Customer Reviews

Death on Beacon Hill (Gilded Age Mysteries, No. 3)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the last installment of this series, prior to this one, we had some extreme violence and Nell and Will nearly got done in.
This time out, it is a retired actress with an Irish maid who gets murdered. It is the Irish maid, niece of the Hewett's coachman, who draws Nell into investigating the death because the corrupt Boston police are content to let the Irish maid be blamed for the death of both women. The actress supports herself by blackmailing her lovers. Will accompanies Nell throughout this investigation, as it involves many prominent citizens, which his name helps them question. We meet some new and likeable characters, including a Dr. Foster, and Emily Pratt. And the actress had an interesting long-time homosexual friend. I can not recall any gay characters in other period mysteries and think P.B. Ryan was clever to introduce one. I was pleased that the tiresome Hewitt father was nearly absent this time. I read the whole book in one evening and am anxious to read the next and the next, etc.

Death on Beacon Hill by P.B. Ryan is the third entry in the Gilded Age series starring governess Nell Sweeney. This is another outstanding book full of great mystery and snappy repartee between Nell and her beau Will Hewitt. In this book, Nell is asked to look into the death of Fiona, the niece of the Hewitt's driver, after she's accused of theft and the murder of her employer, Virginia Kimball, a famous actress. The chemistry between Nell and Will sparks the entire book, and there's a fabulous passage from Nell's view about how closely Will is coming to touch the frosted glass that must exist between them. It's powerfully and beautifully written. Ryan never hesitates to show the darker side of Boston's elite, but she always handles it so tastefully, much like Nell who must navigate the waters of the elite with the curse of an Irish surname and always comes out looking like a lady. Will finds the excuse to let them show some of their feelings for each other in public, but I wonder how long it will last. Of course, at least for a few pages, as in the rest of the books so far, the reader is allowed to believe that Harry Hewitt could have committed the murder, perhaps someday he actually will have. I miss the interaction between Nell and her employer Viola, and I hope that Ryan will make further use of it in future books.

I've been eagerly awaiting this book since I finished Murder In a Milltown a few months ago and am happy to report that I did not wait in vain. Death on Beacon Hill is a well-written, entertaining vehicle for the wonderful characters P.B. Ryan first introduced in Still Life With Murder.

Nell Sweeney continues to be one of the most convincing and likeable crime solvers in her genre. She is joined, once again, by Will Hewitt. Will is growing into something quite rare; a loyal, affectionate, well-adjusted, and reformed rake! Well, if any body could do it, Nell Sweeney could do it! And Ryan pulls it off gracefully, proving that you characters don't have to be a wreck to be interesting.

The mystery is solid, well-paced and satisfying. I would have preferred that it involve, in some way, one of the Hewitts or other established characters. Will and Harry were suspects in the first two murders and so the outcomes had more emotional impact. Here the suspect (and I don't believe I'm giving anything away by saying this) is a heretofore unmentioned relative of one of the Hewitt's servants, and she's already dead when the story begins (which takes some of the immediacy out of the guilt/innocence question.)

That said, I gave Death on Beacon Hill 5 stars for the charged camaraderie of it's crime solvers, Nell and Will, and the uncommonly good writing of P.B. Ryan. I can't wait for the next one!

An entertaining light summer read. Not quite as compeling as the first two in the series, but it provided some character development for our hero and heroine. I would not recommend reading this as a standalone, since most of what it has to offer is based on development of characters from the previous two in the series. If you're eager to see how the rest of the story unfolds don't skip this one. Treat it as a stepping stone between books 1&2 and those that follow.

The Nell Sweeney Murder Mysteries are like potato chips. It's impossible to devour only one.

This is one of my favorite books. Too bad this author is not writing more of them

These mysteries are so much fun. Rarely predictable. And even when one guesses it just about right, the hows and whys of it all turn out to complex they mystery so much, one wonders how Ms. Ryan imagines it all. And yet, for all the complexity, they never seem overly contrived, or confusing. It's like a great ball of string that eventually gets unwound. For all the fun of watching a mystery get solved, of a murder and its evidence and its suspects being examined, I think what truly has me hooked is watching this relationship slowly develop. As it does, Nell's life grows increasingly complex. Ms. Ryan has written their story with such subtlety and care that it reminds one of more serious literary fiction. It's the best of both worlds, really, a slow, character driven saga, broken up into shorter, action packed, digestible chapters. I'm really relishing in them. I'll be very sad when I've finished the last one.

It was a fairly enjoyable read. And for 99cents, it was well worth it. It had a lot of historical information in this book also. It just had a corny ending for me. But, again, for 99cents, it was well worth it. It was a read that kept me entertained enough to finish the book and find out the mystery of the whispers. Also, it was a good love story, of two people who stayed true to each other through so much turmoil. I actually give it 3 and a half stars.

Brady, the Hewitt family driver, enlists Nell Sweeney's help when his niece and her employer, Mrs. Kimball the famous actress, end up dead. The cops, on the take and none too bright, believe the women shot each other in a failed robbery attempt. Case closed.

Not so fast, my friends. Nell Sweeney and Will Hewitt are together again, pulling at threads until the mystery finally unravels. Their impossible-to-consummate love affair continues to dazzle, crackling with wit and smoldering desire.

However, this book loses a bit of the steam built up in the first two stories. Though the characters and dialogue shine, the conclusion feels a tad cliche this time around. Also, with Will off the opium, the sense of exotic danger that set those books apart is missing. Cleaning the man up is obviously a necessary ingredient to keep their affair cooking and the series moving ahead, but the reader can't help but miss the delicious connection to the grimy Boston underworld that his addiction brought to the party.

Recommended to fans of the series. Not a must-read.

This is the third mystery set in 1860s Boston and featuring Irish governess and amateur sleuth Nell Sweeney. In this outing a famous actress has been murdered. She is found dead with her Irish maid, and when the newspapers and the police blame the servant, the girl's uncle, a coworker of Nell's, asks her to clear the young woman's name.

The writing is smooth, the characters interesting and the dialogue smart as Nell and her partner, Will Hewitt, flirt 1860s style and question suspects while drinking tea and attending dinner parties. The advantage to Nell as a protagonist is that she can, albeit sometimes uneasily, hobnob with the Brahmin or talk street with the ethnic servant class, which makes for fun peeks at an interesting time in history. There is a bit of gore and frank sexual discussion in this absorbing mystery.

Quite fun!