On my trip from Kansas City to the coast I happened to crack open the pages of my now new favorite mystery series...
Quick synopsis, courtesy of Goodreads:
Molly Murphy always knew she'd end up in trouble, just as her mother predicted. So, when she commits murder in self-defense, she flees her cherished Ireland, under cover of a false identity, for the anonymous shores of late nineteenth-century America. When she arrives in New York and sees the welcoming promise of freedom in the Statue of Liberty, Molly begins to breathe easier. But when a man is murdered on Ellis Island, a man Molly was seen arguing with, she becomes a prime suspect in the crime.
If she can't clear her name, Molly will be sent back to Ireland where the gallows await, so using her Irish charm and sharp wit, she escapes Ellis Island and sets out to find the wily killer on her own. Pounding the notorious streets of Hell's Kitchen and the Lower East Side, Molly undertakes a desperate mission to clear her name before her deadly past comes back to haunt her new future.
Bowen pulled me in right from the beginning with her vivid descriptions, from Molly's frantic train ride from the scene of her crime to the elegant streets and shops just a few streets away from poverty-stricken burrows in London to the bowels of a ship stuffed with immigrants on it's Atlantic crossing. I cared not just for Molly but for all the immigrants; little details were used to great advantage, and it definitely provided me with a fresh perspective on this time period. The scene where the immigrants disembark see Lady Liberty for the first time was especially moving.
The mystery itself, as some on Goodreads have pointed out, was a little too convenient at times, but I didn't guess the bad guy 'til it was revealed at the end, and it was still a fun ride. I am a romance junkie (gasp! Who knew?), so the developing relationship between Molly and handsome Detective Sullivan was an added treat.
The best way to demonstrate my love for this series is that I went out to three bookstores and tried to find the next one...
That face when you can't find your book
and you want it NOOOOOW...
But alas, it was not to be. Which resulted in a mad dash to Amazon to promptly order the next three...
If It Was a Movie...
Something new I'm trying for my book review posts: picking out actors and actresses who would play the lead roles if the book were made into a movie. For Murphy's Law:
Karen Gillan as Molly Murphy
Peter Mooney as Detective Daniel Sullivan
Peter Mooney hails from the other side of the pond, namely Canada, and served as Officer Nick Collins in the series Rookie Blue. Aside from being boyishly handsome it wasn't hard to picture Peter in the role of Detective Daniel Sullivan, an intelligent and charismatic member of the police force who doesn't quite know how to handle the relentless Irish immigrant he knows is hiding something. His attraction to a potential murder suspect doesn't make it easy, and even more so when she keeps showing up wherever there's trouble.
Final Tally:
4.5 stars and highly recommend!
Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793189-murphy-s-law
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murphys-Law-Murphy-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1250014085/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
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