Introducing Pentecost and Parker, two unconventional female detectives who couldn’t care less about playing by the rules, in their cases and in their lives.
Well, here we are in 2022 and this book starts off in 1942 New York. Willowjean, aka Will, Parker is a young woman who works in the circus as a Jill-of-all trades. When the book opens, she’s picking up extra work doing guard duty at a construction site. As fortune has it, she saves the life of an older woman who turns out to be a private investigator. Due to the fact Will used her knife throwing skills in the saving, she is the one arrested. In due time, however, things are sorted out and Will finds herself hired as an assistant to Lillian Pentecost, the investigator.
Lillian needs someone to help her maintain her business; due to her advancing multiple sclerosis, she has difficulty getting around like she used to. To this end, she will pay Will a salary, provide room and board, along with all the training Will needs to become an investigator. It’s a win-win situation, and they form a good alliance.
The story is told from Will’s point of view, and things jump ahead three years to what Will describes as one of their more interesting cases. Abigail Collins, a wealthy widow, is found dead in her home after a Halloween party – her skull bashed in with a crystal ball. The family hires Lillian and Will to find out what really happened. There’s a lot of suspects in the mix – a spiritualist hired for the party, ex-business partners, and children of the deceased. Add in hints of ghostly interaction with the dead, and it’s more than the detectives were expecting.
Will is not your average young woman of the times – she favors menswear, doesn’t back down from adventure, and takes more chances than Lillian appreciates. And as the case progresses, she is attracted to Becca, Abigail’s wild child daughter. There’s not a lot of “romance” in this story, but it gives you the sense of how life was at the time for anyone attracted to the same sex.
I can’t say enough good things about this book! The characters are well written, the pace moves along briskly, and the mystery keeps you guessing. It’s the kind of book that you dive into and don’t emerge from until you’re done and wanting to read more. Happily there is a book two, and I’m just waiting for a copy at the library to become available.
