Another Tantalizing Question!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, my gosh. I am so envious! I wish I could have seen this. I love magic, and I love things I can't explain. And the wonderful author Cynthia Kuhn--you know her, right? she's amazing--had this incredible experience that she cannot explain. And, I admit, neither can I.

See if you can. 

That Time I Did A Show With Harry Houdini

by Cynthia Kuhn

Thank you for letting me visit today! The third Lila Maclean Academic Mystery, The Spirit in Question, is set in a haunted opera house. For research purposes, my family journeyed up to the famously “active” Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, which was the inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining. 

And there, master magician Aiden Sinclair performs at the Stanley in Illusions of the Passed: A Theatrical Séance. It was a truly remarkable experience.

Before the show began, we were invited to browse a table set up with various historical artifacts which Aiden has collected over time—for example, items from the Titanic and objects from the hotel’s original owners. But as I circled the table, it was Harry Houdini’s playing cards that drew my attention immediately. 

If you read the author’s note at the end of The Spirit in Question, you’ll see that the opera houses in Colorado did in fact host an array of luminaries, such as Harry Houdini, Oscar Wilde, and others. Fascinating stories—and pictures—kept surfacing in my research. And there were Houdini’s cards, right in front of me! Truth be told, I was itching to lift up the glass and touch those cards but managed to restrained myself. Barely.

During the show, we witnessed one amazing thing after another, performed with the help of audience members. (And maybe some ghosts? Seriously, it all remains inexplicable.) At first, we suspected the people in the audience were planted. But then Aiden asked if anyone knew what Harry Houdini looked like. My hand was in the air before I was even aware of moving—it was all that research—because yes, I did know. When he consequently invited me onstage, I immediately regretted it. Stupid hand. But it was too late, so up I went. 

Aiden pulled out the deck I’d seen earlier and reminded everyone that these belonged to Harry Houdini. After a thorough shuffle, he asked me to draw a card and look at it without showing anyone, including him. He gave me the entire deck and instructed me to place the card on top, put both hands around the desk, and think about what I’d drawn. He also told the audience to think of a card—any card—and to concentrate on it.

“Now imagine,” he said to me, while strolling around the room, “that Harry Houdini is standing behind someone and you’re going to tell me who it is. Concentrate on the card and also see him here with us now.” 

Now this part is extra-weird. As I sat there, thinking of Harry Houdini and my card, the deck seemed to generate energy—within moments, my heart was racing and my hands shook, as if I’d been given a shot of adrenaline. 

I am not making this up.

After a few minutes, Aiden asked me to point out the person I saw Harry standing behind. To be honest, I didn’t actually seea figure, but I wascompletely drawn to someone sitting in the middle of the room, so I identified her. Aiden asked her to stand and tell us what card she was thinking of, which she did. It was the king of diamonds.

Then he invited everyone who had chosen the king of diamonds to stand and, out of the hundred or so audience members, only two did. 

When he asked me to reveal my card, the whole room gasped. It was the king of diamonds. 

So, to recap, only three people had the same card in mind as the one that I’d pulled. Three. And I’d led Aiden to one of them on the first try. 

I cannot explain it. And I most certainly was not a plant. 

So...thank you, Harry Houdini.

HANK: Oooh. HOW did that happen?v I always think people are plants (you know what I mean), but Cynthia was not!  Reds and readers, what do you think?  Cynthia, on further reflection, what do YOU think?

----------------------------- 

Cynthia Kuhn writes the Lila Maclean Academic Mystery series: The Semester of Our Discontent, an Agatha Award recipient for Best First Novel; The Art of Vanishing, a Lefty Award nominee for Best Humorous Mystery; and The Spirit in Question. Her work has also appeared in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Literary Mama, Copper Nickel, Prick of the Spindle, Mama PhD, and other publications. She is professor of English at Metropolitan State University of Denver, president of Sisters in Crime-Colorado, and member of the multi-author blog, Chicks on the Case. For more information, please visit cynthiakuhn.net.

The Spirit in Question is now available at booksellers and online:

Amazon:amzn.to/2unzWF9
Barnes and Noble: bit.ly/2NlGFXe
IndieBound: bit.ly/2vH7ChC
Kobo: bit.ly/2NVbi71

Website: cynthiakuhn.net

Twitter: @cynthiakuhn

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cynthiakuhnwriter

Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/Cynthia-Kuhn

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/cynthiakuhn

Book Bub:https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cynthia-kuhn

Blog: chicksonthecase.com