A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau (2025)
While I found the mystery part of this book only moderately interesting, its evocation of 1912 New York City and Yonkers provides a skillful snapshot of that long ago era........ both its antique charms and the challenging lives led by its second class citizens.....and by that I mean women.
Two such women are Margot Baxter Harriman and Loretta 'Rett' Mancini, each fiercely independent take-charge people in a world where they're patronized and underestimated by the traditional ruling Patriarchy. Margot, the owner-CEO of her late father's company, has discovered a secret illegal conspiracy within her business. To ferret out the perpetrators, she hires Rett, a ready-for-anything girl who's more or less taken over her father's Private Investigation agency. .
In addition to the society norms these unique women are already breaking, each of them separately engaging in queer romances has violated their era's most forbidden of taboos. Together, they make a formidable team of detectives, up against villains who aren't afraid to resort to murder to achieve their ends. But then Rett isn't afraid to bring along her brass knuckles and even a lock-picking expert when required.
As much as I enjoyed the vivid characterization of the two leads and the telling portrait of their life and times, the plot itself doesn't contain much forward momentum and never picks up any real urgency. If Margot and Rett's adventures are to continue on in additional books, the series could use some immediate infusions of excitement and humor. Otherwise, if things don't liven up a little more for this dynamic duo, I'm not sure I'd check in on them again. A 2 & 1/2 star read which, for those cozy 1912 depictions, I'll round up to a 3. (***).
Two such women are Margot Baxter Harriman and Loretta 'Rett' Mancini, each fiercely independent take-charge people in a world where they're patronized and underestimated by the traditional ruling Patriarchy. Margot, the owner-CEO of her late father's company, has discovered a secret illegal conspiracy within her business. To ferret out the perpetrators, she hires Rett, a ready-for-anything girl who's more or less taken over her father's Private Investigation agency. .
In addition to the society norms these unique women are already breaking, each of them separately engaging in queer romances has violated their era's most forbidden of taboos. Together, they make a formidable team of detectives, up against villains who aren't afraid to resort to murder to achieve their ends. But then Rett isn't afraid to bring along her brass knuckles and even a lock-picking expert when required.
As much as I enjoyed the vivid characterization of the two leads and the telling portrait of their life and times, the plot itself doesn't contain much forward momentum and never picks up any real urgency. If Margot and Rett's adventures are to continue on in additional books, the series could use some immediate infusions of excitement and humor. Otherwise, if things don't liven up a little more for this dynamic duo, I'm not sure I'd check in on them again. A 2 & 1/2 star read which, for those cozy 1912 depictions, I'll round up to a 3. (***).
No comments:
Post a Comment