Review of "Murder in Manhattan: A Freddie Archer Mystery" by Julie Mulhern

 

It's 1925, and New York heiress Freddie Archer - the consummate flapper - writes a column called 'A Touch of Rouge' for Gotham Magazine.



The column highlights fashion and entertainment, recounting Freddie's nightly capers of drinking, dining, and dancing at speakeasies, nightclubs, restaurants, and parties - mentioning people she sees there.



Freddie's magazine columns are replete with name-dropping, which garners her goodwill and discounts. Freddie might describe her own outfit as: 'A whisper-light silver chiffon frock purchased at Carmaux; shoes picked up at B. Altman's; and that darling evening bag from the clever little shop on Madison Avenue.



One morning, NYPD Detective Mike Sullivan visits Freddie at her Gotham office, holding a copy of the magazine. Sullivan asks Freddie about her column that mentions seeing bootlegger Jake Haskell at the Cascades nightclub on Saturday. It seems Haskell was murdered later that night, and Sullivan asks if Freddie can describe the bootlegger's companion.



Freddie has a good eye for these things, and says 'Haskell was with a woman who wore a stylish blue dress with crystal beadwork, and she had ropes and ropes of pearls. She had bobbed light-colored hair and was pretty in a kittenish way.'



Detective Sullivan says the woman might know something about Haskell's murder, and asks Freddie to let him know if she sees the woman again. Sullivan warns Freddie NOT to interact with the woman in any way, but JUST to call him. Well, it's as if Sullivan threw down a gauntlet, and Freddie decides she''ll investigate the lady herself.



This leads to a rollicking, and extremely risky, adventure. The hijinks start when Freddie is dancing with handsome bootlegger Brandt Abrams at a speakeasy.



There are gunshots in the street, and Brandt and Freddie hurry out to see Brandt's business partner, Ewan, bleeding on the ground. Freddie spots 'the woman in the blue dress' walking away, so Freddie climbs over a car and follows her. Freddie loses the woman, but now thinks of herself as a detective on the perpetrator's trail.



As events transpire, more bootleggers are killed, and there seems to be a 'gang war' among bootleggers wanting to claim the New York territory. Freddie places herself right in the center of this dangerous situation, and along the way, gets help from New York mobster Arnold Rothstein and his enforcer Legs Doyle, who take a liking to Freddie.





Freddie also has acquaintances among the rich and famous. Freddie is best friends with actress Tallulah Bankhead;



hangs out with writer Dorothy (Dottie) Parker;



and parties with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.



In Freddie's personal life, she recently broke her engagement to producer Nick Peters, who wanted her to give up her career and become a Connecticut housewife;



Freddie's socialite mother keeps trying to fix her up with Yale men;



Freddie discovers her father in a compromising situation;



and Freddie is attracted to handsome bootlegger Brandt Abrams.



For added entertainment, the book has fun excerpts from Freddie's 'A Touch of Rouge' columns, with LOTS of descriptions of frocks, shoes, bags, hairstyles, jewelry, accessories, and even a hilarious review of an off-Broadway play.



The killer is caught in the end, but not before Freddie's life is threatened, and she ruins several expensive frocks.

The Roaring Twenties in the Prohibition Era is a wonderful setting for Freddie's escapades, and I'll look out for more Freddie adventures.



I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Caroline Hewitt, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Julie Mulhern, and Hachette Audio for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars