Publisher: William Morrow
Published: October 26, 2021
Source: Publisher
Summary:
Gin Kelly, the wicked redhead, is back! Readers will delight in next installment of the Wicked City series by New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams.
June 1925. Audacious Appalachian flapper Geneva “Gin” Kelly prepares to trade her high-flying ways for respectable marriage to Oliver Anson Marshall, a steadfast Prohibition agent who happens to hail from one of New York’s most distinguished families. But just as wedding bells chime, the head of the notorious East Coast rum-running racket—and Anson’s mortal enemy—turns up murdered at a society funeral, and their short-lived honeymoon bliss goes up in a spectacular blaze that sends Anson back undercover…and into the jaws of a trap from which not even Gin can rescue him. As violence explodes around her, Gin must summon all her considerable moxie to trace the tentacles of this sinister organization back to their shocking source, and face down a legendary American family at a rigged game it has no intention of losing.
June 1998. When Ella Dommerich’s ninetysomething society queen aunt Julie ropes her into digging up dirt on Senator (and Presidential candidate) Franklin Hardcastle in order to settle old family scores, she couldn’t be less enthusiastic. Pregnant Ella’s recently ditched her unfaithful husband and settled into cozy—if complicated—domesticity with her almost-too-good-to-be-true musician boyfriend, Hector. But then the Hardcastle secrets lead to a web of shady dealings Ella’s uncovered in her job as a financial analyst, and the bodies start to tumble out of the venerable woodwork. With the help of her ex-husband and her mysterious connection to a certain redheaded flapper, Ella digs up more than mere dirt…only to discover herself standing alone between a legendarily ruthless family and the prize it’s sought for generations.
What ugly secrets lurk in the opulent enclaves—and bank accounts–of America’s richest families? And can two determined women from two different generations thwart the murderous legacy of the demon liquor?
My thoughts:
This is the third book in Beatriz Williams’ Wicked City series and I have been looking forward to reading this book. I love this author’s writing and love nothing more than getting lost in her books and could not wait to start this one. But I found myself really taking my time with it…I loved it so much and really did not want it to end.
It’s been a while since I’ve read the prior two books and as this is a series that really builds on the subsequent books, I do feel that it is necessary to read the books in order. I was going to reread, or at least skim over, the prior two books before picking this new one up, however Beatriz hosted two read-agains for the earlier books where she did a great re-hash of each book and I felt that those two events really got me up to speed so that I was well-prepared to jump into this one.
One of the things I love most about Beatriz Williams’ novels is how she always manages to bring back characters from previous books into her current novels. And there are so many instances of that here. If you are a super fan of Beatriz’s books, like I consider myself to be, you know that she loves the characters she writes and so it is not unusual for them to pop up in another book, even if it’s just in a minor role. In this book, the beloved Aunt Julie from A Hundred Summers, the very first book I ever read by Beatriz, and who has appeared in countless books, plays an integral role and I could not have been happier. I love this character and I cannot tell you how happy I get when I see her name appear on the page. And of course she gives nod to her writing partners in this book – if you read her other books, you will certainly pick up on this and if you don’t, no worries.
Once again, this installment is told using the dual narrative and I found myself completely engaged and invested in both timelines, especially as both involve some rather dubious happenings. Both Gin and Ella continue to be strong, fierce women, each with their own set of problems that they are faced with, yet determined to rise above and ultimately uncover all that needs to be brought to light. Each chapter kept me hooked and the fact that there were twists or reveals at almost every chapter kept me glued to the pages but what ultimately made this book is the fact that we finally learn how these two women are connected.
There is a lot going on in this book, but the writing is just so addictive that once you start reading it, you find yourself completely immersed in the story. As long as you have read the prior two books – I cannot stress this point enough!!! – you will easily be able to keep up with all that is happening in this book. And as much as I wanted to see how it all ended, I also wanted to savor every minute I had with these characters. I love being in the world that Beatriz creates and among all her characters. With so many of them popping up again and again, I feel that many of them are long, lost friends at this point, but I do love how seeing how she put them in different circumstances to make it work for each book.
I cannot recommend this series enough and I’m so thrilled to be able to say that there will indeed be another Wicked book coming at some point. Of course, I’ll be reading everything and anything Beatriz Williams writes, but this announcement definitely made my heart happy because I absolutely adore that feisty redhead, Gin Kelly!
Books in this series:
- The Wicked City / reread – updated review
- The Wicked Redhead
- The Wicked Widow
