Book Review: Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

 

From the publisher:

Philadelphia, 1875: It is the start of term at Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is immersed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and hospital. When the body of a patient, Anna Ward, is dredged out of the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid’s death is deemed a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and she is soon brought into the police investigation.

Aided by a diary filled with cryptic passages of poetry, Lydia discovers more about the young woman she thought she knew. Through her skill at the autopsy table and her clinical acumen, Lydia draws nearer the truth. Soon a terrible secret, long hidden, will be revealed. But Lydia must act quickly, before she becomes the next target of those who wished to silence Anna.

Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji was published October 17th, 2023 by Simon & Schuster. 

My Thoughts: This is an enjoyable historical mystery. I really liked Dr. Lydia Weston. She was smart and sympathetic. She worked well with the police. I appreciated that she didn't do much investigating on her own. i liked seeing how the attitude from some of the police changed over the course of the book. It was notable that they chose to consult her in the first place. I liked that not all the men she encountered treated her in a condescending manner.

The plot moved along at a good pace The twists worked well. I was surprised at the ending. The details of her actions as a doctor and investigator made it more real. Overall, it is well-written. 

I gave it 5 stars out of 5. I would definitely recommend this book to people who like a good historical mystery with a strong female protagonist. I look forward to seeing where Ritu Mukerji takes Dr. Weston from here.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my review.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #428: Deadly Spirits by Mary Miley

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher:

Summer, 1924. Young widow Maddie Pastore has been working for fraudulent spiritual medium Madame Carlotta for nearly a year - if 'work' you could call it. Investigating Carlotta's clients, and attending seances as her shill, keeps Maddie and her young son Tommy fed and clothed, and she's grown to love the kind, well-meaning spiritualist like family.

Still, Maddie - estranged from her abusive parents for over a decade - can't help but wonder what fates befell her brothers and sisters. So when she lucks into two free tickets to a glamorous Chicago speakeasy and recognizes the star performer as her pretty little sister Sophie, she's beyond delighted.

But before Maddie can meet with Sophie again, the telephone rings. It's Sophie's husband, calling in a panic to tell her that his wife is locked in the Cook County jail, charged with first-degree murder . . .

Enter a dark and deadly world of seances and speakeasies, populated by fake mediums, sultry singers and dangerous mobsters! An ideal pick for readers who enjoy glitzy Jazz Age mysteries with feisty female sleuths.

Deadly Spirits by Mary Miley is expected out September 6th, 2022 from Severn House.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like stories that take place in the 1920s. And this mystery also has fake mediums and a "feisty female sleuth." It really piques my interest. And I understand that while it is the third book in a series, it reads well as a standalone.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #63 - Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. 

This week I am waiting on the publication of Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn. It's due out in the Kindle version on January 13, 2015 from Gallery Books.

Among other things that intrigue me is the last paragraph of the blurb: "Blending historical detail with flights of fancy, Things Half in Shadow is a riveting thriller where Medium and The Sixth Sense meet The Alienist —and where nothing is quite as it seems ..."

From the blurb, the  book appears to be a mixture of a historical mystery and a bit of a thriller with paranormal elements added in. Here is the rest of the blurb from the author's website: 

Postbellum America makes for a haunting backdrop in this historical and supernatural tale of moonlit cemeteries, masked balls, cunning mediums, and terrifying secrets waiting to be unearthed by an intrepid crime reporter.
Now a crime reporter for one of the city’s largest newspapers, Edward is asked to use his knowledge of illusions and visual trickery to expose the influx of mediums that descended on Philadelphia in the wake of the war. His first target is Mrs. Lucy Collins, a young widow who uses old-fashioned sleight of hand to prey on grieving families. Soon, Edward and Lucy become entwined in the murder of Lenora Grimes Pastor, the city’s most highly regarded—and by all accounts, legitimate—medium, who dies mid-séance. With their reputations and livelihoods at risk, Edward and Lucy set out to find the real killer, and in the process unearth a terrifying hive of secrets that reaches well beyond Mrs. Pastor.

The year is 1869, and the Civil War haunts the city of Philadelphia like a stubborn ghost. Mothers in black continue to mourn their lost sons. Photographs of the dead adorn dim sitting rooms. Maimed and broken men roam the streets. One of those men is Edward Clark, who is still tormented by what he saw during the war. Also constantly in his thoughts is another, more distant tragedy—the murder of his mother at the hands of his father, the famed magician Magellan Holmes...a crime that Edward witnessed when he was only ten.

Now a crime reporter for one of the city’s largest newspapers, Edward is asked to use his knowledge of illusions and visual trickery to expose the influx of mediums that descended on Philadelphia in the wake of the war. His first target is Mrs. Lucy Collins, a young widow who uses old-fashioned sleight of hand to prey on grieving families. Soon, Edward and Lucy become entwined in the murder of Lenora Grimes Pastor, the city’s most highly regarded—and by all accounts, legitimate—medium, who dies mid-séance. With their reputations and livelihoods at risk, Edward and Lucy set out to find the real killer, and in the process unearth a terrifying hive of secrets that reaches well beyond Mrs. Pastor. 

So, how does it sound to you? What book are you waiting on this week? Please leave a note or a link in  the comments so we can check it out!

Review: Silent Murders by Mary Miley

In the The Impersonator, Leah Randall aka Jessie Beckett, took on the biggest role of her life impersonating a dead cousin and working to solve the mystery of her disappearance. The novel was filled with bits of information about what it was like to be in Vaudeville and compared it to the lifestyle her cousin would have had as a young heiress.

Silent Murders by Mary Miley is book two in her Roaring Twenties mystery series. Leah has now officially taken on the name Jessie Beckett and is working in Hollywood as an assistant script girl on the set of a Douglas Fairbanks movie, "Don Q: Son of Zorro."

The differences between Vaudeville and Hollywood are brought up occasionally, but mostly the plot sticks to Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and as a minor character, Myrna Loy and of course the murders. This is the end of the era of the Silent Movies and Talkies are just around the bend.

Mary comes to Douglas Fairbanks attention while she's working on the set of his movie and he asks her to become his personal assistant while his usual one is in Texas comforting her dying father. So it is in this role that Mary first becomes friends with him and Mary Pickford. Jessie ends up investigating a murder at Douglas Fairbanks request and becomes good friends with a policeman named Carl in the process.

From Goodreads: Jessie’s thrilled when Bruno Heilmann, a movie studio bigwig, invites her to a party. She’s even more delighted to run into a face from her past at that party. But the following day, Jessie learns that sometime in the wee hours of the morning both her old friend and Bruno Heilmann were brutally murdered. She’s devastated, but with her skill as an actress, access to the wardrobes and resources of a film studio, and a face not yet famous enough to be recognized, Jessie is uniquely positioned to dig into the circumstances surrounding these deaths. But will doing so put her own life directly in the path of a murderer?

Jessie is indeed put in the path of a murderer and danger will touch her more than once as the number of murders mounts.

The Roaring 20s is a fun time to read about. And the film industry with some of the big names in Hollywood as characters just makes it more alluring. She works for Douglas Fairbanks who is married to Mary Pickford. Her best friend and roommate is Myrna Loy whose close acquaintance happens to be Gary Cooper.

David from The Impersonator also makes an appearance as Jessie tries to solve the mysteries before someone else gets hurt. It's not necessary to read book one to enjoy his appearance. Enough is explained to make it interesting.

While Silent Murders is second in a series, it can be read as a stand alone book. The mysteries were intriguing. Since it is told mostly from Jessie's point of view, we find out everything as she does and it allows the reader to guess along with her as to who is the murderer.

If you like novels set in the 1920s or in Silent Movie era Hollywood, then you will probably enjoy this mystery. I am already looking forward to a third novel in the series. I love the character of Jessie and that her complexities and ties to both Vaudeville and the movies help her to solve the mystery.

I give this novel 4 stars out of 5 for the quality of writing and for the quality of the mystery.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Teaser Tuesday - Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 

Should Be Reading. 

Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my teaser comes from Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd. It was released January 21, 2014 from William Morrow and Company. It's #16 in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series. 

From p.192:

"There was something about the man that put Rutledge off. He wasn't sure if it was the light eyes that seemed as cold as icy water, or if it was the rat."


What's your teaser this week?

Review: The Impersonator by Mary Miley

The Impersonator by Mary Miley is a 2012 Minotaur Books/ Mystery Writers of America First Novel competition winner. It was released September 17, 2013 by Minotaur Books. There is a two chapter sample available on the author's website.

Leah is working hard in vaudeville when she encounters Uncle Oliver. Oliver thinks she is the spitting image of his missing niece Jessie. When he finds out that she isn't his niece, the greedy little wheels turn in his mind and he proposes a con - pose as his niece and sign the papers to become the heir to the Carr fortune and split it with him.

At first Leah turns him down flat. Then she is fired from her act in vaudeville and has second thoughts. Leah becomes Jessie, the greatest role of her career. There's only one problem. Someone knows the truth about what happened to Jessie. Leah won't be able to fool him. Leah sets out to find out what happened to Jessie while she is staying with the family in Dexter where Jessie was last seen.

The characters are well written. Everything seems appropriate for the time - bobbed hair, the Charleston, Prohibition, speakeasies, bootlegging. The details about vaudeville are interesting - the different acts, what life was like for the actors, and especially the inclusion of Jack Benny as one of her co-workers. I liked too that she managed to work in a definition showing the difference between burlesque and vaudeville.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.