The Turnglass

August 12, 2024
Two interlinked novellas share a single binding in this knotty and stimulating tête-bêche book from journalist and novelist Rubin (The Winter Agent). The gothic-tinted first tale is set in 1881 England and “written” by fictional bestselling author Oliver Tooke. In it, idealistic but impoverished London doctor Simeon Lee visits a remote island in Essex to care for his father’s cousin, Oliver Hawes, who claims he’s being poisoned—possibly by his sister-in-law, Florence. The second story, set in 1939 Los Angeles, follows young actor Ken Kourian as he befriends famous author Oliver Tooke and meets his eccentric extended family, including his femme fatale sister; his father, the eugenicist governor of California vying for the U.S. presidency; and his grandfather, an esteemed doctor. After Oliver dies of an apparent suicide, Ken discovers a manuscript of the book’s first story and draws startling real-life parallels, setting him on a journey to England, where he uncovers a scandal that threatens to derail Governor Tooke’s political bid. At times, Rubin’s incessant doubling (Florence, for example, occupies herself with reading tête-bêche novels) can feel overworked, as can his reliance on stock elements, including a hyperbrutal police force and a beautiful, unavailable heiress. Still, the book’s ambitious structure offers plenty of thrilling surprises for readers willing to roll with it. Adventurous mystery fans will be rewarded.

December 15, 2024
A clever, gimmicky novel pairs two intersecting stories, one set in Victorian England and the other in Los Angeles in 1939. Rubin sets the novel up as a "t�te-b�che," in which each novella occupies half the pages and the reader switches from one to the other by flipping and rotating the book. The stories can be read in either order, and each provides clues for and parallels to the other. In the British story, ambitious epidemiologist Simeon Lee, hoping for an inheritance, goes to care for his father's ailing cousin, Oliver Hawes, at Turnglass House--located on a remote island off the coast of Essex--where he discovers that Oliver has imprisoned his sister-in-law, Florence, convicted of killing his brother, in a glass room. When Simeon discovers a t�te-b�che in which Oliver has recorded a journal, he begins to investigate the past of the house and its inhabitants, and discovers a murky, bloody history. In the California story, aspiring actor and advertising writer Ken Kourian gets acquainted with wealthy novelist Oliver Tooke and his mysterious sister, Coraline, children of a conservative California governor with presidential ambitions. When Oliver is found dead at his writing studio close to a replica of Turnglass House, suicide is assumed, but Ken has his doubts. Then he reads a manuscript Oliver left behind, set at the British Turnglass House, and discovers clues that lead to murder and family secrets. Rubin has a gift for mimicking the style of potboiler mysteries, and fans of California noir and gothics set in family manors will find pastiches of both here. Though at times Rubin appears to be jamming the pieces of his elaborate puzzle together, the assemblage glitters with cunning cross-references. Shallow but diverting tales challenge the brain without touching the heart.

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