LAST CALL AT THE NIGHTINGALE

A Jazz Age murder thrusts a good-time girl into the uncomfortable role of secret shamus.

Young New York factory worker Vivian Kelly forgets her troubles on a nightly basis, aggressively drinking and dancing at the Nightingale, the speak-easy where Bea, her best pal, works. Amazonian owner Honor “Hux” Huxley polices the Nightingale with an iron hand, and the flirting of her sidekick, Danny Chin, can always be depended on to give Vivian a lift. Things take a darker turn one night when Vivian and Bea stumble on a corpse in the alley behind the club. Hux advises her to forget what she saw, but Vivian’s conscience won’t allow that. Nor can she give up her addictive nightlife, which eventually leads to her arrest during a police raid. Her bail comes with strings attached, and almost before she realizes it, Vivian isn’t free to leave her nights at the Nightingale behind. The more she learns about the victim, the more compelled she feels to find his killer. The trail begins with the grieving widow, who’d been a blushing society bride only a year before. Schellman lavishes many chapters on her colorful Roaring ’20s setting before moving the murder probe to the front burner, an understandable gambit in a series kickoff. Colorful period detail, providing insights into the social and political tenor of the times, might allay the impatience of traditional whodunit fans. Once the action gets started, Vivian nails the clever killer and finds a lover and potential sleuthing sidekick.

A colorful period crime yarn with a heroine worth rooting for.