“The Girl from Greenwich Street,” by Lauren Willig (William Morrow)
In 1799, Elma Sands left her Manhattan home, confiding to a cousin that she was eloping. Instead, she was murdered, her body shoved down a well. Levi Weeks, who boarded in Elma’s house, was quickly charged. The arrest caused a frenzy. Broadsides were published with details of the murder, and New Yorkers demanded that Levi be hanged. Then Levi’s wealthy brother hired Aaron Burr to defend him. And when Frederick Hamilton heard of Burr’s appointment, he insisted on joining the defense team. The two political rivals, who despised each other, worked at cross-purposes: Burr insisted on an insanity defense, while Hamilton wanted to find the real killer.
Using trial accounts and other records for this historical fiction, Lauren Willig re-creates not only the two famous lawyers but Elma’s household of relatives and boarders as well. She sets them against a background of teaming streets and early American prejudices (i.e., that Elma was partly to blame for her death because she was a bastard, with inherited immorality). Beautifully written, “The Girl from Greenwich Street” is both history and crime, and a terrific read.
“The Last Days of Kira Mullen,” by Nicci French (William Morrow)
Nancy North has just recovered from a nervous breakdown when she and her partner, Felix, move into an apartment in a dilapidated house in London. A day or two later, the woman living in the flat below is found hanged. The police rule suicide, but Nancy insists the woman, Kira, was murdered.
Nobody believes Nancy, including the controlling Felix, who has told everyone in the building about Nancy’s mental episode. When Nancy refuses to stop insisting Kira was murdered, Felix has her committed again. Nancy insists there’s nothing wrong with her — proof, the doctors say, that she’s mad. Once back in the apartment, Nancy plots to leave Felix, but he’s set her up. He’s torn up her credit card, got her fired from her job and convinced everyone in the building that she’s still crazy. Nancy’s trapped until she meets Maud, a detective who agrees with Nancy that Kira was murdered.
“Mrs. Cook and the Klan,” by Tom Chorneau (University of Nebraska Press)
Despite its title, the nonfiction “Mrs. Cook and the Klan” is mostly the story of “Booze, Bloodshed and Bigotry in America’s Heartland,” as its subtitle says. It’s atually a history of Iowa (and Mrs. Cook doesn’t really show up until the last 20 pages). Cook was a police informant who lived across from the railroad station in Vinton, Iowa, and kept track of illegal bootlegging activity. Her 1925 death was never solved. Author Tom Chorneau, an investigative reporter, has an idea of who the killer was.
Most books have typos and minor factual errors too insignificant to be pointed out. But the error in “Mrs. Cook and the Klan” is too funny to ignore. The author mentions a unit of the First U.S. Dragoons ordered to travel to Des Moines to study whether the river was navigable. He writes, “The calvary would have needed to come north … .” The word, of course is cavalry. (Calvary was the hill in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.)
“Home of the Happy,” by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot (Mariner Books)
In 1983, an intruder kidnapped and murdered Cajun banker Aubrey LaHaye from his home in Mamou, La. LaHaye’s wife identified a local man, John Brady Balfa, as the culprit. Balfa was later found guilty of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. He should have been paroled long ago, but laws changed, and he has spent 40 years in prison. He is likely to die there.
Nobody in Aubrey’s extended family ever talked about the killing, so Aubrey’s great-granddaughter, Jordan LaHaye Fontenot, set out to find out what happened to her PawPaw and whether John Brady was really guilty. The result is this nonfiction murder mystery, whose Cajun setting is captured in a descriptive, sometimes lyrical, style worthy of James Lee Burke.
“Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man),” by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley)
Vera Wong is back. That endearing Chinese tea shop owner knows that she will get to the bottom of the death of young Xander. Suicide or murder? Millie, Xander’s friend, enlists the aid of Vera, then backs off, leaving Vera with another mystery to solve. Millie should know Vera will never give up. She enlists friends and relatives and characters from author Jesse Q. Sutanto’s previous book to help. The loveable Vera is exasperating, and this book is a delight.
“I Would Die For You,” by Sandie Jones (Minotaur Books)
Life is pretty good for Nicole Forbes. She lives in Southern California with an adoring husband and happy young daughter. Her only worry is protecting the seals on Coronado Beach. Then a woman shows up at her door, asking about Nicole’s relationship with Ben Edwards, a famous British rock star, and a 20-year-old scandal. The same day, Nicole’s daughter is kidnapped by an “auntie.” Nicole’s carefully hidden life is about to be unveiled. When he discovers who his wife really is, Nicole’s husband walks out.
“I Would Die For You” goes back and forth between Nicole’s California life and her 1986 love affair with Ben. Author Jones slowly reveals Nicole’s love affair with the head of the hottest band in England, kept secret because her younger sister has an unhealthy crush on Ben and can’t distinguish her fantasies from real life. Warning: Readers may be disappointed at the book’s ending.