City of Lies

I thought that this was very good! I have had this book in my queue for years but never seemed to be able to work it into my reading schedule. When I noticed that my local library had a copy of the audiobook available to borrow, I decided that it was finally time to see what this book was about. I found it be quite entertaining so I am glad that I finally gave it a chance.

Elizabeth isn’t like most women in her time since she works with a team of grifters. To escape capture, she joins a group of women fighting for the right to vote and ends up going to jail with them. I loved the group of women that she was with while in jail. She became a vital member of the group and I really enjoyed the way that they supported and encouraged each show more other. When they are released, she goes home with one of the women she became close to in jail and has the opportunity to get to know Gideon a lot better.

I thought that this book was rather exciting at times. It was really amazing that this book is only set 100 years ago since this world looked so different from the one we live in today. I liked the chemistry between Elizabeth and Gideon and thought that they worked well together despite having very different views. I enjoyed the fact that the suffrage movement played such a vital role in the story and I liked that LGBTQ issues were also addressed.

Kate Forbes did a very nice job with the narration. I liked the various voices she used for the character dialogue. I felt like she was able to add a lot of emotion and excitement to the story and her pacing was well done. I believe that her performance added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would recommend this book to others. Elizabeth was a great character and I loved the fact that she often operates in a morally grey area. I do plan to read more of this series soon.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library. show less

"A Counterfeit Lady" novel series, the newest of author Victoria Thompson's historical fiction series is riveting, charming, and most gratifying. This first book in the series introduces us to clever, bright and sly grifter, Elizabeth Miles, who comes from a family of con men. It's 1917, Washington City. The story opens with her and her brother working a con on a rather sinister con man himself. All was moving along well until the mark was out his money and he suddenly had his sites set on retribution against the two siblings. Getting his money back won't be enough and he sics his two goons on pursuing Elizabeth as she flees the scene of the con. As she's running toward the White House with the henchmen in hot pursuit, she insinuates show more herself into a large group of women protesting for the right to vote and is spared the wrath of the conned mark, at least for the moment. She really doesn't know much about these women of the suffragist movement but quickly falls in with them and develops an admiration for their commitment to the cause. Elizabeth is safe for the moment and hopes she can quietly return to New York City once things cool down. However, she suddenly has gone from the frying pan and into the fire. She quickly develops the respect of the suffragists as she imparts some of her street smarts to these genteel women.
There's lots of action in this story and never a dull moment. The author has done her research and added historical elements of the day, which are spot on. She even provides a few notes regarding the historical record at the end of the book and sets the record straight on how she condensed some of that record for dramatic purposes.
I actually read the second book in the series (City of Secrets) first and enjoyed it so much that I was impelled to go back and read the first book in the series. If historical fiction with a high-spirited, plucky and courageous female protagonist at is center appeals, then this is definitely a series you won't want to miss. show less

I love Thompson’s “Gaslight” mysteries and thought I’d give this a try. The heroine is a con artist she, her brother and a couple of other grifters were playing out a con on a “mark.” It didn’t go according to plan and she runs off and manages to escape by mixing in with a suffragists march in Washington. Along with the other women gets arrested and sent to jail and then a workhouse. She befriends a group of women and that introduces her to their relatives, Gideon Bates (a lawyer) and David Vanderslice. The “mark,” Oscar Thornton, however, is a con artist too, and is out for revenge and threatens her with plans of his own. While all this is going on there’s a slow very proper romantic entanglement building with the show more outcome never in doubt. show less

Privilege. Elizabeth Miles knows privilege when she sees it. Privilege means money, and those with money are the individuals that Elizabeth and the team she works with will con. They are grifters.

Elizabeth is on the run to save her life. A con went hot as Oscar Thornton realizes he has been swindled. Thornton’s hired thugs are mere steps behind Elizabeth but up ahead in front of the White House are a group of women by the gate. Joining them could save her life. With that split-second decision, everything Elizabeth knows about privilege will change.

As I read "City of Lies," the women in the novel became scenes remembered playing as video in my mind from the TV movie, "Iron-Jawed Angels" ©2004. The film is "based on the lives of Alice show more Paul and Lucy Burns, two young radical women who were instrumental in getting women the right to vote in America."

This novel is all the more meaningful as it is part of American history and the history of women’s right to vote. I encourage all readers to read the Author’s Note to the background of history in this compelling story.

An unexpected gift from a bookish friend is always a treasure but all the more delightful when the book was written by a favorite author and is a title you’ve not yet read.

Discussion Questions are available at the end of the novel. show less

(Originally reviewed at thelibraryladies.com.)

Victoria Thompson is a very prolific mystery author, with another long-running steampunk series, that somehow I’ve completely missed! But, as nice as it is to discover a new author with a long-running series, it’s also a bit intimidating to look at as a whole. With that in mind, I was thrilled to learn that she was starting a new series just this fall. Problem solved: get in at the beginning of this series and have another series to happily follow for years to come! Or at least that was the plan. Unfortunately, you also have to enjoy the first book for this long-game plan to really work. And while there are pieces that I enjoyed here and there, “City of Lies” just didn’t do it for show more me.

The story starts off well enough with readers meeting Elizabeth Miles in the midst of a complicated con. These first few chapters started off so promising. This entire con, and the role that Elizabeth plays within it, is smart, snappy, and intriguing. She is presented as an independent and wily woman making her way through the world in maybe not the most ethical manner, but one that is definitely interesting to read about. And then the con goes wrong and she finds herself on the run, and suddenly caught up with a group of women protestors. And right away, the book went off the tracks for me.

While those first few chapters were short, they did a lot to convince me that Elizabeth was a heroine who was canny and had managed to make a life for herself in a way that is only accessible to the brave and street smart. But once she’s on the run, I immediately began questioning all of her decisions. Was getting arrested (and then shipped far, far away to another prison), really the best way to avoid goons chasing her down the street? I mean, I’ve seen “The Bourne Identity” probably more times than I should admit, so I’m all for the “get lost in the protestors” method of evasion. But notably, “go to prison and then buy into a hunger strike” is never a part of his plans. And if Bourne’s not doing it, neither should you!

Part of the problem was that I never became very interested in the women that Elizabeth meets here. I had to repeatedly page back to remind myself what was distinctive about each of them. And while, obviously, their protest movement is historically important, it just read as…blah. Which almost seems like a feat in and of itself.

leslie-knope-warrior
What I’m saying is Leslie Knope did it better. (source)
I was also not digging the romance. This book seems to walk the line between many different genres (historical, mystery, romance), but isn’t fully committing to the common expectations of any of them. The romance was too chaste. The history was too plan. The con/mystery element fell to the way side (also the original book description on Goodreads is completely misleading , referencing Elizabeth chasing down a killer in D.C., which isn’t right at all).

While Thompson’s writing seems solid, this book simply didn’t seem to have much new to say or offer for any of the genres that it covers. And Elizabeth, who started strong, quickly fell into a character rife with confusion and unclear motivations. As I haven’t read Thompson’s other series, I can’t say if some of these complaints may just be that her writing style and storytelling choices just aren’t for me or whether this is an outlier from her previous books. Maybe some time I’ll pick up one of those and see, but this book lands solidly in the middle of the road for me. I didn’t hate it, but I also won’t remember it. For fans of Thompson, however, and perhaps those who like more chaste historical romances, this might be worth checking out? show less

I'd rate this somewhere between 3.5-4 stars.

I was expecting more of a historical mystery but got more of a historical fiction/romance with a little bit of action. The beginning was definitely heavy on the historical info which wasn't bad but I was not expecting the historical info dump. Although, I did find it enlightening once I changed my expectations as I am shamefully lacking in knowledge of the suffragist movement. After I changed my expectations of the book, I really enjoyed the fast paced, clever story line. The ending was really good and had a bit of a shocker that surprised me. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series although I do think the genre should be changed from mystery to historical fiction. It had show more more of of a "cozy" historical fiction feel than anything else (if that makes sense).

I'm curious to see if the next book revolves around a mystery/crime. show less

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like a different series by Victoria Thompson but I am so glad I read this. It is wonderful. I love reading about cons. I loved the movie The Sting. I loved Elizabeth Miles and Anna. The con and reading about the Suffragettes wa fantastic. This had many twists and turns and I didn’t want to put it down. I received a copy of this book from Firsttoread for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.