But Mary’s use of ghosts as a source of wartime military information is a stroke of genius.

I love it when I come across a premise that seems so simple, obvious, and brilliant that I have to wonder why it wasn’t done before… hell, why I hadn’t thought of it! Alternate histories where the supernatural is an accepted part of an otherwise ordinary Earth is not a new concept. There are traitors amongst them, and if Ginger is to survive the war, she needs to find the mole before the Germans learn the secrets of the Spirit Corps. When Ginger’s fiancé reports in, she must set aside her grief as she unravels the mystery surrounding his murder. The novel follows Ginger and her colleagues in the Spirit Corps, a branch of the British military in World War I dedicated to extracting relevant intel from recently deceased soldiers. Ghost Talkers is great fun while managing to address serious issues of the time, including gender and racial inequalities. Not only that, the premise sounded bloody brilliant. But Ghost Talkers felt like a good introduction, being a standalone fantasy novel. Having been a regular listener of the excellent Writing Excuses podcast for several years, it’s amazing that I’ve never read any of Mary’s novels before now.

Ghost talkers by mary robinette kowal