Jess Armstrong’s newest mystery, “The Secret of the Three Fates,” continues the story of Ruby Vaughn, a transplant from New York to England. Ruby is no young simpering ingenue; she spent several years in the first world war helping wounded soldiers and facing the blood and trauma of battle. Now she calls Exeter home and lives with octogenarian Mr. Owen. She runs his bookstore and lives with him in his home. They have formed their own little family.

Ruby’s family died when they were traveling home on the Lusitania, and it sunk after being hit by a German torpedo. Ruby is the only one left, and the family’s fortune is now hers. But she only wants to live a quiet life. She’s not interested in romance after she was taken advantage of by an older man when she was just sixteen and a society debutante. There was a scandal and Ruby left town. The first book, “The Curse of Penryth Hall” takes Ruby to Cornwall where she meets Ruan Kivall, a Pellar, a kind of witch, and magic ensues. It’s really worth reading the first novel before reading this one to understand all the backstory on the main characters. There’s a lot, although Armstrong does an admirable job providing some of the information in this sequel.

Ruby and Ruan have a strange connection, and their relationship continues to develop in this second novel. Ruan’s special abilities include being able to “hear” Ruby’s thoughts. He is also able to break curses and make healing potions. In this mystery, Mr. Owen, Ruby’s employer and father-figure, shows her a telegram indicating that some rare manuscripts are going to be sold at a Scottish castle. But once they arrive there, Ruby realizes that the telegram was a fake and the real reason Mr. Owen wanted to go to Manhurst Castle was because a séance is scheduled there. He tells her that someone contacted him and said he needs to come because his deceased son Ben has a message for Mr. Owen.

Ruby had more interactions with the supernatural during her stay in Cornwall several weeks before (in the first book), but she reluctantly agrees to attend with Mr. Owen because of her affection for him and his obvious emotional distress. But the séance is more than Ruby expected, and while she doesn’t believe in ghosts, what happened seems real. The three women who ran the séance called themselves “The Three Fates,” but that evening, one of them was murdered. Ruby found the body, and very quickly she and Mr. Owen become prime suspects in the death. Ruby is determined to find out what is going on before she or Mr. Owen is incarcerated.

What we come to find out is that Mr. Owen is not who he had appeared to be. In fact, many of the people we meet at the castle are not who they appear to be and misleading appearances are a central part of this story. There is Mariah, who might have been the ghost who appeared during the first séance and who was Mr. Owen’s wife. She mysteriously disappeared one night after an argument, and he has never been able to find out what happened to her. He was suspected of her death, but Ruby sees the sadness in his eyes and believes that he loved his wife dearly.

Ruan comes to the castle, and we know from the first book that he brings a kind of magic with him — when Ruan and Ruby are together, inexplicable things happen. There is also the mysterious White Witch, also from the first novel, who is much more present in this story. Through her presence, we are able to learn a bit more about her and about Ruby and her backstory.

What we really see in this novel is that Ruby is not someone to be underestimated. She is strong, clever, passionate, and very intelligent. She is determined to protect those she loves no matter the cost. She is generous and caring. Ruby also has a special kind of magic that she is just learning about. Readers who enjoy a touch of the supernatural in their mysteries will adore reading about Ruan’s ability to read Ruby’s mind and hear, in a general fashion, the thoughts of those around him. He is a healer, and he saves Ruby’s life in a spectacular manner.

There’s tons of gripping action, tragic betrayals, gruesome deaths, vengeful ghosts, paranormal phenomena, terribly venal men abusing their powerful positions in society, and many people hiding from their pasts, all along with a soupçon of romance. Altogether it makes a delightful read and one that indicates there will certainly be another Ruby Vaughn mystery in the future.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.