An exciting new book in the series featuring woman-on-the-run Elizabeth Miles–from the beloved national bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries.Elizabeth Miles knows that honesty is not always the best policy when it comes to finding justice. Elizabeth has discovered that navigating the rules of high society is the biggest con of all. She knows she can play the game, but so far, her only … can play the game, but so far, her only success is Priscilla Knight, a dedicated young suffragist recently widowed for the second time. Her beloved first husband died in a tragic accident and left her with two young daughters—and a sizable fortune. While she was lost in grief, Priscilla’s pastor convinced her she needed a man to look after her and engineered a whirlwind courtship and hasty marriage to fellow parishioner Endicott Knight. Now, about nine months later, Endicott is dead in what appears to be another terrible accident.
Everyone is whispering, but that is the least of Priscilla’s troubles. She had believed Endicott was wealthy, too, but her banker tells her she has no money left and her house has been mortgaged. He also hints at a terrible scandal and refuses to help.
Priscilla stands to lose everything, and Elizabeth is determined not to let that happen. But, as always, Elizabeth walks a fine line between using her unusual talents and revealing her own scandalous past. Elizabeth soon discovers that Endicott’s death was anything but accidental, and revealing the truth could threaten much more than Priscilla’s finances. To save her new friend’s future—and possibly her own—Elizabeth, along with her honest-to-a-fault beau, Gideon, delve into the sinister secrets someone would kill to keep.
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I love Victoria Thompson’s other mystery series and am quickly learning to love Elizabeth Miles just as much. Initially, I wasn’t sure I would be able to connect with a con woman protagonist, but I thoroughly enjoyed this second book in the series. I can’t wait for book #3.
I read the first book in this series and really enjoyed it and this second one did not disappoint. Elizabeth and Gideon are back solving another mystery together. Priscilla’s second husband has died and left her penniless. Elizabeth and Gideon set out to find out where the money went and uncover blackmail and murder. Gideon wants to let the law solve the problem but Elizabeth knows they law does not treat women fairly so she sets to solve the problem by running a con. Even though Elizabeth is trying to navigate a new world she does not want to leave her old one. I really like the characters and the historical New York setting. The mystery was good but there were no real surprises. It is fun to see how the pieces all fall together and how the cons work. This series should be read in the order. Many events from the first book are mentioned in this book. Enjoy
Elizabeth Miles is attempting to give up her former life as the female in a group of conmen and fit into high society in order to prepare for her marriage to young lawyer Gideon Bates. Part of that involves attending church on Sundays, and it is at church that she has met Priscilla, a recent widow who is one of the few people Elizabeth considers a friend in her new life. One day Priscilla comes to Elizabeth for help since she has just learned that her recently deceased second husband has left her broke. Priscilla knows there should be more money. Can Elizabeth figure out what happened?
If you haven’t started this great new series, I do recommend you back up to the first since it sets up so much of Elizabeth and her life in 1910’s New York City. Since this is only book two in the series, it’s still very easy to get caught up. When you do, you’ll find yourself caught up in another fun caper. I did feel the pacing was a bit off early on, but it soon picked up and by the end, it was impossible to put down. This isn’t a traditional mystery, although it still firmly fits in the crime fiction family. The characters are all strong, and they help make the final third of the book very compelling for us.
Grifting, blackmail, murder, robbing a mother
with two children, prostitution plus more make
for an exciting, well written, well plotted story.
The story is set in the 1920s. Elizabeth Miles
is a con artist who is in the process of reforming
her ways. She is trying to do this due to her
relationship with the uptight, upright lawyer…..
Gideon Bates. Elizabeth is also trying to learn
and live life according to society’s rules of
etiquette.
Elizabeth meets Priscilla Knight, a two time
widow with two young children. Helping Priscilla
by reviewing her husbands finances, Elizabeth
discovers a scam has happened to the widow.
This scam has left her penniless.
After discovering the scam, Elizabeth starts to
investigate. Seems blackmail and murder have
happened by how will Elizabeth help get money
back for the widow. It is necessary for a con artist
to outsmart the murderer and scam artist.
This is a fun, entertaining, interesting and
intriguing read filled with deadly secrets.
Although this is book # 2 of the Counterfeit Lady
Mystery series, it can be read as a stand alone.
The author mixed the past and present together
effortlessly so the characters are easy to get to
know.
I volunteered to read City of Secrets. Thanks to
Penguin’s First-to-Read fit the opportunity. My
opinion is my own.
This authors books are always great and this one was wonderful. Elizabeth and Gideon learn whether they should get married even though they are very different. I loved the con and how they helped Pricilla.
I really had fun with this one. Pairing a woman who’s willing to bend the rules to achieve justice with a man who’s the soul of integrity is delicious. Can’t wait to see what Elizabeth and Gideon get up to in the next book!
Book one in this series, City of Lies, gave us a good history lesson about the Women’s Suffrage movement. This second in an, I hope, ongoing series digs down into more of the interpersonal relationships of Elizabeth, Gideon, and their families and friends. It also has more of a mystery than the first book.
Elizabeth’s new friend, Priscilla, has been taken to the cleaners by her recently deceased husband. All the money she had from her first, loving, marriage is gone. She and her daughters will soon be destitute. Elizabeth, the con artist, and Gideon, the most honest man ever, work together to find out why the money is gone and who perpetrated this dastardly deed! Lots of intrigue, although the mystery was pretty easy to figure out.
Although not as rich in historical details as the first book, still a great read. I’m loving this series and can’t wait for the next installment.
A good historical mystery
The City of Secrets is the second book in a series. I did not read the first book but enjoyed this one very much. It started slowly for me only because I was getting to know the characters and was trying to figure out how they all came together. Elizabeth was a hoot. She was not the straight-laced wife material that Gideon Bates wanted, she took risks, went beyond what was called for to help her friends, and stood strong when the man she loved pushed her to change her ways. Priscilla was sad. A widow left alone to take care of her two young daughters who were taken advantage of by people she should have been able to trust. The other characters were equally as entertaining and I loved how they all came together to put those who had done other wrong in their correct place.
There were a few times I had to questions what era I was reading about. Sometimes the story seemed to be told in the time long ago but then it would change its tone and I’d feel like it was more current. This was probably the only part of the story that threw me off from time to time. I loved the idea of the women fighting the government for their rights, going to jail and having hunger strikes to prove their strength and belief in themselves. After they were released from jail they went back to their lives and continued to hold strong to their beliefs.
The City of Secrets is an interesting book. I’m interested in more from Victoria Thompson and definitely interested in checking out the rest of this series.
Thanks to the First To Read program for a digital ARC of this book. The following is my honest opinion of the book:
The second entry in the Counterfeit Lady series, City of Secrets is a quick read that’s definitely worth looking into. Elizabeth Miles is a grifter but she’s met a wonderful man, (Gideon Bates) who prides himself on following the law and always being honest. As Elizabeth tries to establish herself in his world, she befriends a woman at church who has just lost her second husband to a tragic accident. Unfortunately, she has also learned that all of her money from the estate of her first husband is mysteriously gone. When Elizabeth starts looking into the missing money, she discovers a blackmail scheme may have been the culprit and the prime suspects are respected members of the community. When she suggests a con to regain possession of the money to Gideon, he states he cannot condone anything outside of the parameters of the law.
This book really held my attention. I must say that while not an absolute necessity, I would highly recommend reading the first book (City of Lies) before this one. In my opinion, that book sets up the series. It provides a great deal of character background information and establishes the various character relationships. Through it, you get a feel for each character and a greater understanding of who each one truly is. The second book builds on those relationships.
With that said, I think the plot in City of Secrets was better and much more developed than the first book. It was an interesting story with several twists and turns. Much like the first, the historical content that is added in is a great bonus. I enjoyed learning more about the Suffragist Movement and the general conditions of women during that time period.
I would definitely recommend this book to others and look forward to future installments in the series!
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Book to be released on Nov. 6, 2018.
City of Secrets is the second book in the Counterfeit Lady series. Grifting, blackmail, murder, and brothels make for an interesting historical fiction novel. Elizabeth is a reformed grifter, while her betrothed, Gideon, is a by the law attorney, who sees things as simply black and white. Will their opposing perspectives be the end of their engagement as they seek answers to Priscilla Jenks Knight’s sudden misfortune? The stories within the story begin to unravel when the pastor’s wife is revealed to be a former madam, and the pastor has a questionable appetite for a man of the cloth. Elizabeth seeks to get Priscilla’s monies back, but first she has to prove that the Pastor and his wife are behind the blackmail scheme.
With the help of her grifting family, an unlikely ally in the mix, and Gideon’s legal advice, Elizabeth is determined to reveal some dirty secrets and get justice.
I look forward to reading more by Victoria Thompson.
Check earlier series about young Victorian woman from wealthy New York family trying to live her life on her terms.
This review is of an ARC won in a Goodreads Giveaway.
So much more fun than the first book in the series, which was front-heavy on the historical detail/setting. Having established all that in book one, book two dives right into the mystery and charms the reader with the interplay among the diverse characters. There are the old-money families Elizabeth Miles is trying to fit in among, the new money up-and-comers she meets, and the family of grifters she was raised among. Of course her fiance Gideon Bates is a staunchly upright lawyer who doesn’t want her pulling any more ‘jobs’ like the one that nearly got her killed in book one. He’s a traditionalist, but her independence and intelligence, plus his own mother’s women’s rights activism, is slowly opening him up to the possibility women might be just as capable as men. In addition, he’s learning that justice, as he sees it, doesn’t always work out as well for women as it does for men. Their debate over justice and how to achieve it forms the central conflict as both try to help a young widow reclaim an inheritance. The villains are clear, but the means to bring them to justice are as cleverly convoluted as in “The Sting,” as both Elizabeth and Gideon work their own resources, each trying to prove her/his way is best. As with all good romances, though, teamwork is the literal and figurative key.
Loving this series!!
City of Secrets by Victoria Thompson
What a delightful, tangled web of deceptions! It grabbed my attention and made all else fade away, and rewarded me with the possibility that justice can be found, even if a few rules have to be bent a bit to attain it. Elizabeth, as she promised in CITY OF LIES, continues to be “the most interesting woman” Gideon has ever met, competent and good and loyal and ungovernable, and loving . . . if he can remember to appreciate her for herself. Taking up the cause of a young widow whose fortune has been plundered by the second husband she hadn’t even wanted to marry, Elizabeth enlists the aid of friends and relatives, all in a good cause. She notes that society’s rules and church ways might be as duplicitous as any con she’s ever run. A woman making her way alone is at such a disadvantage, which is why the suffragists (not -ettes) worked so hard to attain equality under the law . . . and why we persist in trying to balance the scales.
Literary note: The photograph’s details being only hinted at and reacted to reminded me of Poe’s work, letting the reader’s imagination magnify the effect . . . and yes, I do think Thompson’s work deserves to be compared to Poe’s.
Elizabeth Miles is still trying to find her way in the genteel world of her (almost) fiance.
But there is a serious question of what to do when the regular legal means will not redress a major crime and the criminals will be able to make more lives miserable.
The exploration of how two well meaning people who happen to be in love solve this is wonderful to behold.