Seven for a Secret

And here I thought Faye could not improve on her fabulous first book in her Timothy Wilde series. I was so, so wrong. Loved this one! These stories are so much more than just an excellent historical fiction/crime/mystery read. Faye brings to life the teaming underbelly of mid-19th century New York City, with its freshly minted police force (the "Copper Stars") comprised of an interesting (and challenging) mix of moralist/capitalistic/vigilantism that makes it clear why even law-abiding citizens were leery of Copper Stars when they showed up on the scene.

For me, it is the complicated relationship Timothy has with his older brother Valentine and the moral/ethical challenges Timothy faces that makes this such riveting reading. Valentine show more is such an enigma/antihero for Timothy, and Timothy is such a naive younger brother for Valentine, it is no surprise that their interactions are charged with volatile energy. Yes, Timothy's "leap before think" approach - seriously, how does he not learn after a solid bashing or two that this might not be the best course of action? - just fuels already tinder-ready situations with some very explosive results. On top of all this exciting action, Faye provides one of the best plot shift/reveals that had me applauding, even as I felt the sucker punch Timothy faced.

My favorite read so far in 2017. show less

Right, so I think this is a spectacular historical New York mystery. Well written, well paced, hard to put down. I wish I had started with the first in the series, but I made a mistake.

The down sides here are that as a new copper star in New York, Timothy Wilde is seeing the worst the world can offer, from child prostitution to slave catching, and all the machinations of the political machines. Which is frankly really tough reading. I don't doubt a word of it is based on true stories, and it just hits too hard. It leaves me with too powerful a sorrow to want to read further. So well done for being a writer who can get your poignant history across. I'm sorry I don't have the stomach for it.

The second Timothy Wilde mystery is the middle book in a trilogy and an examination of the threats to free blacks living in New York City, and by extension, anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line. When a free black woman rushes into police headquarters at the Tombs in 1846, claiming her son and her sister were kidnapped by slave hunters from the south, Copper Star Timothy Wilde takes the case, and becomes embroiled in a complex, heartbreaking case that earns him the wrong kind of attention from the Democratic party bosses.

Faye, as she did in the first book of the trilogy, The Gods of Gotham, brings New York City in the 1840s to life, showing the fruits of her research. Between the details of life at the time, the political climate, the show more bigotry that echoes modern times and shows how little has changed in too many ways, and the intricate machinations at the heart of the case Tim investigates, I was once again drawn into the past. The mystery might be fiction, but the time and place were all too real. I highly recommend this for lovers of historical fiction and mysteries. show less

This book is the second in the historical police detective series that began with The Gods of Gotham. It picks up six months after the events of the first book, and continues to follow the career of 28-year-old Timothy Wilde, a member of the newly formed “copper stars,” or New York City Policemen.

The story begins on Valentine’s Day in 1846, when Tim and his colleague Jakob Piest are approached by Lucy Adams, a desperate woman claiming her family has been stolen. She is African-American, though hardly recognizable as such, and she explains that her son and her sister who was babysitting him have been taken by slave catchers. These “blackbirders” common to Antebellum America specialized in kidnapping blacks, whether legally free show more or not, and sending them South. The capture of fugitive "slaves" was of course legal at this time in American history, but the more unscrupulous and greedy slave catchers did not make a distinction between a black who was free and one who had escaped from slavery. The author reports in her Afterword:

"Overwhelming evidence indicates that the practice of kidnapping free blacks for the purpose of selling them as alleged slaves was common, systematized, and almost entirely overlooked by courts and law enforcement.”

As Tim interprets the situation in New York:

"This city plays with its residents a mortal game of musical chairs... There is simply not enough here. Not enough work, enough food, enough walls with roofs topping them. ...there aren’t enough chairs for the tens of thousands tearing their way into the parlor for a try. And if only one seat out of a dozen is marked FOR COLOREDS, and that identical seat is the only one marked FOR IRISH... Then it’s a question of who pitches whom on the hardwood first.”

Lucy is desperate for Tim to find her family before they are sent South into slavery; violated in other ways; or even killed. He has an advantage in doing detective work, because people tend to open up to him. He says, “Where stories are concerned, I am a man-shaped safety deposit box.”

But Tim has his own difficulties: he doesn’t mind angering his boss to obtain social justice, nor alienating the Democratic party, which controls the police. This attitude tends to put Tim repeatedly in danger himself. Also, his brother Val plays an important role in both the party and the police, so Tim's behavior doesn't just hurt himself.

As for Val, he is truly the star of the series, in my view. He is open-minded, interesting, brave, and has a lot more street smarts than his hapless idealistic brother. Tim knows Val’s worth: “He [is] my entire context.” He won’t admit it to Val, and only rarely admits it to himself. But we the readers know his worth, because it is largely because of Val that I want to keep following this series!

Evaluation: This is an appealing historical crimes series with a social conscience, and with characters that grow dearer to the reader as the series progresses. show less

Seven for a Secret - Faye
4 stars

This was even better than Gods of Gotham, the first book in this continuing 19th century detective series. Six months following the creation of New York City’s first police department, Timothy Wilde is still feeling his way as the department’s first and only investigative detective. He is still dealing with the physical and emotional fallout of the first book. He is still trying to fix things for the weak and helpless. In this book, he is drawn into the tragic consequences that come with the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Timothy is really a man out of place for his times. He is colorblind in his choice of friends and lacks any religious or ethnic prejudice. He is a feminist, accepting a show more woman’s right to independent thought and sexual choice. And he’s fairly open minded about homosexuallity. As unlikely as this is, Faye manages to make Timothy believable within his historical context. As in the first book, Faye builds historical context by prefacing each chapter from historical documents, the social commentary of the time. In this case she uses runaway slave ads, ‘scientific’ pamphlets on the inferiority of the African race, excerpts from abolitionist propaganda, as well as quotes from Solomon Northrup’s Twelve Years a Slave and Frederick Douglass’ autobiography.

It’s a very complex and dangerous historical setting. The mystery begins with a fight to rescue two free, black, New Yorkers from a pair of ‘blackbirders’ who have kidnapped them for profitable sale in the south. As it turns out, this is more than a straightforward rescue. The story complicates itself with Tammany Hall politics, violent attacks, murder, and dangerous secrets. This book is full of suspense and unavoidable tragedy, but it comes to a satisfying conclusion. I’m in line for the next book which is set for a May 12 publication. show less

I was utterly moved by free man Solomon Northrup's memoir of having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in Twelve Years a Slave. Lyndsay Faye turns her considerable imaginative talents to the venal practice in this, her second of the Timothy Wilde series. Wilde is now a copper star with the nascent NY police force. Having just brought his observational skills to solving a missing painting case, Wilde is accosted by the desperate and beautiful Lucy Wright, frantic over the disappearance of her son and sister into the hands of slave catchers. Wilde's involvement might entrap his own brother in a murder inquiry. While Valentine Wilde -- handsome fireman and rising political star makes a solid appearance, we are treated to cameos from show more brothel madam Silkie Marsh, the young waif Wilde previously rescued, and his beloved now ensconced in London.

The mystery and circumstances of the kidnapped family will draw the reader to the very end. Along the way, we are drawn in to harrowing yet realistic descriptions of the imperiled lives of free blacks living in the Northern states. Faye also shows the political consequences of the influx of Irish immigrants and their importance to the fortunes of Tammany Hall.

I'm looking forward to the next installment of this series. show less

I received an Advanced Reading Copy of this book via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Gods of Gotham was certainly a book strong enough to stand alone. I had high expectations for this sequel, and they were fulfilled. is dark, brutal, and sometimes a difficult read because of the unflinching portrayal of racism and exploitation in 1846 New York City. Whereas the first book focused on the ugliness of child prostitution and the plight of the starving Irish, this book shifts the focus to slavery and how New York law has enabled free blacks to be kidnapped and dragged south to be sold away. I admire Faye for her ability to make the time period raw and real. It's a mystery novel, but foremost it's a work of brilliant historical fiction, and one show more that really strives (and succeeds) at showing people in context.

That's been one of the great strengths of both books--Faye writes people. Not simply characters. Every single person is nuanced. Sure, the bad guys are truly bad, but they are extremely layered. Things do seem a tad too dramatic at times, in a TV drama kind of way, but it didn't detract from the read for me. I had hoped for more of Bird in this book but, maybe book 3 will show more of her.

I will continue to follow this series. No question. show less