Josephine Montfort is from one of New York's oldest, most respected, and wealthiest families. Like most well-off girls of the Gilded Age, her future looks set - after a finishing school education, she will be favourably married off to a handsome gentleman, after which she'll want for nothing. But Jo has other dreams and desires that make her long for a very different kind of future. She wants a more meaningful and exciting life: she wants to be an investigative journalist like her heroine Nellie Bly.
But when Jo's father is found dead in his study after an alleged accident, her life becomes far more exciting than even Jo would wish. Unable to accept that her father could have been so careless, she begins to investigate his death with the help of a young reporter, Eddie Gallagher. It quickly becomes clear he was murdered, and in their race against time to discover the culprit and his motive, Jo and Eddie find themselves not only battling dark characters on the violent and gritty streets of New York, but also their growing feelings for each other. (2016)
Initially, when I started reading, I found this book a little too easy to put down. The story didn’t grip me and I couldn’t connect with Jo at all. In fact, for at least the first third of the story, I was fairly indifferent to her plight and confess to finding her irritating at times. The narrative Tells as opposed to Shows what’s happening, and I found that irksome. Having chosen to read the novel for research purposes, I persevered, although I’d go without reading it for longer periods than I care to admit. However, the story picked up around twenty chapters in, and I’m glad I pushed through. The whole experience became far more enjoyable as the plot progressed. Granted, I was able to predict whodunit almost straight away, but I’ve learned that sometimes mystery and suspense can be entertaining enough to drive the plot. And I wasn’t disappointed, but that’s mostly down to Eddie Gallagher.
Thank goodness for Eddie Gallagher!
His characterisation was so on point, his emotions convincing, he was what kept me reading. Not the mystery, not poor little rich girl Jo, him. Around midway, I was full-on crushing on him, so that’s always good. The secondary characters, Fay and Oscar, were entertaining and compelling, and their respective experience added interesting aspects to an otherwise straightforward murder-mystery. Jo grew less annoying as her confidence, strength, and determination mounted, and by the end, I was genuinely rooting for her. The ending totally gave me The Feels and elevated what started out as a 2-star story to a wholesome 3.5.
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