Well, that was unexpected!
Won't include the spoilers, but there's a pretty wild twist at the end. I'm kind of obsessed with this time period, and I love New York City, so I not surprisingly came across this book in my recommended list. With its 32,000 speakeasies which popped up during Prohibition (how that misguided amendment lasted as long as it did, I'll never know), New York was a hotbed of criminal activity and corruption during this era, leaving its citizens, especially the vulnerable poor, easy pickings. As I think I stated last time, each venue like the Nightingale undoubtedly had its own cast of shadowy characters not unlike the fictional characters who appear here, many of whom needed the assistance of a powerful patron like Honor to protect them.
This is a follow-up to "Last Call at the Nightingale," which follows Vivian Kelly's adventures, now an employee of the Nightingale. Vivian still lives with her sister in one of the city's many run-down tenement buildings, but things have become a little easier since Vivian has started working a night job at the club in addition to her delivery job for the harsh seamstress her sister continues to work for.
It's also a return for Schellman's colorful cast of characters: Danny, the Chinese bartender, Beatrice, now an up-and-coming jazz singer at the club, Honor, the mysterious owner who still has an eye for Vivian, and the mysterious, somewhat shady but ever present and protective Leo, Vivian's "friend" who, with his inside connections, helps her in navigating some of the more unsavory aspects of living in Prohibition-era New York City.
This tale revolves around the murder of Bea's uncle Pearlie, a recent arrival from Baltimore. It seems that he, too, was involved with the seedy underbelly of the city, and ended up meeting an untimely end, by way of a poisoned bottle of liquor. Bea seeks Vivian's help and they end up neck-deep in the city's underworld, which results in Vivian's having to cross over to the dark side herself to protect her family. It seems that someone has been sending threatening letters to her neighbors, a couple of whom have ended up dead: the letters order them to leave valuable and precious possessions in a particular place or face an untimely demise. Things really take a turn when Vivian's sister Florence gets a letter ordering her to steal a valuable dress from her employer.
Lots of twists and turns keeps this volume interesting. I didn't like it quite as much as I did the last one, but it was good to see these interesting characters again. As stated, I'm kind of obsessed with this time period, so decent literature that brings it to life is usually welcome, even if it's something of a departure from the books I usually read. As with the last one, if you're a fan of noir (although this one is less faithful to that genre than the first book), it's recommended for a bit of light reading.
Won't include the spoilers, but there's a pretty wild twist at the end. I'm kind of obsessed with this time period, and I love New York City, so I not surprisingly came across this book in my recommended list. With its 32,000 speakeasies which popped up during Prohibition (how that misguided amendment lasted as long as it did, I'll never know), New York was a hotbed of criminal activity and corruption during this era, leaving its citizens, especially the vulnerable poor, easy pickings. As I think I stated last time, each venue like the Nightingale undoubtedly had its own cast of shadowy characters not unlike the fictional characters who appear here, many of whom needed the assistance of a powerful patron like Honor to protect them.
This is a follow-up to "Last Call at the Nightingale," which follows Vivian Kelly's adventures, now an employee of the Nightingale. Vivian still lives with her sister in one of the city's many run-down tenement buildings, but things have become a little easier since Vivian has started working a night job at the club in addition to her delivery job for the harsh seamstress her sister continues to work for.
It's also a return for Schellman's colorful cast of characters: Danny, the Chinese bartender, Beatrice, now an up-and-coming jazz singer at the club, Honor, the mysterious owner who still has an eye for Vivian, and the mysterious, somewhat shady but ever present and protective Leo, Vivian's "friend" who, with his inside connections, helps her in navigating some of the more unsavory aspects of living in Prohibition-era New York City.
This tale revolves around the murder of Bea's uncle Pearlie, a recent arrival from Baltimore. It seems that he, too, was involved with the seedy underbelly of the city, and ended up meeting an untimely end, by way of a poisoned bottle of liquor. Bea seeks Vivian's help and they end up neck-deep in the city's underworld, which results in Vivian's having to cross over to the dark side herself to protect her family. It seems that someone has been sending threatening letters to her neighbors, a couple of whom have ended up dead: the letters order them to leave valuable and precious possessions in a particular place or face an untimely demise. Things really take a turn when Vivian's sister Florence gets a letter ordering her to steal a valuable dress from her employer.
Lots of twists and turns keeps this volume interesting. I didn't like it quite as much as I did the last one, but it was good to see these interesting characters again. As stated, I'm kind of obsessed with this time period, so decent literature that brings it to life is usually welcome, even if it's something of a departure from the books I usually read. As with the last one, if you're a fan of noir (although this one is less faithful to that genre than the first book), it's recommended for a bit of light reading.
