My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language
Set amidst the opulent
mansions and cobblestone streets of 1800’s New York, this atmospheric
new historical mystery brings the Gilded Age to life in a tantalizing
tale of old money, new love, and grave suspicion, as newly-minted lawyer
Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter travel to Niagara
Falls for a dangerous assignment…
October 1890: As Prudence and
Geoffrey settle into the most elegant hotel in Canadian Niagara, they
observe a popular tourist area torn between natural beauty and
industrial power. Also attracting their attentions are the antics of
daredevil Crazy Louie Whiting, determined to be the first person to
navigate the falls without drowning. Shortly after their arrival, Crazy
Louie sends a specially designed test barrel containing a sheep over the
falls. But when the barrel is retrieved and opened, the battered body
of a local Tuscarora Indian spills out.
When Geoffrey and
Prudence learn of the dead man’s suspicions about rampant bribery among
greedy land developers and local officials, they wonder if there’s a
connection to their client, Rowan Adderly. A young woman whose father
disappeared while she was a child, the land she is due to inherit could
be worth millions—and inevitably the sharks have come feeding.
In
a move to block Rowan’s inheritance, her greedy grandmother has
declared Rowan to be the illegitimate offspring of an illicit affair
between her son and a seductive Irish songstress. As Prudence and
Geoffrey dig deeper into the region’s undercurrent of opportunistic
greed, their investigation is impeded at every turn by murder and
attempted murder. They will have to work quickly to solve a convoluted
case before a determined killer sends one of them on a fatal plunge . . .
This is the seventh book in the Gilded Age Mystery Series and I've enjoyed some of the books while others have been lackluster for me. This one ended up being a lackluster read. I definitely haven't liked the books where the author changes the setting. In this one Prudence and Geoffrey travel to Niagra Falls for a case. I had a hard time getting into this book. The overall plot just didn't interest me. I started to get interested more when Josiah and Amos came on the scene to help with the investigation. Their characters were more interesting to me this time than Prudence and Geoffrey.
There were some twists and reveals in the book that were pretty easy to figure out. This was one of those books where the reader is privy to more
information than the characters doing the investigation, and I really
don't like those kinds of mysteries. After I got into the book about halfway, I realized that Prudence and Geoffrey basically did nothing but talk to some people in this book. They didn't uncover anything related to the investigation themselves. It was all other people, at least for most of the book. Then of course Prudence goes and gets herself into trouble yet again. At least this time she got herself out of it.
In the beginning I thought there would be relationship progress between Prudence and Geoffrey, but nothing ends up happening besides a small teaser at the end, which felt like it came out of nowhere. I didn't feel any chemistry between them in this book. I know this is mainly about the mystery, but the background romance was something I was hoping would progress and develop by now. At this point, I think it may be time for me to part ways with this series. It's been too up and down for me and I'm just not liking it enough to keep going.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.
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