(Apologies for the delay!)

I think I’ve said this before, but Katharine Schellman is an absolute delight on social media. She is so kind and generous with her fans. There is, of course, a certain amount of patience and politeness expected from authors when they interact with fans on social media, but that’s not what I mean. I mean she is genuine and kind and friendly and generous with her time. I have had a couple “conversations” with her on twitter, which mostly consisted of me raving about how much I loved her three Lily Adler books (reviews of which can be found here), and her telling me how much she appreciated the support.

Well, during one of these conversations she asked me if I would be interested in an ARC of her next new release book, Last Call at the Nightingale, which is not part of her Lily Adler series but the start of a new mystery series set in the 1920s. Reader, I’m sure you can imagine what my response was!

Of course I jumped at the chance! Mostly because I love absolutely everything she has written so far, and also because I am actually obsessed with the 1920s and love historical fiction set in the 20s. She asked for my mailing address, and I gave it to her, and then a couple weeks ago the ARC arrived in the mail. She even sent a nice little note with it, which I will treasure.

It took some effort to get the quiet time and space needed to sit down and read it. I knew I was going to need a whole free evening because, based on previous experience, a Katharine Schellman novel is a read-in-one-sitting novel. I did that with both books 2 and 3 of the Lily Adler series, and it is clearly going to be the standard for these. Finally, I did find the time, and true to my prediction, I read the entire book in one sitting.

So, here’s my review, lol!

Title: Last Call at the Nightingale
Author: Katharine Schellman
Release Date: 7 June 2022
How I Got It: gift from the author
Rating: 5 out of 5!

Last Call at the Nightingale is a new mystery set in New York in 1924, and follows the misadventures of Vivian Kelly as she stumbles into a murder mystery, gets in over her head, and flirts her way both in and out of trouble. Vivian Kelly and her older, prim-and-proper sister Florence, are both Irish-descent and orphans, and therefore poor, disdained, and in desperate need of any respectability they can muster. But Florence has enough respectability for the both of them, and Vivian much prefers to be the wild child quietly working as a seamstress during the day, while spending her nights dancing with abandon at the Nightingale, the speakeasy that feels more like her home than any other place she has ever been. During one of her many late nights at the Nightingale, Vivian and her best friend Bea, a waitress at the speakeasy, accidentally stumble across a dead body. And not just any dead body – judging from his expensive clothes and the secrecy around his death, this dead body was someone important.

At first, Vivian intends to stay well clear of the trouble. Then, she gets caught up in a raid at the speakeasy. Poor and unwilling to call her sister for help, she is bailed out by the owner of the Nightingale herself: the dangerously alluring Honor Huxley. Honor has a deal for Vivian: in exchange for the bail money, Honor would like Vivian to snoop for her, get in close with anyone who might know about the dead man, and find out who killed him. This will be especially easy for Vivian, Honor claims, because Vivian likes to make friends and knows everyone who frequents the speakeasy, and because Vivian was just that night dancing with one of the men Honor suspects was involved – the charming Leo Green, newly arrived from Chicago.

And so Vivian finds herself questioning maids, sneaking into the offices of wealthy women, being attacked and threatened by brutes, and flirting with the increasingly attractive Leo, all in the name of finding a killer and paying off a debt.

This book was SO MUCH FUN. The 20s New York setting is well executed and believable, details and ambience applied with a deft touch. The smoky speakeasy, the crooked cops, the realities of living as a poor woman in the middle of the glitz and glamor of the Jazz Age. The characters themselves were absolutely the highlight. I adored Vivian – the absolute definition of disaster bi who is constantly being pulled in different directions by her attractions to both Honor and Leo (you and me both, girl!), and her smart mouth that got her in and out of trouble on quite a few occasions. Vivian’s best friend, Bea, was also a highlight – a well-educated black woman working at a speakeasy to support her mother and keep her siblings in school. There was also Danny Chen, a Chinese immigrant who works as Honor’s bartender and second-in-command at the speakeasy.

And then, of course, there were Honor and Leo, the two equally attractive people pulling Vivian in different directions. Honor is dangerous and intelligent and more than a little manipulative and absolutely SEXY. Leo is gentle and charming and honorable, with an aura of safety about it. Like Vivian, I was pretty in love with them both by the end.

I was kind of in love with all of the characters actually. I was live-tweeting a bit while I read the book, and I think some of these tweets are pretty indicative:

On top of all that was the mystery itself. And BOY was it twisty! I thought I had it figured out about halfway through, but I realized I was wrong at about the ¾ mark. Then at about the 80% mark the CHARACTERS think they have it solved, but I KNEW they were wrong – both because it didn’t feel right, and because there were (of course) like 30 or 40 pages left… (lol). When the final pieces came together and Vivian had it all figured out I was shocked. Did not see it coming at all.

Here, my tweets are pretty good gauge there as well:

This novel was HIGHLY enjoyable. I really loved all the principal characters. And I really hope the book does well enough to guarantee a second installment (and hopefully many more of that *fingers crossed*). The book releases on June 7th. The supply chain being what it is, I highly recommend pre-ordering, but alas, I know that is not always possible. In any case, if you enjoy a good twisty mystery novel and historical fiction set in the Jazz Age, you should definitely pick this one up!