From
the publisher: As the Great
Blizzard of 1888 cripples New York City, heiress Prudence MacKenzie sits
anxiously in her Fifth Avenue home waiting for her fiancé’s safe
return. But the fearsome storm rages through the night. With daylight, more
than 200 people are found to have perished. Among them is Prudence’s
fiancé—his body frozen, his head crushed by a branch, his fingers
clutching a single playing card, the
ace of spades . . . . Close on the heels of her
father’s untimely demise, she is convinced Charles’s death was no
accident. The ace of spades was a code he shared with his friend, Geoffrey
Hunter, a former Pinkerton agent. Wary of sinister forces closing in on her,
Prudence turns to Geoffrey as her only hope in solving a murder not all believe
in—and to help protect her inheritance from a stepmother who seems more
interested in the family fortune than Prudence’s wellbeing.
What the Dead Leave Behind
is a well written and well researched historical mystery. I don’t know much
about 1888 New York, but nothing jumped out at me as being historically
inaccurate. Main character Prudence does not always act the way young women of
that time probably acted, but that’s excusable in a novel about a strong-minded and independent young woman.
This book has a lovely
cover and a winning heroine who has weaknesses – like a fondness for laudanum she
must resist – as well as great strength of character. She does not fall into
the arms of the first eligible man she meets after her fiancé’s death.
I’m not a mother or a
stepmother, and even I am tired of the wicked stepmother trope. Still, author
Simpson does well with this overused plot device. At least the author makes no
secret of the fact that the stepmother is the one to watch out for. The plot
took turns that I did not expect but were believable. The main characters are
well developed, and there are interesting side characters. This seems to be the
first in a series, and I’m sure some of those characters will continue forward
in later books.
If this does continue as a series, I will be on the watch for
book two. If you are a lover of
historical mysteries with lots of detail, you may want to read What the Dead Leave Behind.
I read an advance reader
copy of What the Dead Leave Behind. It
is scheduled to be published in late April and will be available through the
Galesburg Public Library in print and as an ebook.
