Murder in the City of Liberty by Rachel McMillan, 2019

Click to view
on Goodreads 

Hamish DeLuca and Regina "Reggie" Van Buren have a new case--and this one brings the war in Europe dangerously close to home.

Determined to make a life for herself, Regina "Reggie" Van Buren bid goodbye to fine china and the man her parents expected her to marry and escaped to Boston. What she never expected to discover was that an unknown talent for sleuthing would develop into a business partnership with the handsome, yet shy, Hamish DeLuca.

Their latest case arrives when Errol Parker, the leading base stealer in the Boston farm leagues, hires Hamish and Reggie to investigate what the Boston police shove off as a series of harmless pranks. Errol believes these are hate crimes linked to the outbreak of war in Europe, and he's afraid for his life. Hamish and Reggie quickly find themselves in the midst of an escalating series of crimes that seem to link Boston to Hamish's hometown of Toronto.

When an act of violence hits too close to home, Hamish is driven to a decision that may sever him from Reggie forever . . . even more than her engagement to wealthy architect Vaughan Vanderlaan.

(336 pages)

I enjoyed the first book in this series, so when I was offered the chance to read the sequel I jumped at the chance. I'm a long-time murder mystery fan, and Hamish's sweet, shy character made for an interesting new type of detective. I'll be honest, I didn't care quite as much for Reggie's fairly typical "rich girl with spunk" persona, but I liked her enough (and liked watching Hamish like her) that I looked forward to seeing how things progressed between them in this book.

But I have to say, Murder in the City of Liberty definitely doesn't live up to its prequel. It's just not as tight a story. Things that don't really seem connected just sort of happen periodically, and there are too many different characters and perspectives on the story that don't really go anywhere but distract from the main story.

And don't get me started on the love triangle in this one. If it was a bit much in the first book, it was a LOT too much in this one. There's some trumped-up reason why Reggie just has to marry Vaughan, and most of the time I was reading about it I was internally rolling my eyes. I'll be honest, there certainly were times when I did get wrapped up in the character drama and enjoyed it, but the overall situation was just drawn out enough that I couldn't get completely lost in it. Possibly because there are like three times per character where either Hamish or Reggie has an "ah-ha" moment where they internally realize/acknowledge how they really feel for the other . . . but then nothing really changes, and they have the same eureka experience a few chapters later. This is especially egregious for Hamish.

As for the mystery itself, I'd say that in some ways it was actually more interesting than the first one. The exploration of hate crimes, and racial bias in detection, was an interesting angle. The book explores discrimination against African Americans, plus anti-Semitism, and I appreciated the effort. I did think the ending was a bit too far out there to really bring any message home about any of the issues it was dealing with, since it felt pretty contrived, but it was interesting anyway.

All in all, a pretty entertaining read but not quite as fun as the first one. If you're interested in Murder in the City of Liberty then, by all means, pick it up. But if you're waffling on it, then maybe give this one a pass.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan, 2018

Click to view
on Goodreads 

“Maybe it was time to land straight in the middle of the adventure…”

Hamish DeLuca has spent most of his life trying to hide the anxiety that appears at the most inopportune times -- including during his first real court case as a new lawyer. Determined to rise above his father’s expectations, Hamish runs away to Boston where his cousin, Luca Valari, is opening a fashionable nightclub in Scollay Square. When he meets his cousin's “right hand man” Reggie, Hamish wonders if his dreams for a more normal life might be at hand.

Regina “Reggie” Van Buren, heir to a New Haven fortune, has fled fine china, small talk, and the man her parents expect her to marry. Determined to make a life as the self-sufficient city girl she’s seen in her favorite Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn pictures, Reggie runs away to Boston, where she finds an easy secretarial job with the suave Luca Valari. But as she and Hamish work together in Luca’s glittering world, they discover a darker side to the smashing Flamingo night club.

When a corpse is discovered at the Flamingo, Reggie and Hamish quickly learn there is a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in 1937 Boston—and that there’s an underworld that feeds on them both. As Hamish is forced to choose between his conscience and loyalty to his beloved cousin, the unlikely sleuthing duo work to expose a murder before the darkness destroys everything they’ve worked to build.

(343 pages)

I've always been a huge fan of mystery novels, most especially murder mysteries, so I very rarely turn down the chance to review one. Murder at the Flamingo has the added bonus of being set in the 1930s. I am also a sucker for historical fiction, especially those set in the 20s, and I was excited to read a "glamorous" book set in the 30s since books during that time usually focus on the poor people during the Great Depression. I love getting new perspectives on a time period.

As a historical novel, it completely lives up to its synopsis. McMillan gets the atmosphere just right, it really felt like it was set during the same time period as, say, The Great Gatsby. There are glamorous parties, eager and energetic (and possibly wrapped up in something illegal) young men, men who hold all the power behind the scenes, ditzy gold-diggers hanging on their arms . . . the works. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the characters in the story.

The mystery, on the other hand, was nothing special. It's really more of a plot device to move the characters around and give Hamish and Reggie a reason to pry into the underbelly of the beast. I was never too invested in who the murderer was, and in fact the murder doesn't even take place until fairly far into the book. I didn't mind that much, though, because I was enjoying what is, essentially, a character-driven (rather than plot-driven) book.

I suppose I should talk about the main characters, Hamish and Reggie. They were both good, well-drawn people. I liked them both a lot, though I'm positive I would never meet either of them on the street. They both had interesting families and backstories, and their relationship is well done.

Really, with a few tweaks to the ending, this would have been a very nice standalone novel. Instead, however, I'm afraid the ending left me pretty frustrated. For one thing, the romance situation is just ridiculous. I'm frustrated to see how long that will go on. And the idea that they will go on to solve other crimes (as this is indeed, I discovered by Googling it, the first in a murder mystery series) sounds plausible at first glance but becomes much more questionable when I think about how much this book really wasn't focused on the murder. I would much rather read a series organically following their lives in Boston, with their ties to the seedy underbelly springing up to create problems once in a while, then the way McMillan has chosen to do it.

That said, I will of course be looking for the sequel and I may discover that I really like this approach after all. I'm trying to keep an open mind, after all. But anyway, suffice it to say that I enjoyed Murder at the Flamingo and I recommend it if you're interested in it as well.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.