A Golden Grave: A Rose Gallagher Mystery by Erin Lindsey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal
Content: Strong Language


 
Rose Gallagher always dreamed of finding adventure, so her new life as a freshly-minted Pinkerton agent ought to be everything she ever wanted. Only a few months ago, she was just another poor Irish housemaid from Five Points; now, she’s learning to shoot a gun and dance the waltz and throw a grown man over her shoulder. Better still, she’s been recruited to the special branch, an elite unit dedicated to cases of a paranormal nature, and that means spending her days alongside the dashing Thomas Wiltshire.

But being a Pinkerton isn’t quite what Rose imagined, and not everyone welcomes her into the fold. Meanwhile, her old friends aren’t sure what to make of the new Rose, and even Thomas seems to be having second thoughts about his junior partner. So when a chilling new case arrives on Rose’s doorstep, she jumps at the chance to prove herself – only to realize that the stakes are higher than she could have imagined.

This second book in the Rose Gallagher series was, in my opinion even better than the first. While I felt that the previous book was a bit slow at times, I didn't feel that way about this one at all. It was nice to be back with Rose and Thomas, and Clara as well. This time around the mystery involves several mysterious deaths that Rose and Thomas are sure have a supernatural element to them. As they investigate Rose goes undercover and attends a ball for the first time. I really enjoyed reading those chapters with Rose out of her element.

The most noteworthy thing about this book is the fact that the case they are working on involves an assassination attempt on young mayoral candidate Theodore Roosevelt. Along the way they also meet Mark Twain, and Nikola Tesla, whose inventions play a big part in solving the mystery. I thought the author did an excellent job of blending historic figures and events into a fictitious story.

Another thing I especially enjoyed was the little bit of romance that was added. I was afraid the author was going to string us along for a lot longer before anything significant happened, but that wasn't the case. That's not to say that there aren't some kinks to work out. Feelings were aired, but there is the whole 'this could never work' scenario to get through, but I'm sure things will eventually work out.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.