Murder Under Her Skin

Murder Under Her Skin (2021) Stephen Spotswood (Pentecost and Parker)

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
Rating: 8/10

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