Murder in Manhattan by Verity Bright
Glitzy parties, sightseeing at the Statue of Liberty and strolls through Central Park with Gladstone the bulldog… Lady Eleanor Swift is loving her first trip to the city that never sleeps, until she witnesses a murder!
After crossing from England on the SS Celestiana, Lady Eleanor Swift sets up her home-away-from-home in a lavish apartment in New York City. She is soon the toast of the town, with no high-class soirée complete without her presence. Of course, she drags her butler Clifford and Gladstone the bulldog along to every party too.
But when she witnesses the charming doorman of her building, Marty, knocked down and killed in a hit-and-run, she finds fashionable society suddenly closes rank. The only local detective interested in helping her find the culprit is street-smart beat cop, Officer Balowski.
Resolved to get justice for Marty and his family, Eleanor searches Marty’s tiny apartment and is shocked to find five rolls of banknotes tucked under the floorboards. Money talks, but Marty was struggling to make ends meet, so where did the cash come from?
The next day, wealthy entrepreneur and flashy philanderer Ogden P. Dellaney – a man Marty used to work for – is found dead downtown, miles away from his swanky Upper East Side mansion. Eleanor and Balowski are sure the deaths are connected, but not even Dellaney’s wife is willing to answer their questions.
Then Eleanor is served with an eviction notice and Balowski is fired from the NYPD. It becomes clear that something is rotten in the Big Apple and Eleanor is determined to get to the core of the mystery before the murderer strikes again…
Murder in Manhattan is a fun, fast-paced and twisty Golden Age cozy mystery set in New York. Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss will be glued to the pages.
About the authors
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
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Review
‘Murder in Manhattan’ is everything I love about this type of crime mystery - full of fun, dashings of intrigue, great characters and all set in interwar New York! What is there not to love?! This is book 14 in the series but it can easily be read as a standalone book. I just adore this series though so thoroughly recommend reading them from the beginning!
Lady Eleanor Swift is loving her time in New York due to the glitzy world of parties, sightseeing and strolls through Central Park. That is until she witnesses a murder! Her charming doorman Marty is knocked down right before her eyes in a hit-and-run and when she begins to ask questions New York’s society starts to close ranks. The only local cop willing to help out is Officer Balowski and he isn't too much help either. When Eleanor and her trusty Butler Clifford search Marty’s bedroom they find banknotes hidden in his floor. But Marty was broke so how does he have these? Will Eleanoris able to work out who the murderer is…
Oh, what an outing this is! Eleanor is the happiest and most settled she has been in the whole series and is freshly engaged to Hugh! Eleanor is spending time in New York and has brought Clifford and the girls as well as trusty Gladstone. It was great to see how a tried and tested formula still works in a new setting, indeed it brought excitement and a bit of novelty to the table. But then I love books that are set in this period of New York as so much of the city is gritty in cooperation with the echelons of upper society!
The plotline was packed full of action and intrigue and I was hooked from start to finish! But then this series is one that I am always desperate to get my hands on as it's one of my all-time favourites. So it got devoured in one day when I was in bed with my fibro. This book had an air of added danger to it which I think was a reflection of the gritty side of New York and I liked that! You didn't know who to trust and being new to the city neither did Eleanor.
Roll on book 15!
