Molly Murphy needs a job as she settled into 1901 New York City, so she determines to make herself an apprentice to Paddy Riley, a private detective she has observed, in Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen. Paddy, a known woman-hater, at first dismisses Molly, but her persistence wins out, and he takes her on. One day Paddy goes disguised as a butler to the Delmonico’s to investigate a cheating couple. Then, the next day, Molly shows up at work only to be sent home as Paddy mutters something about having discovered something unexpected with big implications.
The day after Paddy’s disturbed ravings, Molly once again enters the office, only to find Paddy slumped over his desk and noises coming from the room that stores Paddy’s files. She scares away the intruder but checks on Paddy, only to discover that he has been stabbed and is about to die. The police assigned to the case don’t seem to take the case seriously, so Molly determines to take over as junior partner to Paddy’s firm and investigate his death herself.
Rhys Bowen has a reputation as one of the best historical mystery writers in the field, but it is her “Royal Spyness Mystery” series that draws most of the attention. However, I thoroughly appreciated this Molly Murphy mystery. The characters are very well drawn, and I felt that I could recognize the major ones should I run into them anywhere. I especially thought the mystery plot was well done and clever. It gets tied into real historical events, adding to the sense of reality that we get from the book.
Death of Riley is performed by Nicola Barber, who easily convinces listeners that she is Molly, who narrates the book. As she describes an attack on Molly, she makes us see every action, creating much anticipation about what would happen. We become highly invested in what will happen through the performance of Barber.
I fully enjoyed getting to listen to Death of Riley and am really eager to get to move onto the next book in the series. I give the book 5 stars!
