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 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. ( )

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 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. ( )

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 outcome never in doubt. ( )

A solid piece of popular historical fiction with an engaging heroine, an interesting plot, and some nice details about the suffrage movement and about grifting. Recommended. ( )

"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 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. ( )