I wanted to like this. I love historical fiction mysteries. I just found too much that is just not to my tastes. I’m going to post spoilers to the mysteries of this book in case anyone as annoyed as I was wants to know who did what.

First some grievances…


I don’t don’t like it when the strong female character is an absolute reckless idiot. In the beginning she meets Daniel because some of his guys were gossiping about the hottest news story going on at the time. She goes to a shitty alley in some slum of NYC at the time BY HERSELF and UNARMED on some gossip. Sure.

Another review suggested that maybe Daniel’s weird combination of a character is a compromise instead of a love triangle (the classic lower class guy and upper class guy thing.) it does seem super slap-dash with Daniel. Because spoiler he’s not even related to his benefactor his older sister mysteriously got a job with the old man out of nowhere then had an affair with him. It’s not that he’s low class and high class - one of my favorite heroes in another series was a sort of low high class hybrid (but he was an illegitimate child which makes more sense)

The author is really good at writing visually - I felt like I could see the garments described, but most things related to people seemed stunted somehow.

Like the stereotypical quirky family felt like it belongs in a YA historical fiction mystery - maybe it’d be better were it adapted as such.

I’m sure there are better critiques elsewhere. I do want to mention the romance seemed very tell-not-show. They mentioned so many times their feelings in thoughts and didn’t really show it as much.

Spoilers:

Guy who attacked her in the records room: Clive

Men who were following her in town: men sent by Daniel to watch over and inadvertently terrorize her (and Daniel didn’t think to tell her of this)

Robin Hood: Rupert - the jerkbag Englishman who is a kleptomaniac

Those are the harder to find spoilers as far as review skimming goes. Obviously there’s Mead and that whole big scam to make money from shitty tenement housing - all on that board besides the old dude Genevieve knew were in on it hence his murder. Pretty sure Mead killed Esme’s mother. It might have stated it outright I kind of got annoyed with this and just listened for the big answers.

I thought I might like this due to my interest in The Gilded Age and Historical Mysteries but there’s just a lot that doesn’t work for me. Not bad writing, perhaps bad characterization and plotting though. Oh well.

3.5/5- moved a little slow for me but I'm willing to try the second book

This book was okayish. It was very readable and the characters were interesting BUT the mystery isn’t that great. Some of the motivations behind certain characters’ actions didn’t really make sense to me. And I hated the ending. Why did Daniel just disappear for a year at the end? Why bother with the cliffhanger with Rupert and Esmie?

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I committed to it I tore through it. Strong and well developed characters that made you root for them, and recognize flaws. It kept me on the edge of my seat with twists that made sense, but were not predictable. An excellent read - looking forward to the next installment.

The same setting as Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries with the upper-crust vibe of Rhys Bowen or Tasha Alexander, this cozy mystery was delightful. Genevieve is an ambitious journalist from an eccentric old-money family tracking the mysterious thief Robin Hood when she stumbles into a dead body and the handsome, wealthy heir Daniel, who she immediately suspects of knowing more than he's saying. Eventually, they partner up for a bigger investigation as the Hood ups the stakes from robbery to murder. Genevieve is a great investigator, and I appreciated the romance burned slowly since neither she nor Daniel are in the right space for it. The supporting cast is also well-developed, providing appropriate entertainment and tension as needed, particularly charming aristocrat Rupert and secretly cunning ex-wallflower Esmie. The ending seemed to set up for a series, which I hope is the case since I thoroughly enjoyed this story and am excited to reconnect with the characters.

I loved this. If you liked the Alienist, but not all the gore...this one is for you. Set in Victorian England, Genevieve is high society but really wants to be a journalist. When she stumbles across the Robin Hood mystery, she encounters Daniel, another high society misfit. They form an unlikely team to solve the robberies that have turned into murders. AND there's chemistry. The book ends with a fabulous cliff hanger. So good.

This is the first in a series about a female journalist in late 1880s NYC. Genevieve is the youngest of an old money eccentric family who wants to prove herself in the newspaper business by tracking down a modern-day Robin Hood who may be connected to some murders and a corrupt group of elites.

This was OK but a little slow in places. It ended on a cliffhanger, and although I’ve read better, I’d be willing to try another.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #CrookedLane for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.