The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru

• Author: Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
• Genre: Horror
• Publication Date: March 24, 2026 
• Publisher: Berkley

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

A fearless fortune teller in 1920s Paris must use her powers to divine who she can trust—and even more importantly, learn to trust herself—in the searing new gothic novel from the author of The Haunting of Moscow House .

Spirited twenty-something Zina and her secretive grandmother, Baba Valya, own a tearoom on rue Daru in Paris, where they have lived quietly since Zina’s mother’s untimely death. By day, the women serve tea, mostly to members of the bustling Russian émigré community, but when dusk falls, they divine fortunes and perform séances for their loyal clientele.

Then the charming Princess Olga and her brother arrive, searching for answers about the disappearance of their father, the Grand Duke and cousin to the murdered last Tsar of Russia. Zina, eager to learn more about the spirit world and her powers, performs the séance. She is able to summon the Grand Duke, but to her horror, he starts to haunt the shop, and he seems to know something sinister about her mother’s death.

As Zina delves into her family’s hidden past, dark secrets are unearthed, threatening Zina and her grandmother’s found family, home, and tearoom, not to mention their very lives.

Gilmore burst onto my radar with her debut novel, The Witch and the Tsar, and immediately became a favorite of mine. She has a gift for weaving Russian folklore and history with suspense, mystery, and thriller elements. Although I’m not usually one for books labeled horror, I couldn’t resist the draw of Gilmore’s writing. And boy, am I glad for that because I loved this book so much.

I typically can fly through a book, but there’s something strange I have noticed about myself. When I am really enjoying a book, I drag my feet while reading, taking my time to savor the story instead of racing to the end to see the twists. That’s what happened with this book, and it took me almost two weeks to finish the reading. 

The first and last parts of the book moved much faster than the middle, which I found moved a lot slower and that made the ending feel a bit rushed after the more leisurely pace. I also thought that parts in the middle of the story felt a bit repetitive, but it still didn’t stop me from becoming engrossed in the reading and couldn’t put it down. It was an enjoyable read, and I found it so atmospheric.

This book is a masterful combination of historical fiction, gothic horror, fantasy, magical realism, and suspense. It focuses on the Russian émigré population in Paris in the 1920s, dealing with fallout from the Russian revolution and seeking a better life in France. Gilmore has a talent for creating an atmospheric setting, and in this case, she depicts the tearoom, Samovar, in such exquisite detail that it stood out so clearly in my mind. In comparison, the rest of the Parisian scenes kind of paled in comparison as they weren’t quite as vivid, leaving the scenes at Samovar to stand out so much more than the rest of the locations.

While this is a story about a haunting, the real heart of the story is the strong, complex multigenerational relationship between Baba Valya and her granddaughter Zina, who she raised after the death of Valya’s daughter Svetlana. We see scenes through both of their eyes, and there are glimpses into the past as Zina learns more about the family history and secrets that involved her mother, lead to Svetlana’s death, and the central theme of a spirit haunting the teahouse. However, the close bond between Valya and Zina changes as time goes on and Zina beginning to exert more control over her own life as an adult was a central theme of the story. But as time goes on and events are spiraling out of control, it becomes clear that secrets from the past are violently affecting the future of the tearoom and their lives, and Valya has to learn to trust her granddaughter as an adult and share those secrets. 

The story was such a good one that it took me a few days to even be able to organize my thoughts, and I’m still struggling. There’s a lot of research that went into this story, and it offered readers a glimpse into an insulated community of Russians living in Paris. My ‘Roman Empire’ topic is the Russian Revolution, and it was fascinating to see how Russians lived in exile in Paris—both aristocrats and working class families. One of my favorite aspects of the story was the seamless inclusion of occult activities that were based in fact, with Samovar functioning as a tearoom by day, and a parlor to tell fortunes and host seances. The magic system is well explained, especially with all the different affinities a person can have. 

Overall, I really loved the way the story unfolded and how things wound up. The family dynamics were powerful in this book, and they embody a feminism that was only just beginning to show in society—three generations of Lenormand women lived their lives freely, with only limited appearances of men and certainly none who can control them. Control is another theme of the story, related to the autonomy of the women, the off-balanced dynamic between aristocrats and working class, Valya’s attempts to control the flow of information to Zina, and the appearance of a police inspector who seems way too curious but also deliciously snarky. Despite the slowed pace of the middle part of the book, it did feel like the author allowed the characters to fully depict the characters and the strong community influence they are subjected to. As for the label of horror, I’d say this falls more into the gothic, suspense, and most of all, historical fiction, although it does have a bit of horror lite to it.

Bottom line: Gilmore’s talents seem to be flourishing with this third book, and if you like books that cross over genres and intergenerational family dynamics with a heavy dose of Russian culture and folklore, this is the book for you.

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