Review of "Seven for a Secret: A Timothy Wilde Mystery" by Lyndsay Faye

In this second book in the 'Timothy Wilde' series, Tim is one of New York City's first police officers - on the trail of corrupt slave catchers. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

In the mid-1800s, New York City had hundreds of thousands of residents living in rotting wooden tenements amid abysmal sanitary conditions. Moreover, the population increased every day as immigrants - especially Irish fleeing from the 'Great Famine' - flowed into the city. Overcrowding and unemployment led to soaring crimes rates, so the NYPD was created to patrol the city's streets.


The Five Points in lower Manhattan was considered the most dangerous area for the first NYPD officers to patrol.

The early recruits - non-uniformed men who wore copper badges shaped like stars - were commonly called 'Copper Stars.'



Twenty-eight-year-old former bartender Timothy Wilde has been a Copper Star for six months. Like other Copper Stars Tim started out patrolling the city streets for 16 hours a day, but is now a detective - with a small office in The Tombs (the building housing the courts, jails, and police). Tim is 5'4" tall with a fire-scarred face and a yearning for his lost love, Mercy Underhill, who now lives in England.


The Tombs

Tim is thinking about his successful retrieval of a stolen painting when a beautiful black woman named Lucy Adams frantically rushes into his office, crying that her sister and son have been stolen.



It turns out that Lucy's sister Delia and son Jonas were taken by 'slave catchers' - bounty hunters who track down escaped slaves for a hefty fee. Lucy's family are free blacks from Albany, but slave catchers aren't above kidnapping free blacks and claiming they're runaway slaves.

Tim, who's sympathetic to the abolitionist cause, knows he has to work fast - or Delia and Jonas will be on a ship heading South. The Copper Star rounds up a few friends and his brother, Valentine Wilde - a tough Police Captain who's a big shot in the Democratic Party. Tim's posse storms the slave-catchers' lair, violence ensues, and Delia and Jonas are rescued.



The slave hunters, one of whom sustained a broken arm, are furious about their lost 'catch' and out for revenge. Moreover, the slave catchers have the support of the Democratic Party, which controls everything in New York City, including the police. The Party doesn't look kindly on anyone who helps blacks, which puts Valentine Wilde in a tricky position. Nevertheless, the Police Captain elects to surreptitiously aid Lucy and her relatives.



I don't want to give away spoilers, so I'll just say that an upcoming New York City election drive's the book's plot. Certain members of the Democratic Party have things to hide, and this leads to murder and disppearances in the black community.

As a result, Copper Star Tim Wilde - who's determined to find free black abductees - REALLY pisses off the Democratic elite. Thus Tim is repeatedly attacked, his office is vandalized, and his walls are defaced with vile language.



Nothing will stop the police officer however, until he figures out exactly what's going on.....and why.

The book portrays the horrific treatment of captured slaves, who are shackled to a wall in a cold, empty room - without even a bucket to pee in. The unfortunate blacks may also be beaten and raped, their white captors having no compunction about abusing them.



There's a glimmer of hope for runaways helped by the 'Underground Railroad' - a network that leads escaped slaves to Canada - but this is a very dangerous business.


The Underground Railroad

Slave owners in the South are depicted as well, men who SELL THEIR OWN CHILDREN - born to female slaves - when they need money for a new geegaw. Stories about vile slaveholders certainly aren't new, but they never cease to shock me.

In the course of the story, Tim navigates the ugly world of slave catching rings as he searches for the culprits responsible for murder and abduction.

Additional characters in the book include:
- Silkie Marsh - a glamorous brothel owner and Democratic benefactor who hates Tim.....and pines for his brother Valentine.
- George Washington Matsell - the Police Chief, who respects Tim but is frustrated by his defiance of the Democratic Party.
- Julius Carpenter - an educated black man who belongs to the Committee of Vigilance, which looks out for the black community.
- Mrs. Boehm - a widowed baker and Tim's landlady, who has a soft spot for her tenant.
- Bird - a kindchen (child) who was rescued from a life of prostitution.

Lyndsay Faye does a masterful job portraying the ambiance of mid-19th century New York, with its crowded streets filled with poor, starving vagrants. The authentic feel of the city is also enhanced by the characters' use of 'flash language' - a type of slang made up by criminals in London that became popular among the working classes.


The crowded city

The book, which has a well-wrought plot and shocking denouement, presents a dark picture of the racist, xenophobic atmosphere of the times. Nevertheless it's a good story, recommended to fans of historical mysteries. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "A Study in Scarlet Women: First in the Lady Sherlock Series" by Sherry Thomas

In this story, set in late-1800s London, 'Sherlock Holmes' is the alias of a woman called Charlotte Holmes, who - because of society's strictures - has to do her sleuthing in the guise of a man. In this first book in the 'Lady Sherlock' series, we find out how Charlotte came to this pass.



*****

Victorian England was a restrictive place for upper class British women, who were expected to marry, have children, run a household, and spend their free time calling on other ladies and doing good works. Women who didn't wed became spinsters and - since 'getting a job' was beneath them - usually remained under the thumb of their father or brother, who could be resentful and unkind.




Women who strayed from this path were ostracized by society, especially if there was a whiff of immorality about their behavior.

Charlotte Holmes, the daughter of a wealthy family, chafes at these expectations and makes a deal with her father: If she doesn't marry by the age of 25, he will finance her education. This would allow Charlotte to fulfill her ambitions and become the headmistress of a girl's school. A bonus to this plan, in Charlotte's eyes, would be that she could take care of her two sisters, neither of whom is likely to marry since one is mentally handicapped and the other is very picky about men.

Charlotte's father renegs on his promise and Charlotte retaliates in a fashion that not only gets her excommunicated from society, it embarrasses the Holmes family and blackens their name. Charlotte's furious parents plan to banish her to their country cottage forever, so she runs away, gets a cheap room, and tries to find a job. This is easier said than done, and Charlotte is on her last legs and hungry when she meets a well-to-do former actress named Mrs. Watson who's very impressed by Charlotte's astounding deductive skills.



Before long - with financial backing from Mrs. Watson - 'Sherlock Holmes' is set up as a consulting detective on Baker Street. The fiction is that Sherlock is sick in bed, but can hear what the client tells 'his sister Charlotte' in the next room. Charlotte then 'confers with Sherlock' and conveys the sleuth's observations to the client. Mrs. Watson is supposedly Sherlock's nurse.



As all this is going on, three members of British society - two women and a man - die from accidental chloral hydrate overdoses. Charlotte deems these deaths suspicious, and using the name Sherlock Holmes, writes a letter to the coroner suggesting the aristocrats were murdered.

Now things get more complicated.

The detective assigned to investigate the chloral hydrate overdoses, Inspector Treadles, has previously consulted with Sherlock Holmes via letters. Now, Treadles goes to Baker Street to get Holme's advice in person. These interactions are facilitated by Treadles' friend Lord Ingram, who's known Charlotte for years and is aware of her 'secret identity.'

The portion of the book where Treadles pursues his inquiries is a police procedural, where people are questioned, evidence is collected, deductions are made, and so on. Most of the witnesses lie to Treadles for various reasons, but the Inspector whittles away at the mystery (with Sherlock Holmes' help) and discovers the truth.



The story has a clever premise, but - as a big Sherlock Holmes fan - I'd rather the author didn't twist his persona for her books. My feeling is: "Make up your own detective." That said, the mystery is well-crafted and I enjoyed the book.

For romance fans, there's an attraction between Charlotte and Lord Ingram but they're 'just friends' because he's a married man. Who knows what the future holds, however. 😕

I'd recommend the novel to fans of historical mysteries.

Rating 3 stars

Review of "Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony" by Jeff Ashton with Lisa Pulitzer

In 2011, Casey Anthony was tried for murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee.



Veteran prosecutor Jeff Ashton was part of the prosecution team and - along with most people following the case - expected Casey to be convicted.



Instead the jury declared Casey not guilty of all major charges.....murder, manslaughter, and child neglect. In this book Ashton relates the events surrounding Casey's arrest and the details of her trial.

Little Caylee was first reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony.



The toddler hadn't been seen for 31 days and grandma Cindy was frantic. When police questioned Casey about her daughter's whereabouts, the stories changed from hour to hour, and none were true. It turns out Casey is a pathological liar - perhaps even a sociopath - and it's fascinating to see how quickly she pivoted from one lie to another when her untruths were exposed.



To add to their suspicions the police discovered that - while Caylee was missing - Casey hung out with her boyfriend, went clubbing, got a tattoo, and used a stolen check for a shopping spree at Target (where she bought lots of stuff for herself but nothing for a toddler).



Eventually Caylee's decomposed body was found, but no cause of death could be determined. Still, Casey was put on trial with the death penalty attached.



Ashton is very thorough in his description of the trial: the opening statements; Cindy Anthony lying to protect her daughter (in Ashton's opinion); Casey blaming her father for Caylee's death;



problematic testimony from the man who found Caylee's body; twisty hijinks by Jose Baez (Casey's lawyer);



conflicting testimony from expert witnesses; closing statements, etc. Through it all Casey's demeanor was odd and inappropriate, and she seemed clearly guilty.

Thus Ashton was dumbfounded and bewildered when Casey was acquitted. He admits he couldn't stop talking about the case.....and wrote this book. I followed the Casey Anthony case in the media and didn't find much new here. Still, it was interesting to read Ashton's comprehensive account of the case - along with his speculations about why the jury didn't convict.

My opinion (for what it's worth): Caylee's death might have been due to some bizarre accident.

I'd recommend the book to fans who enjoy true crime stories, especially those who like accounts of trials.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Show No Fear: A Nina Reilly Mystery" by Perri O'Shaughnessy

This 12th book in the 'Nina Reilly' series is actually a prequel to the other books. It harks back to earlier times, when the defense attorney is still going to law school. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

In this prequel to the popular Nina Reilly legal thriller series, Nina is still living in her hometown of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and has a lot going on in her life.

Professionally, Nina is preparing for her future career by working as a paralegal during the day and attending law school at night. Personally, Nina is the single mother of toddler Bob; is helping her mother sue the acupuncturist who caused her to lose a hand; is worried about her drug addict brother; and has an ambivalent relationship with her father - who divorced her mom and got a new girlfriend.



To add to Nina's woes, Bob's absentee father - an attorney named Richard Filsen - corners Nina and demands joint custody of the little boy, whom he's previously ignored. Nina, who considers Filsen a slimy dirtbag, is horrified by the idea.



Luckily, Nina is able to get assistance from the attorneys she works for. Her boss Jack McIntyre offers to help Nina fight Filsen's custody demands; and Remy Sorenson - a beautiful blonde who's on the fast track to a judgeship - takes Mrs. Reilly's malpractice suit. In an ironic twist, sleazy Richard Filsen represents the acupuncturist who hurt Nina's mom.

There's trash talk and threats among the litigants and attorneys as papers and writs are prepared, and tempers become heated on all sides.

Before long there are two suspicious deaths associated with the above cases, and Police Detective Paul von Wagoner investigates. Nina takes an active interest in the inquiries and finds evidence that helps solve the murders.....but endangers her life in the process.



The human interactions in the novel are complicated: Nina has a crush on her boss Jack, who's in love with Remy. Remy sleeps with Jack, but also plays the field; Paul - who's a philanderer - is attracted to Nina, but she's holding out for Jack. It reads like a high school soap opera.



Some of the characters introduced here are regulars in the series, and become more mature later on - so readers shouldn't judge by their behavior in this novel.

The book gets off to a slow start, but the action speeds up after the murders, and the story held my attention.

This book is an interesting addition to the series, and the backstories of Nina's mom, dad, and brother round out their personalities and provide some context for Nina's future law career. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to readers who like mysteries, especially Nina Reilly fans.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Bad Things Happen: A Novel" by Harry Dolan

This story reminds me of a contest that was used to promote a science fiction mini-series a while back. The plot of the mini-series revolved around multiple murders, and people entering the contest had to try to solve the crimes. Well the solution was VERY tricky and I was completely wrong. 😏

To get on with the review:

A mysterious man who calls himself David Loogan arrives in Ann Arbor and rents a furnished house near the University of Michigan. Loogan, who has no job, hangs out at coffee shops; people watches; reads; and just drifts through his days. 






Then, by a serendipitous sequence of events, Loogan is offered a job editing stories for a literary mystery magazine called 'Grey Streets', published by a man named Tom Kristoll.

Over the next few weeks Loogan and Tom become friendly and occasionally hang out or have a few drinks. Then Loogan meets Tom's wife Laura, and the seductive blonde seduces Loogan. So Loogan sometimes schmoozes with Tom, and sometimes romances his wife.

The real action starts when a man is killed in Tom's house, and the publisher calls Loogan in something of a panic. Tom and Loogan bury the body in the woods, and Loogan insists on knowing who the dead man is and what happened. Tom spins an elaborate tale involving self-defense, which turns out to be a lie - and the truth is slowly revealed as the story unfolds.



More violence follows the first tragedy, and before long two more people are dead - supposedly suicides. However Police Detective Elizabeth Waishkey isn't fooled, and she and her team investigate the suspicious deaths. Complications add up as another person is killed; everyone lies; people keep changing their stories; evidence goes missing; etc.



Waishkey and Loogan meet during the police inquiries and like each other, but it goes no further than that - especially when Loogan becomes the #1 suspect and goes on the run. Loogan is determined to uncover the murderer himself, and interviews people who might have information about the crimes. These include the staff at Grey Streets; writers who contribute stories to the magazine; book authors; friends and neighbors of the victims; and more.

Loogan buys a burner phone and repeatedly calls Detective Waishkey to chitchat about the case. The cop tries to convince Loogan to turn himself in - saying they'll figure it out together - but no dice.

To complicate matters, a retired detective from upstate New York - who's bored with fishing - arrives in Ann Arbor. He tells Detective Waishkey that he heard about Loogan being spotted in Michigan, and that 'David Loogan' is an alias for a criminal who escaped justice in New York. It was the detective's case, and he wants to see Loogan get captured.



As the mystery plays out, people's baser natures are revealed, secrets are uncovered, and the truth comes out. If there had been a contest to guess the perp I would have lost miserably. LOL. 😟

I enjoyed the book, but I have some criticisms:

- Tom asks Loogan to help dispose of a body and Loogan immediately agrees. Really? He could go to prison (maybe for life) as an accessory to murder. This isn't believable.

- Detective Waishkey casually - and repeatedly - blabs police discoveries to persons of interest in the case. Cops would never do this.

- The plot has too many twists. It's unnecessarily complicated, and hard to keep up with.

This is Harry Dolan's debut novel, and - overall - it's a good effort. I think many mystery fans would enjoy the story.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "The Glass Castle: A Memoir" by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls

Journalist and author Jeannette Walls had a wildly dysfunctional childhood, but was able to escape her chaotic home and help rescue her younger siblings.

*****

Jeannette's father, Rex Walls, was a ruggedly handsome, brilliant, and charismatic man. However, he was a selfish alcoholic and gambler who could never keep a job as an electrician/engineer for more than a few months. Rex would tell his family to pack at a moment's notice ("You can only take one thing") and frequently hustled them from one dilapidated hovel to another, which he called "doing the skedaddle."


Rex Walls

Rex told his kids he was on the run from the FBI, but was really fleeing from bill collectors. For decades, Rex said he was 'rooting out corruption in the unions' and perfecting an invention, called 'The Prospector' - which would separate gold from dross. When fortune struck, Rex planned to build a 'Glass Castle', a fairy tale abode for the family.....which he was designing himself.

Jeannette's mother, Rose Mary Walls, was a carefree, hippy-dippy artist - and sometimes teacher - who had her head so high in the clouds that earthly concerns like feeding, bathing, educating, and nurturing her four children (Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen) were hardly on her radar. If the kids had problems or concerns, Rose Mary assured them that 'hardship fosters strength' and blithely went on her way. When the youngsters were hungry, they had to fend for themselves IF there was even food in the house.....which was rare.


Rose Mary and Rex Walls on their wedding day


Rose Mary and Rex Walls and three of their children

Having to feed herself, three-year-old Jeannette was cooking hotdogs one afternoon when she went up in flames. Rose Mary swaddled the blazing child in a blanket and, courtesy of a neighbor, rushed her to the hospital. The Walls family, which usually avoided scrutiny from the outside world, was subject to negative judgment from doctors and social workers.....who expressed their concerns.

This infuriated Rex, who already had issues with doctors, lawyers, bankers, businessmen, etc. (people we now call 'the one percenters'). Moreover, Rex disapproved of Jeannette's medical treatment and - using his toddler Brian to create a distraction - mounted a skedaddle to rescue Jeannette from the hospital (and probably skip out on medical bills). This may have contributed to the permanent scars on Jeannette's torso.

During Jeannette's turbulent childhood, she witnessed Rex toss the family cat out of a moving car and drown a batch of kittens, which he did nonchalantly, without regret. Rex taught his young kids to shoot guns; launch arrows; and throw knives. He encouraged little Jeannette to pet a cheetah at the zoo (which got the family thrown out), and - not having money for proper gifts - gave the children 'stars' (in the sky) for Christmas.


Young Jeannette Walls

As a result of the family pinging from one town to another, Jeannette met a hodgepodge of kids, many of whom were roughhewn delinquents. One time, when the Walls were living in Phoenix, Arizona, a boy named Billy took a shine to Jeannette, and - thinking she liked him back - forced a kiss and tried to do more. When Billy was rejected, he showed up with a bebe gun and the resulting scuffle - involving a REAL gun wielded by Jeannette- necessitated another hasty skedaddle.

After traipsing around the Southwest for years, the Walls family was penniless and desperate. Therefore - against Rex's VOCIFEROUS objections - Rose Mary insisted the family move to Rex's home town of Welsh, West Virginia. There the Walls' lived with Rex's hillbilly parents and brother for a time, resulting in (relatively minor, but troubling) physical and sexual abuse....perhaps providing a clue to Rex's turbulent personality.

When they'd lived in Welsh for several months , Rex and Rose Mary found an old wreck of a house at '93 Little Hobart Street', and moved the family there. The house had no toilets or heat, and was almost unbearable in winter. The kids started to excavate a foundation for the 'Glass Castle', but the large depression soon became a stinking garbage pit. School was a trial as well. Jeannette was dirty; smelled bad; had raggedy clothes; and usually had no food for lunch. On top of that, she was much smarter than her classmates. Thus, she was bullied by schoolmates and even some teachers.


93 Little Hobart Street

One time, when Jeannette was fourteen, Rex took her to a bar and encouraged a fellow patron to dance with his underage daughter, and even take her up to his apartment - while Rex hustled money for drinks. Jeannette was almost raped, but managed to escape. The girl was furious with her father, who was nonchalant and blasé, saying "I knew you could take care of yourself." (This pimping out of his daughter is Rex's most outrageous behavior IMO.)

Whenever the family got a little money, Rex usually spent it on alcohol and cigarettes.....though the kids were starving. On one occasion, the children amassed a good bit of 'Piggy Bank' money by mowing lawns; babysitting; tutoring; doing other kids' homework; and so on - to finance their eventual escape to New York City. Rex found and stole their savings. Nevertheless, oldest sister Lori headed for New York the day she graduated high school, and was followed by Jeannette when she completed the 11th grade. Later, the girls sent for their younger siblings, Brian and Maureen.

Some years later, when all the Walls children were established in New York, Rex and Rose Mary showed up, and - after exhausting visiting privileges with their children - became homeless squatters in a downtown tenement. Luckily, Rex was able to (illegally) rig up electricity from a power line, but the couple became dumpster divers to survive.....despite their children's offers of assistance.


Rex and Rose Mary Walls in their later years


Rose Mary and Jeannette Walls

   

Rose Mary and Jeannette Walls

The really remarkable thing about all this is that Jeannette continued to adore and idolize her father, though she deplored his behavior. Jeannette's attitude toward her mother seems more ambivalent. She apparently blamed Rose Mary for not taking the kids and making a run for it, but - nevertheless - showed her mother kindness and consideration.

Though Jeannette's story is bleak, it has lighter moments. During a stint of relative prosperity, Rex bought Rose Mary a piano. To get the heavy instrument into the house, Rex rigged up a system of ropes that attached to the piano in the front yard, threaded through the house and out the back door, and were tied to the family car. Rose Mary was supposed to gently nose the car forward, pulling the piano into the house. However, she hit the gas hard and hauled the piano through the entire house and into the backyard, where it stayed from then on.

This is a remarkable story of resilience in the face of adversity, and kids with less intelligence, spunk, and drive than the Walls' youngsters may not have fared as well.

This memoir, which has been on the New York Times best seller list since it's publication in 2005, was made into the 2017 movie 'The Glass Castle.' The film, though a clearly recognizable adaptation of the book, gives the story a 'fairy tale' touch that's a bit disingenuous IMO. Still, it's a good movie.


Movie posters for 'The Glass Castle'

This is a well-written, riveting book, highly recommended to readers who enjoy memoirs.

Rating: 4 stars