City of Lies

Author: Victoria Thompson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 312
Series: #1 in the Counterfeit Lady series
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Berkley Press
First Published: November 7, 2017
Opening Lines: "Jake looked much too smug. Elizabeth's hand itched to smack the smirk off his face, but well-bred young ladies didn't go around smacking people in hotel dining rooms."

Book Description from GoodReads: Elizabeth Miles scours 1920’s Washington, D.C. for a killer in the first Counterfeit Lady novel from the author of the New York Times bestselling Gaslight mysteries.

Every woman plays a part—but some are more dangerous than others…

Like most women, Elizabeth Miles assumes many roles; unlike most, hers have made her a woman on the run. Living on the edge of society, Elizabeth uses her guile to relieve so-called respectable men of their ill-gotten gains. But brutal and greedy entrepreneur Oscar Thornton is out for blood. He’s lost a great deal of money and is not going to forgive a woman for outwitting him. With his thugs hot on her trail, Elizabeth seizes the moment to blend in with a group of women who have an agenda of their own.

She never expects to like or understand these privileged women, but she soon comes to respect their intentions, forming an unlikely bond with the wealthy matriarch of the group whose son Gideon is the rarest of species—an honest man in a dishonest world. She knows she’s playing a risky game, and her deception could be revealed at any moment, possibly even by sharp-eyed Gideon. Nor has she been forgotten by Thornton, who’s biding his time within this gilded orbit, waiting to strike. Elizabeth must draw on her wits and every last ounce of courage she possesses to keep her new life from being cut short by this vicious shadow from her past.

My Rating: 3 stars

I picked up this first book in a new series because I was hankering for a series that I could read in between some of the other books in my reading queue - one with a strong main character, a little history and some mystery t'boot. 

Initially, City of Lies piqued my interest with its historical mystery/con artist aspect and while I enjoyed the focus on the women's suffrage movement, unfortunately, the mystery and romance aspects were much less riveting that I had anticipated.

This happened for two reasons. One, I like to jump right into a story and there's quite a bit of a wait to get to the intrigue. Second, I felt on the outside of the story for much of the book. I want to feel pulled into the era, the characters' lives and the plot and that never quite happened here, and I wasn't fond of the romance aspect.

This was a good book but not a great read. The writing is strong, but the blurb entices readers with intrigue that doesn't come into play much until further on in the book. While I was hoping for stronger characters and plot, I'd be willing to give this series another shot because I think Elizabeth shows signs of the daring, intrepid, spunky heroine that tends to keep me coming back to a series.