I thought the plot, characters and setting were very good. I did not enjoy the writing style as it prevented my reading from flowing smoothly. It was such a pity I couldn't enjoy this as it deserved. ( )

FROM AMAZON: The road to redemption has never been so fierce.

Atticus Riot wants to leave his tortured past behind, but his partner’s murder haunts his every step. Before he can find peace, the gunfighter turned detective needs to find the killer. But then a missing heiress draws him into a conspiracy of lies.

A young woman’s life is at stake, so why won’t her rich, older husband tell the whole truth about her disappearance?

The clock is ticking and Riot must unravel a twisted trail before an innocent life is lost. But deceit runs deeper than he imagined, and he’s soon thrown into the path of a fiercely independent woman who’s his match in every way.

A suspenseful Victorian mystery with a strong female lead and a romantic detective duo in San Francisco’s lawless Barbary Coast.

Atticus Riot returns to San Francisco three years after his partner was killed. Now 1900 he is quickly drawn into the lastest case of the detective agency. The abduction of an heiress, Mrs Isobel Kingston.
A well-written, enjoyable mystery with some complex characters. ( )

My dad always told me you get what you pay for. I received this book on a promo deal for free and so I anticapated it would be worth what I paid for it. I was wrong, and now I'm hooked! This was an imaginative story set in a fairly authentic era of San Francisco historicity. And while her characters seem at first to be almost stereotypical, she has added little bits and foibles that give them more force and breathe life into them. The plot is very well done - wheels within wheels all turning at the same time and it offers a few sudden twists to keep the reader guessing. All in all it was a pretty good read and I confess the ending surprised me. She gives you just enough information on Ravenwood, Kingston and Riot to make you think you've got it figured out and then pulls the rug out from under you. Flynn's writing style is readable and her plot is imaginative and her characters are delightful enough to make me want to read another book in the series. ( )

I tried so hard like this book but I couldn’t get into caring for the characters. The plot was good, but not well executed, in my opinion. Too much coincidence and spoon feeding. Things were revealed too early and the reader wasn’t kept in the dark for any attempted “didn’t see that coming!” scenes. I liked the time period and Bel’s character, but that’s about it. ( )