Inside Job by Connie Willis

Professional debunker Rob, proprietor of the Jaundiced Eye magazine, considers himself incredibly lucky to have Kildy as his sole employee. Smart, dedicated, gorgeous, and, thanks to her last movie before she hung up on Hollywood, rich. She says Rob has to witness this channeler Ariaura's act. It's quite a show, all right, for in the midst of Ariaura's particular ancient wise guy's basso spiel, a gravelly baritone interrupts to berate the audience as "yaps" and the act as "claptrap." Why is Ariaura undermining herself? Or is she? After all, she angrily accuses Rob and Kildy of scheming to destroy her. Could the baritone belong to a genuine channeled spirit, who just might be the legendary skeptic H.L. Mencken? Or is Rob being scammed by the oldest trick in the book? by his lovely sidekick Kildy?

While this is really a novella Willis really manages to fill it with thought provoking ideas. Can the skeptic trust someone enough to fall in love? Very reminiscent of some of the Dashiell Hammett style storyline of falling for the girl only to have her betray him and break his heart.

Connie Willis is regarded as a Sci Fi author but I find her more of a psychological writer as all of her characters are often more complex than meets the eye. She always makes me think afterwards. This was the perfect book to finish my time at Cerritos. I read a lot of Connie Willis while working at Cerritos Library. So it's fitting that my last library book from there I read is by Willis. Can you tell I'm a fan?