Last Call at the Nightingale: A Mystery by Katharine Schellman

First in a captivating Jazz age mystery series from author Katharine Schellman, Last Call at the Nightingale beckons readers into a darkly glamorous speakeasy where music, liquor, and secrets flow. n nNew York, 1924. Vivian Kelly's days are filled with drudgery, from the tenement lodging she shares with her sister to the dress shop where she sews for hours every day. n nBut at night, she escapes to The Nightingale, an underground dance hall where illegal liquor flows and the band plays the Charleston with reckless excitement. With a bartender willing to slip her a free glass of champagne and friends who know the owner, Vivian can lose herself in the music. No one asks where she came from or how much money she has. No one bats an eye if she flirts with men or women as long as she can keep up on the dance floor. At The Nightingale, Vivian forgets the dangers of Prohibition-era New York and finds a place that feels like home. n nBut then she discovers a body behind the club, and those dangers come knocking. n nCaught in a police raid at the Nightingale, Vivian discovers that the dead man wasn't the nameless bootlegger he first appeared. With too many people assuming she knows more about the crime than she does, Vivian finds herself caught between the dangers of the New York's underground and the world of the city's wealthy and careless, where money can hide any sin and the lives of the poor are considered disposable...including Vivian's own. n nEditorial Reviews n n*03/07/2022 n nVivian Kelly, the courageous protagonist of this excellent series launch set in 1924 Manhattan from Schellman (the Lily Adler mysteries), shares a tenement apartment with her older sister, Florence. Florence is serious and practical, but Vivian, who loves to drink and dance, is a regular at the Nightingale, a speakeasy, and often comes home at dawn before having to toil as a seamstress during the day. Her friends at the Nightingale, all of whom are distinctive characters readers will care about, include bartender Danny Chin, waitress and singer Bea Henry, and Nightingale owner Honor Hux Huxley. When Vivian and Bea find a dead man in the alley behind the club, they wonder if he was a bootlegger, but Hux forbids them to talk about it. After the cops raid the speakeasy, Hux bails Vivian out of jail. In return, Vivian agrees, after the cops find the victim's wallet with his ID in it, to spy on the dead man's family to determine whether they can help find the killer. Schellman vividly evokes Jazz Age Manhattan as Vivian proves to be a most imaginative sleuth. Readers will eagerly await her return. Agent: Whitney Ross, Irene Goodman Literary. (June) n- Publishers Weekly n nA Library Journal Best Crime Fiction of 2022 n nA Publishers Weekly Mystery/Thriller Summer Reads 2022 Pick n nOne of Goodreads' 2022 Spring's Most Anticipated New Mysteries n nOne of BookPage's Four Best June Mysteries n nA Bustle Most Anticipated Book of June 2022 n nA Virginia Living Notable Spring Book n nA GO Magazine Slide Into Spring and Summer with these Fabulously Gay Reads n nFizzy . . . Vivian is a terrific character, plucky and resourceful, determined to choreograph a different life for herself.-New York Times Book Review n nExcellent . . . Vivian proves to be a most imaginative sleuth. Readers will eagerly await her return.-Publishers Weekly (Starred) n nThe well-developed supporting cast is diverse in race gender, and sexuality, and the suspense will keep readers guessing until the end.-BookPage (Starred) n nA compelling, atmospheric series debut. Schellman expertly creates a strong sense of pace, introducing a nightclub as a world where people of different races, classes, and sexual orientations can come together.-Library Journal n nA Jazz Age murder thrusts a good-time girl into the uncomfortable role of secret shamus . . . A colorful period crime yarn with a heroine with rooting for.-Kirkus Reviews n nReaders will love Last Call at the Nightingale for its twisting plot, its flair for historical detail and its inclusive cast of appealing characters. Don't look away, as the surprises keep coming until the final page.-Shelf Awareness n nOne of the pleasures of Last Call at the Nightingale is how the city thrusts the characters together, across the socioeconomic spectrum and racial and ethnic divides . . . the Nightingale is a world unto itself.-BookTrib n n[Schellman] touches on issues of segregation, poverty, and class divides with a deft hand that leaves plenty of room for a very satisfying murder mystery with a great deal of heart.-Mystery & Suspense n nThis debut from Katharine Schellman is as thrilling as it gets. For any fans of mystery looking for a new spin on a beloved genre, here's your next great summer read.-BuzzFeed Books n nAs with the Nightingale club, the mystery plot crosses lines of class, gender, and ethnicity. This novel plays with our expectations and keeps our attention on every fast-moving page. Highly recommended.-Historical Novels Review n nSchellman has thoroughly researched the people and the mores of the period, and skillfully uses characters of different sexes and races that the reader slowly determines. Subtle, blatant, the book begs the question: 'When's the next one?'-Lavender Magazine n nLast Call at the Nightingale is a sexy, fun romp through the Jazz Age. With a well-plotted mystery and applause-worthy female characters, readers will soak up this spellbinding read.-Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment and The Bookseller's Secret n nThis sharply paced, queer murder mystery, set in 1920s New York City, offers equal amounts of atmosphere, danger, and crime-solving. Schellman is at the top of her craft and delivers a murder mystery with clever twists and turns and memorable personalities.-Denny S. Bryce, Bestselling Author of Wild Women and the Blues n nComplete with speakeasies, mobsters, and an unflappable flapper as its heroine, this is a book that should be savored with a glass of bootleg gin in one hand and a 78 of Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five on the gramophone.-Allison Montclair, author of The Right Sort of Man n nBrimming with Jazz Age atmosphere, suspense, and a cast of engaging characters. Vivian is smart and gutsy, a character you'll root for. I'm already looking forward to her next adventure!-Ashley Weaver, author of the Amory Ames and Electra McDonnell series n nOriginal, bold, and sexy. This delicious mystery takes you to the Nightingale, a club where people can be who they really are, but everyone has secrets. Dirty doings among New York's elite, family drama, and more than one love story make for a fantastic start to a great new series.-Mariah Fredericks, author of the Jane Prescott series n- From the Publisher n n03/01/2022 n nSchellman moves from Regency-era London in previous mysteries (Lily Adler series) to 1924 Jazz Age New York in a compelling, atmospheric series debut. Vivian Kelly, a young Irish dressmaker living in New York City, longs for more than sharing a small tenement room with her sister and working a drudgery job. She craves the freedom she can only experience during evenings at the Nightingale, an underground club where she can have a few drinks and dance. But one night she sees a man's well-dressed body in the alley behind the club. That's followed by a raid, and Vivian is arrested, and terrified. She doesn't have the money for bail so she might be sent to the workhouse. Instead, the club's owner sends the bail money. Now Vivian owes Honor Huxley a favor. Honor asks her to listen to gossip at the club for information about the victim and who might have killed him. Vivian is soon pulled deep in a violent world. VERDICT Schellman expertly creates a strong sense of place, introducing a nightclub as a world where people of different races, classes, and sexual orientations can come together.--Lesa Holstine n- Library Journal n n2022-03-16 nA Jazz Age murder thrusts a good-time girl into the uncomfortable role of secret shamus. n nYoung New York factory worker Vivian Kelly forgets her troubles on a nightly basis, aggressively drinking and dancing at the Nightingale, the speak-easy where Bea, her best pal, works. Amazonian owner Honor Hux Huxley polices the Nightingale with an iron hand, and the flirting of her sidekick, Danny Chin, can always be depended on to give Vivian a lift. Things take a darker turn one night when Vivian and Bea stumble on a corpse in the alley behind the club. Hux advises her to forget what she saw, but Vivian's conscience won't allow that. Nor can she give up her addictive nightlife, which eventually leads to her arrest during a police raid. Her bail comes with strings attached, and almost before she realizes it, Vivian isn't free to leave her nights at the Nightingale behind. The more she learns about the victim, the more compelled she feels to find his killer. The trail begins with the grieving widow, who'd been a blushing society bride only a year before. Schellman lavishes many chapters on her colorful Roaring '20s setting before moving the murder probe to the front burner, an understandable gambit in a series kickoff. Colorful period detail, providing insights into the social and political tenor of the times, might allay the impatience of traditional whodunit fans. Once the action gets started, Vivian nails the clever killer and finds a lover and potential sleuthing sidekick. n nA colorful period crime yarn with a heroine worth rooting for. n- Kirkus Reviews