Pros: Decent mystery with a fun main characters
Cons: Slow start that I didn’t enjoy
The Bottom Line:
New series begins
With slow start to mystery
Enjoyed by the end
Freddie’s First Case Gets off to an Uneven Start
Julie Mulhern is an author I want to read more of, but I seem to keep falling further behind in her series. So, when she announced she was starting a new series, I figured this was a good opportunity to stay current in at least one of her series. Sadly, Murder in Manhattan wasn’t as good as I was expecting.
This series is set in New York City in 1925. The main character is Freddie Archer, the gossip and fashion columnist for Gotham Magazine. She comes from a well-off family, so she doesn’t need to work, but she finds the work fulfilling and it’s something she’s good at. Plus, it gives her a perfect excuse to be out in speakeasies all night every night.
However, reality enters her world when someone she mentioned in her column is murdered. The police ask for her help identifying a woman the victim was seen with - just observe and report back. But as the bodies keep piling up, Freddie can’t help but dig in more. Can she find the killer?
Since I’ve read several of the author’s other books, I knew what to expect when I picked up this book. Or at least I thought I did. Far too much time was spent on Freddie’s lifestyle early in the book, and far too little was spent on the mystery. Stuff was happening, but Freddie was just observing between nights spent drinking too much and name dropping all the famous people Freddie knew.
Things did improve around a third of the way into the book, as Freddie finally started to take the mystery seriously. At that point, I finally got pulled into the book. Even so, one thing either was dropped or I was expecting too much. Honestly, I’m not sure which. The ending was great, and things did wrap up satisfactory.
Freddie Archer was inspired by a real-life columnist of the time, Lois Long. I did enjoy getting to know the character as presented here. As I expected, there is a strong romance as well. I’ll be interested in seeing how things play out going forward. Freddie herself grew on me as the book went along, although her self-destructive behavior bugged me early on.
Again, once the mystery got going, I enjoyed all the name dropping we got. There are lots of famous people who are either supporting characters or have cameos. Early on, it felt forced, but when the focus was on the story, these made me smile.
Freddie is a radical for her time, and we run into macho men who think Freddie should behave more like a woman of her time. Yep, you guessed it, I didn’t care for how that was handled either. I expected it given the author’s other books that I’ve read, but a little less would have improved things.
There is a humorous tone for the entire book, which I did enjoy. The book gets serious when it needs to, but there are fun moments to make you smile or laugh along the way.
By the end, I was enjoying Murder in Manhattan, and I’d be willing to revisit Freddie. I hope future books in the series are better paced.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Julie Mulhern is an author I want to read more of, but I seem to keep falling further behind in her series. So, when she announced she was starting a new series, I figured this was a good opportunity to stay current in at least one of her series. Sadly, Murder in Manhattan wasn’t as good as I was expecting.
This series is set in New York City in 1925. The main character is Freddie Archer, the gossip and fashion columnist for Gotham Magazine. She comes from a well-off family, so she doesn’t need to work, but she finds the work fulfilling and it’s something she’s good at. Plus, it gives her a perfect excuse to be out in speakeasies all night every night.
However, reality enters her world when someone she mentioned in her column is murdered. The police ask for her help identifying a woman the victim was seen with - just observe and report back. But as the bodies keep piling up, Freddie can’t help but dig in more. Can she find the killer?
Since I’ve read several of the author’s other books, I knew what to expect when I picked up this book. Or at least I thought I did. Far too much time was spent on Freddie’s lifestyle early in the book, and far too little was spent on the mystery. Stuff was happening, but Freddie was just observing between nights spent drinking too much and name dropping all the famous people Freddie knew.
Things did improve around a third of the way into the book, as Freddie finally started to take the mystery seriously. At that point, I finally got pulled into the book. Even so, one thing either was dropped or I was expecting too much. Honestly, I’m not sure which. The ending was great, and things did wrap up satisfactory.
Freddie Archer was inspired by a real-life columnist of the time, Lois Long. I did enjoy getting to know the character as presented here. As I expected, there is a strong romance as well. I’ll be interested in seeing how things play out going forward. Freddie herself grew on me as the book went along, although her self-destructive behavior bugged me early on.
Again, once the mystery got going, I enjoyed all the name dropping we got. There are lots of famous people who are either supporting characters or have cameos. Early on, it felt forced, but when the focus was on the story, these made me smile.
Freddie is a radical for her time, and we run into macho men who think Freddie should behave more like a woman of her time. Yep, you guessed it, I didn’t care for how that was handled either. I expected it given the author’s other books that I’ve read, but a little less would have improved things.
There is a humorous tone for the entire book, which I did enjoy. The book gets serious when it needs to, but there are fun moments to make you smile or laugh along the way.
By the end, I was enjoying Murder in Manhattan, and I’d be willing to revisit Freddie. I hope future books in the series are better paced.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
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