Death on Beacon Hill

Almost as good as the first!! I loved finding out about Virginia Kimball and her world - I almost wish I knew her before she died, myself! The conflict was well situated, so that it kept you guessing right till the very end, and the climax extremely well done. As always, Will captured my heart and squeezed it a few times for good measure, and his and Nell's interactions were both sweet and gratifying. I enjoyed the secondary characters, especially Isaac Foster and Orville Pratt! Nell really came into her own in this book, I felt, and realized that she really does enjoy solving mysteries, rather than in the previous two where she felt slightly forced by her employer to do so. A satisfying addition to the series =D.

These mysteries are so much fun. Rarely predictable. And even when one guesses it just about right, the hows and whys of it all turn out to complex they mystery so much, one wonders how Ms. Ryan imagines it all. And yet, for all the complexity, they never seem overly contrived, or confusing. It's like a great ball of string that eventually gets unwound. For all the fun of watching a mystery get solved, of a murder and its evidence and its suspects being examined, I think what truly has me hooked is watching this relationship slowly develop. As it does, Nell's life grows increasingly complex. Ms. Ryan has written their story with such subtlety and care that it reminds one of more serious literary fiction. It's the best of both worlds, show more really, a slow, character driven saga, broken up into shorter, action packed, digestible chapters. I'm really relishing in them. I'll be very sad when I've finished the last one. show less

Engaging enough, if only little Gracie never got to speak. The W for R lisp in writing almost made me put it down. And yet poor Gracie gets about five lines in the whole novel! It's not like the British-accented Will or the Irish accented Detective Cook needed their speech phonetically rendered. Take a note, [author:P.B.Ryan].

Another great read by this author. I'm really enjoying this series. In this one Nell does a favor for her friend Brady (the Hewitts' driver), whose murdered niece is posthumously accused of theft and murder of her mistress, actress Virginia Kimball.

Things I especially liked in this book: that Will is settling down, purchased a home, trying to stop smoking, and has obtained a paying job (albeit supposedly temporary) as well as getting to know his illegitimate little girl Gracie. I wonder what brought about all these changes? ;D

Cozy mystery set in 1869 Boston where there's the rich and the Irish. Third book in this very satisfying series.