Tag Archives: Jazz Age

Book Review: The Last Drop of Hemlock

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Title: The Last Drop of Hemlock
Author: Katharine Schellman
Release Date: 6 June 2023
How I Got It: Bought print copy
Rating: 4 Stars

Last year I wrote a review for Katharine Schellman’s book Last Call at the Nightingale, which is a Jazz Age-set historical murder mystery. You can find that first review here. The sequel to that book came out in June, so of course I had to get it. I’ve mentioned before (I think) that Schellman became an instant-buy author for me the minute I read her debut novel, a regency-era mystery called The Body in the Garden, which came out in 2020 and which I wrote about here. I am so happy I found this author. I have loved everything she’s published so far, and this newest book, The Last Drop of Hemlock, is no exception.

The Last Drop of Hemlock picks up a couple months after the end of Nightingale (you will need to read the first book to get some reference and know who all the main players are). Our resident disaster bi (and my personal mascot) Vivian Kelly (Viv) is getting used to her new job working at the Nightingale, the speakeasy owned by the dangerous woman she is dangerously attracted to, Honor. As she did in the first book, Viv quickly finds herself entangled in a murder: this time she has promised to help her best friend Bea find out who murdered her uncle with poisoned whiskey. This investigation leads her to asking for favors from Leo, whom she has indecisively kept at a distance since learning of his deception at the end of the first book. She also has to make deals with mobsters, gets attacked, uncovers a bizarre plot of threats and blackmail, and steals a priceless dress covered in gems.

In the midst of this, she finally convinces her straight-laced sister, Florence, to come to the Nightingale where Honor’s right-hand man, Danny, takes an immediate liking to her and the two begin a (truly sweet and adorable) flirtation. For reasons Viv can hardly explain even to herself this budding relationship makes her strangely jealous. It’s not that she has any designs on Danny for herself. It’s more that she is lonely, stuck and confused by her attractions to both Honor and Leo, and hurt by Honor’s decision to push her away despite acknowledging that the attraction is mutual. So, even though she is happy that her serious sister is having fun, becoming more joyful, she is also afraid of losing her place in Florence’s affections, and she’s jealous that she has not likewise found someone who makes her happy the way Danny seems to make Florence happy.

I would say this installment is not quite as good as the first, which I absolutely adored. But it’s still a ton of fun. The murder mystery in this book doesn’t shock me the way the first one did. The way all the pieces fall together in the end is still very satisfying, but I did actually figure it out ahead of the characters this time, which I did not quite manage in the first book.

As with the first book, the research and attention to historical detail is impeccable. As someone who is trying (and mostly failing) to write a 1920s set historical fiction novel, I know how much work that takes, and I am duly impressed. Schellman really does a great job building the setting with rich detail. This version of Jazz Age New York feels real and lived in. The Nightingale in particular comes to life with technicolor and Dolby surround sound. And even the streets and shops and Chinatown and the various incidental characters that live there all feel real and alive.

There are many things I love about the series in general. First, of course, is Viv. As a disaster bi myself, I have a lot of fellow-feeling for Viv. For her chaotic tendencies, her attractions to two very different but both wildly appealing people, her confusion, her need to get lost in the smoke and the sweat and the music at the speakeasy. This is a character I know and understand. One of the things about this installment was getting to see/learn more of the other supporting characters, especially Bea, Florence, and Danny.

I also really liked some of the small bits of social commentary threaded throughout the plot. As Danny shows Viv and Florence his home in Chinatown, they (and we as the readers) learn more about the way the Chinese immigrant community lived in the 20s, and the kinds of racism and obstacles they had to face when they arrived in New York. These books (both of them, but especially this one) also do not shy away from examining the huge gaps between the wealthy and the working class during this time period. So often, Jazz Age stories focus on the wild lives of the rich, but this book stays with the working class and the poor. The ones living in cheap, rundown tenements, who are struggling to scrape by. And in these spaces we see the ways these working class communities supported each other and helped each other in times of crisis. This is one of the biggest strengths of the book in my opinion.

Was this book on quite the same level as the previous one? No. But that is a common issue with the follow-up to a strong opener. That said, I did still really enjoy it and recommend it. And I am looking forward to the next installment. The ending of the Last Drop of Hemlock does, of course, wrap up the big mystery plot of the novel. But it opens up new possibilities for Viv’s personal/romantic life that I am very excited to return to. I am also interested in seeing how the budding romance between Florence and Danny shakes out. Obviously, I don’t know for certain that there will be a next book, but mystery novels like this tend to be popular in long-series form, and provided this one does well enough it seems a safe bet to assume there will be a follow up.

In the meantime, Murder at Midnight – the next book in Katharine Schellman’s other series, the Lily Adler Mysteries, is due out in September. As I said at the top of this post, the first Lily Adler book was Schellman’s debut and I loved it so much that she became an instant-buy for me based on that single book. The third book in the series came out last year, and while I absolutely enjoyed it, I felt strongly that it suffered from missing Lily Adler’s staunch supporter, Captain Jack Hartley. It seems like he should be back in the next book and I am SO excited for it. Yes, I swoon over this character. So sue me. (Don’t actually sue me, I have no money.) If you read these books you will probably understand. And in all fairness, I’m also swooning over Lily the entire time too. And in the grand tradition of many murder mystery series, this one appears to be a Christmas installment!

So, you will no doubt be getting another Katharine Schellman-centered book review in September.

Book Review: Last Call at the Nightingale

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(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!