The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman - #20BOS26-2

Moira Redmond recently wrote about fortune tellers in her Clothes in Books blog, and that got me thinking about a two-book series by Dorothy Gilman that begins with The Clairvoyant Countess. I couldn’t remember if I had read it so I requested it from the library and included it in my 20 Books of Summer.

Gilman is best known for her series about Mrs. Pollifax, whose boredom with her middle-aged suburban life leads her to undertake assignments for the CIA. Gilman lived in New Jersey herself so I was surprised to read on the inside back cover that when she wrote this book, she was living in a small town in Nova Scotia growing medicinal herbs. I always regret that although Gilman and I were once at the same party at the Black Orchid Bookstore run by my friends Bonnie and Joe, I didn’t know she was there until after she’d departed!  I am a fan of her juvenile books as well.

The countess is more serious than Mrs. Pollifax through necessity – she has experienced difficult times and when the story begins she has just rented rooms in a shabby brownstone in run down section of the fictional city of Trafton and put a sign in the window that says Madame Karitska, Readings:

Actually Marina Karitska was a countess but this was of small regard to her and certainly she had never been a run-of-the-mill countess. She was first of all clairvoyant and, secondly, she had spent her childhood years in the Far East as a beggar; it had been her first occupation. During the intervening years she had become fabulously rich in Budapest, had lost her wealth in Antwerp, and was extremely poor in America but she had a saying, born of experience, that only the external things mattered.

Detective-Lieutenant Pruden meets the Countess when he is investigating a murder and finds her name and address in the deceased’s calendar. Just ten days earlier, she had met with Alison Bartlett and warned her she was in danger from someone dear to her, refusing to take any money for the session. Pruden is extremely skeptical of the Countess and her clairvoyance and departs in exasperation but when there are no other leads, he goes to Alison’s home town and uncovers the murderer. After that, he starts dropping by the Countess’ apartment when he has tough investigations. Pruden does not tell his chief he is consulting a clairvoyant but he is getting results on some very unusual cases. Surprisingly, the Countess encounters some people who have unexplored paranormal skills and she encourages them to develop these abilities; by the end of the book they are cautiously helping her with the most important case of all.

There is something very appealing about Marina Karitska. She uses a combination of her clairvoyance and common sense to help Pruden solve mysteries but she can also be impulsive, relying on her judge of character to defend some dubious types. While technically a cozy mystery, the Countess’s clairvoyance and infectious warmth elevate this book beyond the genre's usual limitations. I liked her relationship with Pruden and look forward to the sequel, Kaleidescope.

Title: The Clairvoyant Countess
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Publication: Doubleday, hardcover, 1975
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 20 Books of Summer 2026

• Cloak and Dagger 2026