In a new Mystery of Old San Francisco, Celia and Nick must look for answers among the dead to stop a killer among the living . . .”Skillfully brings 1867 San Francisco to life . . . intriguing!” –Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author of the Lady Darby MysteriesWith the city’s Fourth of July celebrations in full swing, Celia Davies has stolen a moment away from her nursing duties to take in the … festive spectacle, but is stunned when she spots the one person she thought she’d never see again–her supposedly dead husband, Patrick. Moments later, the investigator who had confirmed Patrick’s death is killed when he suspiciously falls from a high window, and Celia begins to fear that the roguish man she married has returned to haunt her life once again.Joining forces with Detective Nick Greaves to get to the bottom of the mystery, Celia is soon drawn into a murky séance group, where the voices of the dead suggest that everyone involved in the case is engaged in some sort of fraud or deception. Determined to discover which of them might be a murderer, Celia and Nick will find themselves following a trail of clues that leads them down dark alleys into a shadowy tangle of spiritualism, altered identities, traumatic pasts, and secrets worth killing for . . .
more
I loved the first two books in this series and I was delighted to be back on another adventure with Celia, Nick, and the rest of an endearing cast of characters. I loved Celia’s dedication to her patients and stiff upper lip determination to do what’s right, and Nick’s gentlemanly admiration for her combined his conflicted view of wanting to protect her while acknowleging that she’s a capable individual. San Franscisco of the 1860s comes so vividly to life with all its sights, sounds, and smells, the reader will feel they’re right there on the streets wiith the characters, helping to solve the murder. The added mystery of Celia’s husband possibly returning from “the dead” adds a secondary layer of intrigue and the promise of more to come in the series. I’ll be looking forward to them!
I enjoyed this book so very much!! Celia Davies had just the right amounts of courageous daring and feminine vulnerability to make her extremely believable and thoroughly endearing. Detective Nick Greaves was true to the time frame the book was set in and had the stoicism and gentlemanly suffering of men during that era portrayed perfectly. The question of whether widowed Celia’s husband Patrick is really dead or not is the basis for this particular mystery for this duo and it is fraught with unsavory characters in seedy areas and with terrible danger to Celia. This was a wonderful historical mystery set in San Francisco in the late eighteenth century which is a particular favorite time period for me to read about no matter the genre. I have already earmarked books one and two in this series to read so that I can see how this incredible detecting duo came to be.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley.
San Francisco 1867 – just that was enough to get my attention. How did I manage to overlook this series? Now that I have been introduced to Celia and Nick I am eager to get my hands on books one and two. The fact that this is the third in the series and my introduction to this wonderful duo didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the mystery. It stands on its own very well.
Celia is a nurse, running a woman’s clinic in San Francisco and Nick is a police detective. Celia had hired a private detective to confirm that her husband, Patrick, is, indeed, dead. Within a short period of time, the detective tells her Patrick is dead, Celia thinks she spots Patrick in the 4th of July parade and then her detective is dead under suspicious circumstances.
If that isn’t enough to fill every minute of her days, she has her family and friends with their lives intwined with hers vying for her attention. Still, she begins to search for answers and enters the shady world of scams and seances. Danger is in her future – will she find the answers before she becomes a victim? After this reading I have a spot on my TBR list for book #4. Meanwhile I will play catchup with Celia and Nick.
This is the third installment of a mystery series set in 1867 San Francisco revolving around a British nurse, Celia Davies, who runs a free clinic for women out of her home while parenting a teenaged cousin and solving mysteries on the side. Busy woman!
While I have not read the prior books, I was able to keep up with minimal confusion. The plot was fine (a little convoluted), but I found the writing a bit stilted and lacking in smooth segues between scenes/locations which was distracting for me.
I would rate this a decent read, but I have read better.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #BeyondThePagePublishing for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
No Quiet Among the Shadows by Nancy Herriman takes place in San Francisco in 1867. It is a murder mystery and involves séances and spiritualism as well as greed and fraud. It is always a sad thing when someone dies, but to be so overwhelmed with grief that you leave yourself open to fraud still exists in today’s world. Fraud never goes away. This story tells how willing people are to take advantage of others, in many ways, not just spiritualism. It is also a story of revenge and so much more. Thanks goodness, at least in today’s world, most women have rights and cannot be controlled by male members of their family or by husbands.
Detective Nick Greaves has been charged with finding a woman who has disappeared. He brother is certain she is still in the city but he has been searching to no avail. His brother has made his wishes known to Nick’s bosses so that leaves him few options. Celia Davies stays busy with her free clinic for women and takes care of her friends as well. They are early in her relationship when Celia catches a glimpse of a man who looks just like her supposedly dead husband. This does not bode well for Nick and Celia. Owen, one of Celia’s many protégés has come down with the mumps. This means her niece, Barbara, who has not ever had them, has to leave the house to stay with her friend Grace until Owen recovers. This opens the door to a deeper friendship for Celia and Jane, Grace’s stepmother, which proves to be beneficial in the investigation of Dr. Brown and the whole convoluted mess with his fiancee. Between the two of them, Nick and Celia manage to straighten the whole mess out and find the missing woman, to boot. It was a mystery that took perseverance and tenacity to solve. I enjoyed the read. Hopefully you will, too. I recommend for lovers of historical mystery.
I received a free ARC of No Quiet Among the Shadows from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #noquietamongtheshadows
historical-novel, historical-research, historical-setting, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, San Francisco
The nurse, the police detective, the medium, the swindlers, and the dead body that is tangled up with all of them and more. I really don’t know how to briefly summarize this one without getting tangled up in subplots and spoilers. I can tell you that the information about attitudes and treatment of women who became inconvenient and were put into asylums is historically correct for the English speaking world. I read it over two days and think that it’s a 5 star read.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!