turns. A beautifully written novel.’

JODIE WHITTAKER

‘A.J. West has history at his fingertips and writes brilliantly - so clever it makes your head spin! The Spirit Engineer is a work of true invention and drama that moves at a cracking pace from the very first page and keeps you guessing. A compelling and daring book.’

JEREMY VINE

‘Set in a historical moment where science and spiritualism meet, The Spirit Engineer is an ingeniously plotted debut novel.’

SARAH BURTON, author of The Strange Adventures of H

‘A marvellous and menacing gothic chiller, filled with secrets and soaked in atmosphere, in which the ghouls and fiends are not of the other world, but this one...’

NEIL BLACKMORE, author of The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle

‘A spooky tale of frustrated ambition, hidden loyalties, and desperation, told with wit, charm and devastating twists. A Gothic novel that also manages to make you laugh, even if you shouldn't.’

JONATHAN HARVEY, playwright

‘I won’t pretend I wasn’t disarmed by the initial tone of this novel, with something of Mr. Pooter from The Diary of a Nobody (one of my favourite books) in the scientist narrator. There is a clumsy charm and warmth displayed by William Crawford in early family relations. But with a skilful misdirection that any Edwardian spirit medium would be proud to demonstrate, A.J. West soon turns the screw in this fascinating novel.

The reader is immersed in tragic worlds of grief and guilt in which the sceptic scientist (based on a real-life character) sets up experiments to prove that spirit mediums are tricksters, only then to be convinced that souls live on when bodies die. Obsession builds, as does his fame until the stunning climax of the final shocking séance and its awful repercussions. Was William rights to be convinced? Did he prove ghosts exist?’

ESSIE FOX, author of The Somnambulist

‘One of the Goligher Circle’s many mysteries is how it has never inspired a novel. The Spirit Engineer at last makes up that loss, with a gripping Gothic story anchored in the political and spiritual chaos of Edwardian Belfast. Part horror, part history, The Spirit Engineer is a chilling and thought-provoking tale of exploitation, faith, deception, fraud, séances, hubris, and prejudice. A. J. West has made an accomplished, page-turning debut by dramatising the enigmatic tragedy of Kathleen Goligher and William Crawford. Fans of Penny Dreadful and The Nevers will love it.’

GARETH RUSSELL, historian and author of The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of Edwardian Belfast