Murder in the Park is the opening book in a new historical mystery series set in 1920s Illinois by prolific author Jeanne M. Dams. Released on the 1st Feb 2022 by Severn House, it's 208 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback released in late Sept 2022. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a beautifully well written and engaging mystery with an appealingly intelligent, if somewhat spoiled, American heiress protagonist. The mystery is wrapped around a framework of actual historical events from the time period, and it's done so well that it's not always clear where real history shades into fiction. The plot is paced satisfyingly and I never felt rushed (or dragged) whilst reading. The mystery itself is well constructed and the dialogue is not clunky or awkward - for the most part (see below).
I do know it's absolutely true to the time period (and it's not used egregiously at all), but the 5 appearances of the "N-word" spelled out in the text bothered me a lot. Readers who are sensitive should be aware of the inclusion. It's a cozy mystery, so the language is PG (with the exception noted above) and the violence occurs mostly off page.
The author is quite adept at her craft and it's clear that she's expended a lot of time and effort on research. I didn't look up -every- setting or mention of historical persons and news items, but the ones that I did were accurate enough.
Four stars. Engaging and very well written.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment