Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane Mystery series opener.
Can Fiona catch a killer and find a decent cup of tea before her mustache wax melts?
1917. New York.
Notorious spy, Fredrick Fredricks, has invited Fiona to Carnegie Hall to hear a famous soprano. It’s an opportunity the War Office can’t turn down. Fiona and Clifford are soon on their way, but not before Fiona is saddled with chaperon duties for Captain Hall’s niece. Is Fiona a spy or a glorified babysitter?
From the minute Fiona meets the soprano aboard the RMS Adriatic it’s treble on the high C’s. Fiona sees something—or someone—thrown overboard, and then she overhears a chemist plotting in German with one of her own countrymen!
And the trouble doesn’t stop when they disembark. Soon Fiona is doing time with a group of suffragettes and investigating America’s most impressive inventor Thomas Edison.
When her number one suspect turns up dead at the opera and Fredrick Fredricks is caught red-handed, it looks like it’s finally curtains for the notorious spy. But all the evidence points to his innocence. Will Fiona change her tune and clear her nemesis’ name? Or will she do her duty? And just what is she going to do with the pesky Kitty Lane? Not to mention swoon-worthy Archie Somersby . . .
If Fiona’s going to come out on top, she’s going to have to make the most difficult decision of her life: the choice between her head and her heart.
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Review
Despite being billed as the first in the series, it feels like we come into this series with plots already in progress. Plucky Fiona Figg is constantly belittled by her male coworkers at the war office but is nonetheless sent to follow a potential German spy to America. Armed with a suitcase of disguises and pressed into service as chaparone to a bright young woman, she finds herself caught up with historical figures and embroiled in a murder.
I loved this take on the historical period as we explore how the rest of the world fared. World War One rages in Europe and sits behind everyone's motives, but America is far from the front lines and life continues on. I wouldn't want to visit the time but it's certainly fascinating! The (period appropriate) misogyny Fiona faces make me grit my teeth. Fiona isn't always the most perceptive - despite her photographic memory - so there are plenty of red herrings and it did seem that everyone got very distracted. Although the mystery ended up solved, it didn't seem to matter as much as setting up the series. However, I'm not sure I care enough about the characters to read what they do next.Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own
Author Bio
Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, will be published in November 2022.
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