Before I even dive into the background of Katharine Schellman’s latest historical mystery, Last Call at the Nightingale, I just want to take a moment to rave about this stunning cover. Because I read a .pdf, I don’t have the cover artist’s details. It’s a gorgeous book, though, so fitting for this story set in New York City in 1924, the Jazz Age and Prohibition.
Vivian Kelly doesn’t remember her mother. She and her older sister Florence grew up in a Catholic orphanage after their mother died. Now, the two Irish sisters work in a respectable trade, dressmaking. Florence, the responsible older sister, accepts that she’ll probably never marry, but work long hours making beautiful dresses for well-to-do women. Vivian longs to escape, though. After her work days, she heads to an illegal nightclub, the Nightingale, where she can have a couple drinks on someone, and dance the night away.
But,, one night, Vivian steps out back with her best friend,, Bea, a Black waitress, and Vivian sees a well-dressed man’s body. Although she’s warned to “Forget you saw anything out there”, Vivian can’t let it go. When the Nightingale is raided, and Vivian ends up in jail along with the others who can’t afford bail, she’s frantic. She knows her sister doesn’t have the money to bail her out. It’s no big deal for people to make bail immediately if they have money. “But when poor girls with no family were caught dancing and drinking, they ended up in workhouses and reformatories.” Fortunately, Bea and the bartender, Danny, show up to bail her out. But, now Vivian owes a favor to Honor Huxley, the woman who owns the Nightingale.
To Honor, Vivian is repaying her bail money by gathering information. However, Vivian finds herself caught up in a world where life is cheap and dangerous men beat up people for answers. It’s bad enough that she injured her hand during the raid of the nightclub. Now, she’s always watching her back as she asks questions about the dead man. Why did someone kill him and leave his body in the alley behind the Nightingale? It’s a dangerous task, and Vivian doesn’t know who she can trust other than her friend Bea, and a few people at the Nightingale. And, she certainly doesn’t want to drag Bea into danger while she asks questions about a murder.
Schellman’s first two historical mysteries , The Body in the Garden and Silence in the Library, were set in Napoleonic-era London, and they brought out issues that seldom appear in historical mysteries, the racism, wealth, and social classes, as well as the role of women at the time. Now, as she introduces a young Irish woman as an amateur sleuth, Schellman once again points out the differences in status, dealing with class and prejudice. Outside the Nightingale, the world is harsh for the working class, for young women, widows and women trying to survive. Inside the illegal world of the nightclub, it’s a world of illegal drinks, shady dealings, where races mix and lesbians and gay men dance through the night, just as other young single men and women do. But, Last Call at the Nightingale, is not just a place for freedom. It’s a place of secrets where a young woman could get trapped.
Schellman’s mysteries are unusual. She introduces readers to a world that isn’t quite what they expected, although it’s based on historical fact. Enter that world now for Last Call at the Nightingale.
Katharine Schellman’s website is https://www.katharineschellman.com/
Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman. Minotaur Books, 2022. ISBN 9781250831828 (hardcover), 320p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I read a .pdf for review in a journal.
