Reviews

This mystery set in 1946 New York City and narrated by Willow Jean--called Will--Parker is a light-hearted takeoff on the noir detective stories of the era, but it's legit--it tells a real whodunit mystery story. Will takes a job with Lillian Pentecost, a private eye who prefers to take cases in defense of women, and together they solve the case of a murdered society woman whose husband had apparently killed himself not long before. It's a good yarn. And I loved the glimpse into what it meant to be lesbian or gay in that era. But the glib tone grated on me, as did some anachronisms that any editor my age would have spotted. (45 rpm records didn't come out until 1949. In my memory, the word "duvet" wasn't used in the U.S. until maybe the 1980s--in any case, it didn't appear in U.S. newspapers before 1947, and, yes, I did check because it bugged me. No upper-class, well-educated woman would have said "me and . . . ," and absolutely no one said "hopefully" in the sense of "it is to be hoped that . . . ." Most of all, "Ms."--as opposed to the southern "Miz"--was most assuredly not used in those days, and its constant use drove me mad. I only mention these examples because they distracted me in the kind of novel that should be paying attention to detail.) My copy-editing compulsion will likely keep me from reading more in the series.

o_pixel's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sunshinekc's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Fabulous murder mystery featuring diverse female leads.

meldonina's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

dimolkova's review against another edition

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4.0

delightful. it's cozy and comforting in the way certain crime tv shows are--you enjoy it not necessarily for the most inventive plot twist, but for the atmosphere it creates. will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

randommichelle's review against another edition

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3.0

TLDR: Good first book and opening to a mystery series.

https://klishis.com/reading/archives/18382

hijinx17's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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