Bless the Bride (Molly Murphy Mysteries) (edition 2011)

Decided to wait until I've read at least a few of the earlier books before reading this fairly recent one. I want to see the character develop.

With just a couple of weeks until her wedding and at the urging of her intended to give up her practice, private investigator Molly Murphy decides to take one last case, despite the fact that she knows her fiancé would disapprove of her actions. She soon finds herself ensnared in a case involving a missing bride who is thought of as property by a powerful and wealthy Chinese landowner. Soon the case is complicated by murder. Molly’s fiancé, a police detective, accidently discovers Molly at the scene of the crime when she is supposed to be busy with wedding preparations, not tracking a missing bride. Could life possibly be more complicated for Molly? Throw in a future mother-in-law who disapproves of her and add Molly’s friends whom Daniel would like to refrain from seeing, and it would appear that Molly’s life will soon be much different than she ever expected. That is, if she lives to see it. Rich in period descriptions of the early 20th century and true-to-life detailed characters, this novel will both charm and intrigue you. Rhys Bowen has painstakingly portrayed life in New York in 1903, complete with the slang and customs of that period. ( )

With Molly Murphy’s wedding to NYPD Captain Daniel Sullivan quickly approaching, she promises to leave her detective work behind and settle down after becoming Daniel’s wife…but she isn’t married yet. So when she gets word of a possible case, Molly sneaks back into the city to take one more intriguing case before the wedding.

A wealthy Chinese immigrant wants Molly to find his missing bride. Molly has a hunch that his intended has run off. But the only Chinese women of the area are kept under house arrest, and Molly can’t help but wonder whether she’s saving the bride-to-be from the streets…or helping to lock her away for good. This book was a quick read - you just can't wait for Molly to do her thing as only she can. I truly love his whole series. ( )

Molly Murphy is tired of sewing her trousseau under the watchful (and critical) eyes of her future mother-in-law. She longs to get back to New York City, where she plies her trade as a private detective. That’s much to the consternation of her police detective fiancé Daniel Sullivan.

Our heroine is a fairly recent immigrant from Ireland who, through pluck and persistence, has made a nice life for herself and she’s not certain she wants to be under the thumb of a husband. And she HAS told him that she’ll get out of the detecting business once she’s Mrs. Sullivan. But her fans now there’s not even a slim chance of her sticking to that promise.

Molly agrees to take on one “last” case: an Asian businessman wants a lost piece of jewelry found. What Molly doesn’t know is that he really wants the concubine to whom he gave the jewelry. And once Molly learns the truth about the young woman’s situation with her older paramour, she’s not at all certain she wants to help Mr. Lee retrieve his “property.” Of course, things get out of hand, as they always do with our Miss Molly.

The Molly Murphy mysteries make up one of the best historical series around. And anyone who has followed Molly through the trials and tribulations of immigrating to the United States in the early 1900s and making her way in the unfriendly streets of New York City will be eager to read this entry in the series. Even readers who don’t read mysteries – but are interested in genealogy and/or immigrant history – will be amply rewarded with Bless the Bride.

Molly Murphy is one of the best mystery heroines ever, and Rhys Bowen makes each book in the series fresh and new. Ms. Bowen is a master at spinning a good yarn and getting the historical details just right.

Review based on advanced reading copy provided by the author’s agent. ( )