I am loving this author and this narrator (Edoardo Ballerini). This is the second book in the series and both have had me hooked. Although this one didn't quite have the pace of the first one, it was nevertheless a fantastic read (or should I say 'listen'?).

This had very good writing, an exciting and interesting plot, and intriguing characters. Why only 3 stars? Because it had quite a few "f" words and two instances of crudity. Once, the main character goes into a whorehouse and it starts out kind of funny but then sinks. The author wanted to put anything lewd he had ever heard in one section. The second time, our dashing hero is pretty much drugged and raped. He didn't seem to mind one bit. Though drugged, he sure was able to describe details. Even skimming to get past the part burnt my eyes.

Fantastic period gothic.

This series keeps getting better for me. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. I think this one was significantly better than "Speaks" and I enjoyed that one too. I like the idea of the Herrald Agency and Matthew coining the word "detective." Just a really fun, intelligent read.

The only reason I don't rate this 5 stars is because I listened to the book on audible in parts while I commuted to work and it was a little hard to keep track of the characters. I love this character (Matthew Corbet)!

That was a pretty wild ride! There are so many moving pieces in this book that it's hard to keep track of everything. But Matthew Corbett, a very intelligent (dare we say cerebral) bloodhound does a great job connecting all those pieces, even if he berates himself from time to time for missing something that suddenly seems obvious. Note, I didn't think it was obvious. A little time has passed since the events in the first book, although we're still in 1702. In fact, I think the rest of the books take place in 1702 as well. Matthew is in the growing city of New York and is working as a law clerk for Magistrate Powers. He's at a crossroads because to become a lawyer, he would have to return to England to attend an expensive law school. Since he barely has two coins to rub together, this is not very practical. As he tries to figure out his next steps, he is inadvertently drawn into the mysterious murder of a prominent doctor. Matthew, as you may recall from the first book, has a very strong sense of justice and regardless of whatever else anyone says, he can't let it go. At the same time, he's trying to figure out how to bring the head of his orphanage to justice to both avenge the abused boys and to prevent further abuse. He also crosses paths with the Herrald Agency, a London-based investigative agency that is trying to set up an office in NY because they feel NY will be the future, even if it is just a nowhere town right now. As an aside, Matthew "coins" the term "detective" in this book, which I thought was funny. Oh, did I mention that Matthew helps the town publisher print their newsletter and eventually is asked to squire around his granddaughter Berry, who has been called a "bad luck charm" by many, including herself. Anything else? Well, at this point, I'd rather not spoil the book for anyone because I think it's a great series (yes, I know I've only read 2 of them so far) and it is worth working your way through the series without any surprises or thrills being ruined by knowing too much. I think I liked Nightbird a little bit more, partly because it felt like there was some "bloat" in this book that could have benefited from extra editing. But I still enjoyed it very much and once again, Edoardo Ballerini did a fantastic job with the narration. This is such a good series I can see myself revisiting the series in the future! It's a good thing I'm planning on buying the series so that I can reread/listen as much as I want!

Can't get enough of this character and the situations in which he finds himself involved!