Review – The Last Note of Warning by Katharine Schellman
Synopsis
The Last Note of Warning is the third in the luscious, mysterious, and queer Nightingale mystery series by Katharine Schellman, set in 1920s New York.
Prohibition is a dangerous time to be a working-class woman in New York City, but Vivian Kelly has finally found some small measure of both stability and freedom. By day, she’s a respectable shop assistant, delivering luxurious dresses to the city’s wealthy and elite. At night, she joins the madcap revelry of New York’s underworld, serving illegal drinks and dancing into the morning at a secretive, back-alley speakeasy known as the Nightingale. She’s found, if not love, then something like it with her bootlegger sweetheart, Leo, even if she can’t quite forget the allure of the Nightingale’s sultry owner, Honor Huxley.
It’s not a safe life. Every day comes with the threat of poverty; every night could be a police raid that ends in disaster. But it’s a better life than Vivian once thought possible, and she’s determined to cling to it with both hands.
Then, the husband of a wealthy client is discovered dead in his study, and Vivian is the last known person to see him alive. With the police and the press both eager to name a culprit in the high-profile case, she finds herself the primary murder suspect.
She can’t flee town without endangering the people she loves, but Vivian isn’t the sort of girl to go down without a fight. She can strike a deal with the police commissioner: one more week of freedom before she’s arrested for good. She can cash in every favor she has from the criminals she calls friends to prove she has no connection to the dead man.
But she can’t prove what isn’t true.
The more Vivian digs into the dead man’s life, counting down the hours until the police come for her, the harder it is to avoid the truth: someone she knows wanted him dead. And the best way to get away with murder is to set up a girl like Vivian to take the fall.
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Review
This book is rich in description, misdirection, friendship, love, and family.
This is the third in the series, but I don’t feel like I missed out on much by not reading the first two in the series. There are minor hints of past events, but the book focuses primarily on this murder. Vivian is accused of murdering a man just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was the 1920s, and police work during that time may not have been as up to snuff as we see today. She is given one week to find an alternate suspect. She chases all of the clues with the help of one love interest, Leo, her friend, Bea, and a few others who may not have Vivian’s best interests in mind. This trio finds themselves in some sticky situations around town but also in some fascinating locations. It is important to read the author’s notes at the end. She discusses some of the events in the book and the research to accurately include those events in this book. If you didn’t think they had drag events in the 1920s, think again.
This was such a wonderful mystery! It wasn’t what I expected, but I don’t know if I had any real expectations going into this novel. I had no idea who to suspect because many people had motives to kill this man. The revelation was quite a surprise, it was no one I expected.
I like that the author did not shy away from the LGBTQ angle. While it is not overt, there is a ball that actually occurred, which was a masked drag ball. Vivian also has a love interest in Leo and her boss, Honor. I felt like these scenes were authentic to the time and the characters.
There is also Vivian’s relationship with her sister, Flo. With her sister married and expecting a baby, they aren’t in the same house anymore, but that doesn’t mean their bond isn’t any less. You can see how much they care about each other.
This book has many wonderful characters besides the few that I have mentioned. So many people came out to support Vivian in uncovering the truth in this murder investigation. Some didn’t think she would find the truth, and others treated this situation as a way for Vivian to “owe them” to be repaid at a later date. I do love how Vivian turned the tables on a few of these characters, putting herself in a better position.
This is a series definitely worth reading. If the first two books are anything like this one, that means they are well researched and fairly accurate to the times.
We give this book 5 paws up.
About the Author
Katharine Schellman is a former actor, one-time political consultant, and current writer. Her debut novel, The Body in the Garden, was a Suspense Magazine Best Book of 2020 and led to her being named one of BookPage‘s 16 Women to Watch. A graduate of the College of William & Mary, Katharine currently lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.
