Customer Reviews

In Like Flynn : A Molly Murphy Series (Molly Murphy)

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When Daniel Sullivan says he has an assignment for her, Molly can hardly believe it. She's to go undercover to Senator Flynn's estate on the Hudson River. Posing as his cousin recently arrived from Ireland, she's to investigate the two spiritualists that the Senator's wife Theresa has hired to help her contact their son, who was killed in a kidnapping gone bad five years ago. When a woman falsely accused by reputation in the crime asks Molly to look into that, too, Molly agrees. But has she really learned enough about being an investigator to solve the two cases?

I made a discovery when I started this book. I truly love Molly and her friends. I hadn't realized how much I'd come to love them before this. Having said that, most of the action takes place outside of New York, so we really get Molly interacting with an entire new set of characters. The plot to this book in multi-layered, with two mysteries and several other sub-plots weaving nicely throughout. I found I had a hard time putting it down. I was disappointed that a couple key plot points on the mysteries seemed to happen by coincidence, but on the whole, it wasn't a major problem.

Ms. Bowen has written yet another engaging mystery that will please her fans. And if you haven't discovered her wonderful books yet, but all means pick one up. Either series will entertain and bring you back for more.

I've enjoyed the Molly Murphy series from the very first book - Murphy's Law.
In this third visit with mischevious Molly, she gets to go undercover to investigate the shaky Sorenson sisters and their seances.
The story moves from turn of the century New York City to the more peaceful atmosphere of upper state New York.
Molly however doesn't find alot of peace and ever true to her Irish spunk & curiosity becomes involved with crimes of a more serious nature: kidnapping and murder.
Molly Murphy is not some plastic perfect PI. She ofter makes mistakes, but she learns from them. Even as the story wraps up we find Molly making a choice that only her next tale may reveal the consequences. Yet my money, as always, is with Molly.

IN LIKE FLYNN is the fourth novel in the Molly Murphy mystery series written by Rhys Bowen. Molly is the gritty young woman who could be the poster girl for women's rights a decade later than her time. She's a fiery red-haired colleen from Ireland who lives in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. She practices the trade of private investigation as her livelihood. But her gender gets in the way much of the time. A former boyfriend, Captain Daniel Sullivan of the New York City Police Department, gives her a job that takes her out of the city. When she spends time in the Hudson River Valley at the private estate of a U.S. Senator, Barney Flynn, she escapes the ravages of a typhoid fever epidemic in the city.

Her job is to watch two spinster sisters at their trade. They assist persons in grief by contacting the dead through a séance. Daniel authorizes Molly to investigate the two for a reason to prosecute. He thinks they are bogus and play on the tragedies of their victims. The Senator's wife, Theresa, mourns her son who was kidnapped from the estate five years before. Her second child, Eileen, reminds her more of her loss. Theresa remains inconsolable, grasping at remote possibilities to reunite with her dead child.

Molly is shown as spunky, bright, energetic and living on the verge of propriety for a young woman of her day. However, she exhibits a vulnerability to feminine emotion that makes her real. She's moved on romantically but leans on her former lover for support. She's masquerading as a distant cousin from Ireland who visits the Flynns. But shadows from her past life thwart her in the form of a man she's been accused of killing back in her homeland.

Life at the turn of the century is a pallet drawn well in IN LIKE FLYNN. Bowen writes her characters well, especially the female side. Her men are not as easy to like, with the exception of the police detective. The butler, gardener, male secretary, and even the Senator are more predictable characters then their female counterparts. The Senator is a wanderer, chasing all young skirts on the property. At the same time he indulges his wife's whims and dominates her with petty minutia.

The mystery has twists and turns that lead to a pleasing outcome, though not altogether fulfilling. IN LIKE FLYNN isn't a story that yearns for a sequel, but it does leave the details of Molly's future open-ended. Thus, we'll look for the next Molly Murphy mystery at the bookstores.

A majority of modern mysteries deal with murder, mayhem and today's technologies. IN LIKE FLYNN is a pleasant change in the genre, relying on old-fashioned problem solving, without benefit of cell phones, computers and speeding police chases. Bowen's style is deserving of the awards she has received for her suspense-filled stories.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

In 1902, while New York City is in the middle of a typhoid epidemic, Irish immigrant Molly Murphy becomes a private eye; that is why police Captain Daniel Sullivan asks her to work undercover posing as Senator Flynn's cousin from Ireland while the family of the representative hosts the Sorenson Sisters who are mediums. Flynn's wife Theresa wants to contact her son who was kidnapped five years ago and the Sorenson Sisters have a reputation for contacting spirits.

Needing the money, Molly agrees to take the assignment to prove the sisters are frauds. She also meets the woman who was briefly considered a suspect in the kidnapping and she wants Molly to find evidence that will prove she had nothing to do with the crime even though she cared about the suspect, the chauffeur Bertie Morrel. From the time she gets settled in Adora, the senator's mansion, Molly feels a sense of evil pervades the place. When Theresa's nurse is killed by falling off a cliff, she almost thinks it isn't an accident. While investigating the Sorenson Sisters, she also probes the kidnapping which makes someone very nervous, a person who has killed before and isn't afraid to murder again anyone who gets in the perpetrator's way.

The more one reads about Molly Murphy, the more one realizes how creative and refreshing the series as a whole is. Rhys Bowen is the type of storyteller one rarely finds, who can create the perfect ambience, tell a good story and construct a who-done-it that is almost impossible to solve. IN LIKE FLYNN is a fantastic historical mystery that captures what it was like at the beginning of the twentieth century in New York

Harriet Klausner

In Like Flynn is the fourth Molly Murphy mystery. Each book gives you enough background that you can read them stand alone if you wish, but they a best read in order. I read the of them in a few days. They are easy reads that blend history, mystery and a little romance very well. Molly is a single young lady who had to leave Ireland in a bit of a rush after an incident involving her families landlord's son. She arrives in the New York under an assumed name, escorting two young children, and stumbles into a murder before she leaves Ellis Island (Murphy's Law). She has a hard time finding a "suitable job" for an opinionated female and eventually finds herself to be an investigator (Death of Riley). This book takes Molly out of NYC to the high dollar estates along the Hudson River. As always, Molly's assignment takes a turn for the strange as she discovers that the two spiritualists she has been paid to investigate are not the only mysterious people around

This is Ms. Bowen's fourth book in this series and I've enjoyed all four of them. She is meticulous in her research about early 20th Century New York, which sparked my interest to look further into that era. I appreciated her explaination at the end of the book about what was true and what wasn't. I'd like to see more of this in historical fiction. Many times it's confusing as to what is historical and what is fiction. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries with a dose of history thrown in.

Like the first book in this Molly Murphy series, this book is thoroughly delightful. Molly is always putting herself in danger, and just when you think she is out of trouble, trouble just seems to follow her. There were a lot of twists, turns and surprises.
Although this book is the fourth in a series, it is not necessary to read all the previous books. I did read the first book, and I plan on reading books 2 and 3 in this series.

Molly is risking her life to return home to Ireland, and finds herself mixed up in a mystery involving a famous actress, a mysterious package, an inheritance and a dead body. Molly, both charming and bright is up to the task of working through the rubble to find the truth.

Each and every Molly mystery is filled with historical information, which is fed ever so lightly and creates a realistic flavor. The characters are well developed, the stories well plotted and each a treasure in its own right. I read these 9 books in just 3 weeks. Once started, I couldn't stop! I am happy I read them in order, and you may want to consider this as well. Since many of them have been awarded mysteries top writing awards, I have created a list for you to read which book received which award, and placed them in order according to publication date in case you too would like to read them in order:
Murphy's Law (2001)
2001 Agatha Award for Best Novel
Finalist 2002 Mary Higgins Clark Award

Death of Riley (2002)
Finalist 2002 Agatha Award for Best Novel

For the Love of Mike (2003)
2004 Anthony Award for Best Historical Novel
Finalist 2004 Macavity Award for Best Novel

In Like Flynn (2005)
Finalist 2006 Macavity Award for Best Historical Novel

Oh Danny Boy (2006)
2007 Macavity Award for Best Historical Novel
Finalist 2007 Barry Award for Best Novel

In Dublin's Fair City (2007)

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (2008)
Finalist 2009 Bruce Alexander Award

In a Gilded Cage (2009)
Finalist 2010 Bruce Alexander Award

The Last Illusion (2010)

I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did!!

This is the fourth book in the author's engaging series of historical cozy mysteries, featuring Molly Murphy, a recent immigrant to America's shores at the turn of the twentieth century. Intelligent and resourceful, Molly has dreams of making a living as a private detective, much to the dismay of New York City captain Daniel Sullivan, who is enamored of Molly, despite being engaged to a socialite.

When he offers Molly an opportunity to for an undercover assignment in the Hudson River home of Barney Flynn, a local politician, Molly jumps at the opportunity. Not only does it get her out of the teeming streets of typhoid ridden New York City, it gets her an opportunity to hone her skills at detection.

Masquerading as Flynn's cousin, Molly is drawn into the Flynn household, where Flynn's invalid wife is trying to contact her dead son through the supposed psychic abilities of the Sorensen sisters, who are also houseguest of the Flynn's. Their son apparently had been kidnapped years before but never found, as the purported kidnapper had died at the hands of the police before the child's whereabouts could be ascertained.

As Molly gains insight into the Flynn household, Molly begins to question not only the psychic abilities of the Sorenson sisters, who are the focus of her assignment, but she also begins to question the handling of the kidnapping case by the police. As Molly's investigation begins to take her in another direction, danger looms near, and death seems to be just around the corner.

This is a well-written book with an intriguing plot and characters that will fully engage the reader. The book is also replete with historical detail that is evocative of a bygone era. As with all cozy mysteries, it is not so much the mystery that is of import but the characters that revolve around the mystery. While the mystery is intriguing, it is the framework around which the characters evolve. In the character of Molly Murphy, the author has created a sure fire winner.

This time Molly goes undercover. She runs into her worst nightmare. She also solves numerous crimes. Leave it to Molly to engross your whole attention so much that you forget where you are sitting while you are reading. This is the 4th Molly Murphy mystery and it's the best one yet.