"strong historical amateur sleuth"
In 1902 New York amateur sleuth Francesca Cahill gets her
father to agree to support her marrying notorious
businessman Calder Hart, who he fears will break his
daughter's heart one day but dad stipulates she wait one
year to wed him. Not long after compromising with her
caring father, Francesca receives a note from Rose who
asks her to come quickly to Daisy Hart's home. Though she is reluctant to visit Daisy, Calder's former
lover, who hates her, Francesca comes anyway. A near
hysterical Rose asks Francesca to investigate the homicide
of Daisy as she does not trust the police. Francesca
would prefer to team up with Commissioner Rick Bragg as
she has done several times recently. However, her mind is
made up for her when she sees Calder, who was supposed to
be in Boston on business, staring at the battered corpse.
The evidence points at her fiancé as the killer. Everyone
assumes he committed homicide except Francesca who refuses
to believe her beloved would kill so viciously though she
knows he is concealing something from her. The latest Cahill historical amateur sleuth tale (though
not paid can you remain classified an amateur sleuth after
eight or nine investigations?) is a terrific tale as the
audience obtains a fine murder mystery and further insight
into how Francesca's parents feel about Calder as a son-in-
law. The inquiry is interesting because everyone assumes
that Calder killed Daisy except Francesca who sets out to
prove she is right in spite of her beloved not
cooperating. Brenda Joyce freshens up her Cahill capers
with this fine who-done-it that also moves forward on the
two male fronts that had seemed stagnant in recent books. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 25, 2006
Summary"I did not kill anyone, Francesca. And the fact that you
wish to destroy evidence suggests you think me capable of
murder."
New York, 1902
Called to the home of her fiancé Calder Hart's former
mistress late one night, amateur sleuth Francesca Cahill's
curiosity is piqued. But upon arrival, she is shocked to
find Daisy Jones's bloodied body—and even more
devastated when the evidence points to one suspect: Calder.
Francesca cannot—will not—believe that Calder is
capable of such an act. Still, she is unable to shake her
instinctive sense that Calder is lying about something. The
police are far less inclined to believe his innocence, and
Calder is arrested for Daisy's murder. But Francesca's heart
is not easily swayed...until a life-altering secret is
exposed that could destroy their future together.
| 
