Carole Lawrence

This historical thriller set in New York City in 1880 introduces socialite and reporter Elizabeth van den Broek. After college at Vassar, she was hired as a social reporter at the New York Herald. One day on her way to work, she sees a woman being assaulted by a man in a third-floor window as her train passes by.

When she and a new friend from her apartment building are taking a morning walk, they discover the body of a young woman wrapped as a mummy and left in the pit where the new show more Cleopatra's Needle will be placed. Elizabeth begs her editor to let her pursue the story since she has recently made a connection with Detective Sargeant William O'Grady who came to investigate the crime.

Given permission by her editor and with an introduction by OGrady, Elizabeth and a photographer visit the morgue and get a chance to see and photograph the body. There, Elizabeth learns that the young woman had been strangled and had all her blood drained through an incision that looks like an Egyptian symbol of some kind.

As Elizabeth pursues her leads and writes stories that make her a celebrity, the villain who believes he is the reincarnated Osiris is planning and executing more murders all with an Egyptian theme. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is facing prejudice and assault at work, dealing with the mental illness of her older sister Laura, and trying to understand her mother.

Elizabeth also meets a handsome young doctor who has some new ideas to treat her sister. She also makes friends with Carlotta Ackerman who is an artist with a studio in her apartment building and her brother Jonah who is flirting with socialism and a great admirer of Karl Marx.

The great strength of this story was the historical setting which was filled with intriguing details and characters. What Elizabeth was allowed to do and the attitudes of the men around her seemed realistic. Her desire to be a reformer and pathfinder for women coming along behind her made Elizabeth interesting. Details about the corruption of the police added to the story. The mystery was somewhat weaker as it all seemed to be summed up rather abruptly.

Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy getting to know Elizabeth. show less

I wasn’t sure what to expect from a new author and series. I liked the descriptions of Edinburgh as I have been there. The characters were very interesting and well developed such as detective Ian Hamilton, his aunt Lillian, detective inspector, Crawford, Sergeant Dickerson and young Derek, as well as Ian‘s brother Donald. The plot had plenty of twists and turns and with the two sets of brothers, the identity of the serial killer/strangler wasn’t obvious at first. He really was a show more psychopath and yet his brother, raised by the same terrible father, took a different path. There were parallels between Ian and his brother and their upbringing as well. Ian Hamilton is a great protagonist, and really works hard to find the killer, though it took a long time to find him and the body count was high.

The only part I didn’t like was the strangler getting off on the thought of killing another victim. Too much detail for me. show less

Our heroine is a young woman born into society who could do nothing more than marry well but she wanted more. So she pursued a career in journalism but was constantly sent to cover the lunches and soirees of the people in her set – just what she wanted to get away from. But fate has so much more in store for her.

What follows is a fast paced, fun (if you can call a murder mystery fun) to read book that takes the reader through both the slums and high society of late 19th century New York. show more It is well written and very well researched.

Elizabeth is a young woman of privilege but she wants to do more with her life than just attend teas and marry well. As she follows the trail of the murderer she learns more about the other side of society than she ever wanted to know and the reader is shown the dark side of turn of the century New York.

At times not easy to read but definitely well worth reading and it rather leaves the feeling that perhaps more books will follow. I sure hope so as Elizabeth is the kind of character that you root for and definitely would like to follow again in another adventure. show less

I literally read this novel in one day because I could not put it down.

I loved it and can not wait for the next book in the series! Hopefully the wait wont be too long!

Detective Inspector Ian Hamilton aided by Detective Sergeant Dickerson along with a few other interesting characters are on the hunt for the "Holyrood Strangler" a serial killer that is stalking the streets of 19th century Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is made up of New Town, a wealthy enclave of easy-living residents and Old Town where show more the poor, downtrodden and criminal element live and this story encompasses both in such a well written way that you can almost reach out and touch it.

The story is told from various points of view, from the killer, victims, and from the Inspector which adds to the immersive layers throughout and also encompasses some back story as well as the hunt for the serial killer.

The characters are portrayed in such a way that makes them believable and human.

If you are interested in historical mysteries and the development of police ideas and procedures, this is your new favourite book of 2017!!

An amazing start to a series and I will definitely read more as the series continues.

Congratulations Carole Lawrence on a perfect debut novel. show less