"Vivid . . . A brisk and bubbly period whodunit with a pair of indomitable heroines." —Kirkus Reviews
“The sequel to Last Call at the Nightingale is a riveting historical mystery set in New York City’s demimonde.” —Library Journal
“Schellman’s real strength is the rich sense of time and place she creates.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“A perfect summer read.” —Red Carpet Crash
“Some intriguing developments have me ready and eager for the next installment in the series.” —Dear Reader
"This entertaining book moves along swiftly to its conclusion.” —Deadly Pleasures
Praise for Last Call at the Nightingale:
A Library Journal "Best Crime Fiction of 2022"
A Publishers Weekly Mystery/Thriller Summer Reads 2022 Pick
One of Goodreads' 2022 "Spring's Most Anticipated New Mysteries"
One of BookPage's "Four Best June Mysteries"
A Bustle "Most Anticipated Book of June 2022"
A Virginia Living "Notable Spring Book"
A GO Magazine "Slide Into Spring and Summer with these Fabulously Gay Reads"
"Fizzy . . . Vivian is a terrific character, plucky and resourceful, determined to choreograph a different life for herself."—New York Times Book Review
"Excellent . . . Vivian proves to be a most imaginative sleuth. Readers will eagerly await her return."—Publishers Weekly (Starred)
"The well-developed supporting cast is diverse in race gender, and sexuality, and the suspense will keep readers guessing until the end."—BookPage (Starred)
"A compelling, atmospheric series debut. Schellman expertly creates a strong sense of pace, introducing a nightclub as a world where people of different races, classes, and sexual orientations can come together."—Library Journal
"A Jazz Age murder thrusts a good-time girl into the uncomfortable role of secret shamus . . . A colorful period crime yarn with a heroine with rooting for."—Kirkus Reviews
"Readers will love Last Call at the Nightingale for its twisting plot, its flair for historical detail and its inclusive cast of appealing characters. Don't look away, as the surprises keep coming until the final page."—Shelf Awareness
“One of the pleasures of Last Call at the Nightingale is how the city thrusts the characters together, across the socioeconomic spectrum and racial and ethnic divides . . . the Nightingale is a world unto itself.”—BookTrib
“[Schellman] touches on issues of segregation, poverty, and class divides with a deft hand that leaves plenty of room for a very satisfying murder mystery with a great deal of heart.”—Mystery & Suspense
"This debut from Katharine Schellman is as thrilling as it gets. For any fans of mystery looking for a new spin on a beloved genre, here’s your next great summer read."—BuzzFeed Books
"As with the Nightingale club, the mystery plot crosses lines of class, gender, and ethnicity. This novel plays with our expectations and keeps our attention on every fast-moving page. Highly recommended."—Historical Novels Review
"Schellman has thoroughly researched the people and the mores of the period, and skillfully uses characters of different sexes and races that the reader slowly determines. Subtle, blatant, the book begs the question: 'When’s the next one?'"—Lavender Magazine
"Last Call at the Nightingale is a sexy, fun romp through the Jazz Age. With a well-plotted mystery and applause-worthy female characters, readers will soak up this spellbinding read."—Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment and The Bookseller's Secret
"This sharply paced, queer murder mystery, set in 1920s New York City, offers equal amounts of atmosphere, danger, and crime-solving. Schellman is at the top of her craft and delivers a murder mystery with clever twists and turns and memorable personalities."—Denny S. Bryce, Bestselling Author of Wild Women and the Blues
"Complete with speakeasies, mobsters, and an unflappable flapper as its heroine, this is a book that should be savored with a glass of bootleg gin in one hand and a 78 of Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five on the gramophone."—Allison Montclair, author of The Right Sort of Man
"Brimming with Jazz Age atmosphere, suspense, and a cast of engaging characters. Vivian is smart and gutsy, a character you’ll root for. I’m already looking forward to her next adventure!"—Ashley Weaver, author of the Amory Ames and Electra McDonnell series
"Original, bold, and sexy. This delicious mystery takes you to the Nightingale, a club where people can be who they really are, but everyone has secrets. Dirty doings among New York's elite, family drama, and more than one love story make for a fantastic start to a great new series."—Mariah Fredericks, author of the Jane Prescott series
07/17/2023
Schellman’s entertaining follow-up to 2022’s Last Call at the Nightingale folds fastidious period detail into a sturdy mystery plot. Vivian Kelly has found gainful employment as a waitress at the Nightingale, an illegal jazz club in Prohibition-era New York City. When Pearlie, a bouncer at the Nightingale and the uncle of its chanteuse, Bea, dies suddenly from arsenic poisoning, the attending doctor rules it a suicide. Bea doesn’t buy it, especially because Pearlie recently told her he’d been working with a mob boss and was about to land a significant payday that would allow him to move their entire family to a better neighborhood. After Vivian pulls some strings to have the death reexamined by authorities, evidence of foul play surfaces—including the disappearance of Pearlie’s cache of money—and she plunges full-throttle into an investigation, aided by the nephew of the NYPD’s police commissioner. Schellman has fun with her chosen setting, sprinkling in welcome bits of period language without succumbing to cliché, and she further establishes Vivian as an ace investigator. Future Nightingale adventures would be welcome. Agent: Whitney Ross, Irene Goodman Literary. (June)
04/01/2023
Vivian and Florence Kelly are two Irish sisters who work for a seamstress during the day in 1920s New York City. Vivian feels lucky to waitress several nights a week at her favorite underground jazz club, the Nightingale. But when whispers of suicide go through the club one evening, Vivian will once again be caught up in a murder investigation. A new bouncer, Pearlie, is dead. Pearlie's niece, the club's singer Bea, can't believe it's suicide. Bea turns to her best friend Vivian for help. They find a bottle that the coroner says was laced with arsenic. They also find a note. Pearlie isn't the only one in their poor neighborhood to get a note, but the others threaten neighbors unless they turn over a cherished possession—a necklace, a pair of candlesticks, etc. When Florence receives a threatening note, Vivian turns to friends at the Nightingale for help. She'll do anything to protect her sister, even dealing with powerful mob bosses or crooked cops. VERDICT The sequel to The Last Call at the Nightingale is a riveting historical mystery set in New York City's demimonde.—Lesa Holstine
2023-03-11
Jazz Age friends team up again to uncover the truth about a suspicious suicide.
A single word—Dead—ripples through the lively speak-easy the Nightingale like a flood. Vivian Kelly catches the eerie sensation and links it to the absence of her best friend, Bea, who’s uncharacteristically late. When Bea finally arrives at their nightly hangout, it’s with the sad news that her beloved Uncle Pearlie is dead by his own hand. Despite a doctor’s declaration of suicide, Bea is certain that someone killed Pearlie. Vivian, not convinced but concerned for her friend, decides to help Bea with her probe. Her belief in Bea’s theory grows when the coroner rules that arsenic was the cause of death and a visit to Uncle Pearlie’s apartment reveals that his secret horde of money has been stolen. Schellman builds on the vivid portrait of Roaring ’20s New York that she introduced in the series debut, Last Call at the Nightingale (2022): The social order is superficially progressive but simmering with multiple prejudices which both the Irish immigrant Vivian and the African American Bea encounter. The rich supporting cast includes the androgynous Honor “Hux” Huxley, who runs the Nightingale with an iron hand; colorful criminal Leo Green; and Vivian’s demure sister, Florence, working with quiet determination as a dressmaker to make ends meet. The discovery that Pearlie’s gal, Alba, is pregnant and that he worked for gangsters thickens the plot, and a threatening letter adds urgency to the probe.
A brisk and bubbly period whodunit with a pair of indomitable heroines.