Stephen Spotswood
Books: Mystery | Historical | Queer
Pentecost and Parker: Fortune Favors the Dead (2020), Murder Under Her Skin (2021), Secrets Typed in Blood (2022)
Pentecost and Parker
Fortune Favors the Dead (2020)
Set in New York in 1945.
Will Parker ran away to join the circus, to escape her abusive father. But an event one night in 1942 in NYC changes everything, and she ends up working for Lillian Pentecost, a private investigator.
"I trust you to use your best judgment. Don’t do anything you aren’t comfortable doing."
"You realize I used to dress up like a showgirl and have knives thrown at my face. My threshold for uncomfortable is pretty high."
Lillian Pentecost is very good at what she does, but she is no longer able to easily do all the more active parts of her job.
I’d had a cousin who got that kind of hitch in her voice. Had a limp, too, though hers was a lot worse. I suspected that leaping up and clubbing a man wasn’t in Lillian Pentecost’s repertoire.
A year previously, Al Collins committed suicide. Now his widow has been murdered–and found in a locked room.
It’s 1945, and although Ms Pentecost and Will are good at their jobs, they are still in a male-dominated world.
I crossed my legs, and he glanced down to take in an eyeful. He wasn’t quick about it either. When he looked back up, our eyes met, and he knew he’d been caught. He didn’t even blink. Just gave a little what-are-ya-gonna-do smile.
It’s a decent mystery, and a fascinating look at that time period. I’ve read mysteries written in that time period, and I the language differences are very interesting. It’s got the language of the time, but the story has things you would not have found in a book written then–primarily LGBT characters and a somewhat frank attitude towards sex.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is interesting.
Publisher: Vintage Crime
October 2021 | Rating: 7.5/10
Murder Under Her Skin (2021)
Set in NYC and rural VA in 1946.
Will has been working for Ms. Pentecost for more than a year now, and is enjoying becoming a private investigator.
But when Will gets a telegram from her old boss–Big Bob Halloway–asking to look into the death of one of the Tattooed Woman–Ruby Donner, because one of their own, Valentin Kalishenko, was being held for the crime.
With no blood pumping through it, Ruby’s flesh had gone the sickly pale of the dead. Without that rosy background glow, the ink of her tattoos stood out brilliantly, floating on top of her skin like leaves on a pond.
The case is complicated because Ruby was from the town, and the police would prefer to blame one of the circus people rather than one of their neighbors, while the circus people feel as if one of their own is getting railroaded for a crime he didn’t commit, because the police weren’t interested in looking any further.
So Will and Ms. Pentecost head south.
I didn’t think the guy who’d gotten labeled the "Sheffield Valley Rooster Thief" was a good candidate for murder or attempted arson.
The writing is good, I love Will, and nothing is straight or easy. It’s not just about crime in the 1940s, but also looks at racism and queer lives.
So I look forward to another entry in the series.
Publisher: Doubleday
January 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Secrets Typed in Blood (2022)
Set in New York City in 1947
This is one of the books that I wanted to read, but couldn’t get myself in the mood for. So I went ahead and read it.
First, I really hate the new covers.
Well, hate is a strong word. I don’t hate them, but I really liked the previous covers and these are kidna boring and don’t give the sense of time and place the previous covers did.
Luckily, aside from become wiser, Will hasn’t changed.
I slipped Hiram an envelope containing a handful of bills. It was more than on previous visits since we were buying Sam Lee’s cooperation as well. It would go in the expense report under "Specialist Consultation," which was my preferred spelling of "bribe."
Unluckily, Lillian Pentecost’s disease is continuing to get worse, so when they taken on a new case Will has to pick up some of the slack–despite already being placed as a temp in an agency they are investigating.
"Your boss is a very interesting woman," he said as he bundled up. "I didn’t buy Klinghorn’s line. About Lillian Pentecost fishing. But I guess it makes sense."
"How so?" I asked.
"Well, if she were really interested in these cases, she’d have sent you."
As with the previous books, one of my favorite things was the setting.
"?‘National’ doesn’t mean much when you’re a one-title shop," Brent explained. "It was different before the war. Along with Strange Crime, we had Midnight Detective, High Class Crime, Dark Romance. This place was really jumping then."
"What happened?" I asked.
"There was the paper rationing, of course," Brent explained. "And then I and quite a few of our regular contributors got to go on a tour of Europe. That really put a crimp in things.
"Look, Sarah, an ad in Strange Crime is a billboard in forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and a bunch of Canadian provinces."
Between the continuing war-crimes trials, Truman pushing a loyalty order on federal employees, Congress proposing a Twenty-second Amendment, which would set term limits for the U.S. president…
It was a good mystery, and I do want to read the next, but I think I’ll wait a bit, until my brain is in a better place for it.
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
December 2023 | Rating: 8/10