A Dangerous Legacy: An Empire State Novel

Happy All Saints Day!  I hope you had a haunted Halloween with lots of sweet treats!  The Murderess by Jennifer Wells is out today.  It is a historical mystery novel that takes readers from 1913 through 1941.

A Dangerous Legacy by Elizabeth Camden is the first book in An Empire State Novel series.  It is 1903 in New York City where Lucy Drake works as a telegraph operator for the Associated Press and she lives with her brother, Nick.  The AP’s rival news agency Reuters (located in the same building) has a new man at the helm, Sir Colin Beckwith.  Colin is attracted to Lucy, but he needs an heiress for a bride. Colin has a Whitefriars, a family estate, to maintain and it takes money (especially since it is falling down with disrepair).  Lucy and Colin slowly develop a friendship.  Lucy’s family has been in a heated forty-year legal battle with relatives, and Colin has the means to assist her family gain some valuable information.  But, someone does not like Colin nosing around and will do what it takes to put an end to it.  What have Colin and Lucy stumbled into? 

A Dangerous Legacy is well-written and has great characters.  The author always creates such delightful, well-developed characters.  The mystery captured my attention.  I wish it had been slightly more challenging to solve.  The book has a fast pace and an interesting premise.  I had not read about news agencies prior to this novel and I found it fascinating.  There is just the right amount of humor in the story.  There are some definite laugh out loud moments.  The book has romance, intrigue, suspense, humor, homing pigeons, Morse code, bad guys, and so much more.  Ms. Camden did a wonderful job at capturing the era in A Dangerous Legacy.  My favorite line in the book was “broken free of a dangerous legacy”.  I give A Dangerous Legacy 5 out of 5 stars.  This is one of those books that I started around 9 p.m. and I stayed up late to finish it.  I could not put it down.  I am eager to read the next book in An Empire State Novel series.

Thank you for visiting today.  May each of you have a special first day of November.  By the way--Why did the police arrest the turkey?  They suspected fowl play!  I will see you tomorrow.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader