March 1, 2022
In their second outing (following Fortune Favors the Dead), private eye Lillian Pentecost and assistant sleuth Willowjean Parker head south to investigate the stabbing death of someone from Will's circus days, hopeful that they'll clear her old knife-throwing mentor's name in the process. As Watsonian chronicler to the brilliant Pentecost, Parker is the point-of-view character, and while she sees a lot, the well-plotted solution should satisfy genre fans with surprise payoffs to subtle setups. Narrator Kirsten Potter supplies the perfect voice as wryly assertive Will, for an overall engaging listen offset by one or two clownish accents nevertheless suited to the postwar showbiz setting. Her Pentecost, too, fits the character's cerebral composure while keeping her down to earth. A spectacular series encore and affectionate, yet unromanticized, tribute to the traveling Big Top, this soft-boiled historical mystery features female investigators who provide positive representation for folks with disabilities (Pentecost has both a prosthetic eye and MS) and bisexual women (via Parker's frank, frequently amusing inner thoughts about her love life). VERDICT A recommended purchase, especially for libraries where the first book circulated well.--Lauren Kage
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 20, 2021
Set in the summer of 1946, Spotswood’s twisty follow-up to 2020’s Fortune Favors the Dead sends New York PIs Lillian Pentecost and Lillian’s assistant, Willowjean Parker, to a traveling circus performing in rural Stoppard, Va., where Ruby Donner, the tattooed lady, has been murdered. The case is a personal one for Parker, who not only worked in the same circus before landing a job with Pentecost but considers many of the performers as family. Parker credits Ruby with saving her life and vows to find her killer. As Pentecost struggles with multiple sclerosis, Parker is faced with numerous potential killers, including her old mentor, Valentin Kalishenko, a hard-drinking knife thrower, as well as with more than a few skeletons from Ruby’s shadowy past. Though the focus on period details and hard-boiled atmospherics isn’t quite as strong as in the previous book, Spotswood’s ability to subvert genre tropes with intriguing and distinctive characters (Parker is openly bisexual at a time when that was risky) make this whodunit a delightfully unusual read. Readers will look forward to Pentecost and Parker’s further adventures. Agent: Darley Anderson, Darley Anderson Literary.