MURDER IN MANHATTAN

SYNOPSIS

Glitzy parties, sightseeing at the Statue of Liberty and strolls through Central Park with Gladstone the bulldog… Lady Eleanor Swift is loving her first trip to the city that never sleeps, until she witnesses a murder!

After crossing from England on the SS Celestiana, Lady Eleanor Swift sets up her home-away-from-home in a lavish apartment in New York City. She is soon the toast of the town, with no high-class soirée complete without her presence. Of course, she drags her butler Clifford and Gladstone the bulldog along to every party too.

But when she witnesses the charming doorman of her building, Marty, knocked down and killed in a hit-and-run, she finds fashionable society suddenly closes rank. The only local detective interested in helping her find the culprit is street-smart beat cop, Officer Balowski.

Resolved to get justice for Marty and his family, Eleanor searches Marty’s tiny apartment and is shocked to find five rolls of banknotes tucked under the floorboards. Money talks, but Marty was struggling to make ends meet, so where did the cash come from?

The next day, wealthy entrepreneur and flashy philanderer Ogden P. Dellaney – a man Marty used to work for – is found dead downtown, miles away from his swanky Upper East Side mansion. Eleanor and Balowski are sure the deaths are connected, but not even Dellaney’s wife is willing to answer their questions.

Then Eleanor is served with an eviction notice and Balowski is fired from the NYPD. It becomes clear that something is rotten in the Big Apple and Eleanor is determined to get to the core of the mystery before the murderer strikes again.

Title: Murder in Manhattan

Author: Verity Bright

Series: Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #14

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication date: June 29, 2023

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

Social Media Link

https://twitter.com/BrightVerity

Buy Link

https://geni.us/B0BXLMZ5JVsocial

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last time we saw Lady Swift she was on her way to New York and recently engaged. Now, although with no beau as he had to go back to England, she’s finally in the Big Apple hoping for a nice vacation along her trusted butler Clifford, the ladies of Henley Hall and her beloved bulldog Gladstone. But, as usual, murder and mayhem follow her wherever she goes. The setting might be different but the essence of the series is still intact.

Since her arrival in New York, Lady Swift has become the talk of the town, being invited to all the high-class soirées. When the doorman of her building is killed in a hit-and-run, she’ll take upon herself to find out if it was just an accident as the police think, or if it was deliberate, what will make her come in touch with the seedier side of NYC.

It was so much fun seeing Ellie and Clifford out of their element. Great way to keep things fresh in the series! It was so nice to be able to walk the streets of New York in the 20s, from the high society parties to the seedy speakeasies where crime bosses were making buckets of money thanks to prohibition. It was really interesting to see the contrast between the English and the American way of life, and how they felt like fish out of water some times.

So far from home, they didn’t have their usual collaborators, but the new characters were a great addition. Iver Driver, Officer Balowski…his feud with Clifford was really fun to read about.

I love Ellie’s strong sense of justice and how she cares for everyone, no matter their social status. She’ll always go out of her way to find out the truth even though that means endangering herself.

The mystery itself was also a nice one as it introduced some interesting characters and a plot that dealt with what first comes to mind when one thinks about the USA in the 1920s. Plenty of red herrings made me doubt everyone as the story moved forward towards a really satisfying ending that could only take place in Lady Liberty herself.

“Murder in Manhattan” may be installment number 14 in the series, but it’s still as fresh as the first one, as the series knows how to reinvent itself from time to time to keep Ellie and Clifford’s fans engaged.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.