July 15, 2021
Belli follows up Deception by Gaslight (2020), her exciting Gilded Gotham debut, with another perilous adventure. Reporter Genevieve Stewart first met wealthy Daniel McCaffery while investigating the jewel thief known as Robin Hood. All that safely behind them, they're at the docks seeing off his friend Rupert, a titled Englishman, and his bride, Esmie, on a honeymoon trip when one of Esmie's former suitors appears, acting crazed, and drops dead in the newlyweds' cabin. Forced to stay in New York, Rupert is targeted by the police, but Daniel, who grew up with the gangs of the notorious Five Points before he came into money, finds a sinister and dangerous connection with a Lower East Side bar and possibly one of his own enemies. Genevieve, who loves Daniel even though she turned down his proposal, is determined to stay by his side as he investigates another case of a wealthy young man jumping to his death--an incident eerily similar to the death on the ship. After a sugar baron begs Daniel to find his missing daughter, who seems to have run off with an unsuitable man, the couple realize that many of these society youths have made trips to a deserted mansion rumored to be haunted by demons. When Daniel and Genevieve venture into the place, they find a cache of weapons. Lucky to escape with their lives, they vow to continue their hunt. Strong characters bolster an excellent mystery brimming with danger, romance, and historical tidbits.
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August 9, 2021
Belli’s middling sequel to 2020’s Deception by Gaslight begins in June 1889, when society-page reporter Genevieve Stewart and her sometime investigative partner, Daniel McCaffrey, go to see Rupert Milton, Lord Umberland, and his bride, Esmie, off on their honeymoon voyage. Aboard the ship, Marcus Dalrymple, a former suitor of Esmie’s, bursts into the couple’s stateroom, babbles about danger and demons, and dies. Inside Marcus’s pocket is a souvenir medallion from a Bowery dive known as Boyle’s Suicide Tavern, legendary for the deaths said to occur on the upper floors. Genevieve and Daniel discover no clues when they visit Boyle’s the next day, but while they’re dining at a rooftop restaurant that night another young man begins rambling incoherently about a demon before jumping from the parapet. Soon afterward, the police discover that Marcus was poisoned and arrest Rupert for the crime. Belli evocatively portrays Gilded Age New York, but the diffuse plot is too reliant on coincidence to generate much suspense. Historical mystery fans can safely take a pass. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller, Browne and Miller Literary Assoc. (Oct.).
Starred review from October 1, 2021
Belli's sequel to Deception by Gaslight picks up after the 1889 wedding of New York City elites Esmie Bradley and Rupert Milton. Their friends, journalist Genevieve Stewart and millionaire Daniel McCaffrey, meet at the seaport to see the newlyweds off on their honeymoon cruise. Esmie's scream sends Genevieve and Daniel running onboard where they the corpse of a man who was one of Esmie's previous suitors. Rupert claims that the man had invaded the couple's honeymoon suite where he was yelling about demons, then vomited and died. While the police investigate Rupert for the man's death, Daniel and Genevieve take a clue, a medallion they found in the dead man's pocket, and go to the Bowery. The medallion came from the neighborhood's notorious Boyle's Suicide Tavern, indicating that someone spent the night there and lived to tell about it. The investigation hasn't gone far when Daniel and Genevieve's dinner at a rooftop restaurant is interrupted by another young man who yells that a demon is coming, then jumps to his death. Soon this case and another (the disappearance of a young society woman) converge at a mysterious mansion, where Genevieve will have to save Daniel from an unscrupulous woman and dangerous men. VERDICT An action-packed historical mystery with a strong female protagonist and hints of future romance.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
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