Customer Reviews

North Star Conspiracy

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This wonderful and touching mystery gives wonderful insight into life before the Civil War in various parts of the United States. The characters are extremely well drawn--the reader develops real concern and care for them--and seem very representative of the times. This would be a challenging time period to write about and Monfredo does it with compassion. An excellent series best read in order but don't let that stop you from reading any of them. I can't wait for the next one.

Miriam Grace Monfredo is one of the best historical mystery writers today, and her skills are well displayed in this book, the second in the Glynis Tryon series set in the upstate New York town of Seneca Falls in the middle of the 19th century. Glynis is the town librarian, with a strong belief in women's suffrage (along with her friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton). Until this story unfolds, however, she has been less supportive of the abolitionist cause which was strongly supported around Seneca Falls through participation in the Underground Railroad. Through the events linked to this murder mystery, however, Glynis is forced to rethink her position and ends up travelling as far as Richmond to fight against the Fugitive Slave Act.

One of the best things about Monfredo's stories is that she shares with you an entire town, in all its complexity and liveliness. Every character in the book is lovingly and lavishly drawn, and several plots unfold simultaneously which gives the stories a feeling of authenticity that is hard to beat.

You will want to rush out and buy the next story (Blackwater Spirits) immediately, to see how Glynis's friendship with the new Seneca/French constable, Jacques, turns out!

I loved this book. Though it is the second in the series, it was the first one for me, and I intend to read the rest of the series now. It rates a close second to City Of Light in the realm of historical fiction based in my part of NY State. I like that it includes real characters along with the most important issues of the time, and murder, mystery, romance and good fictional character development.

Monfredo's compassionate touch and diligent research bring the painful conflict over the Fugitive Slave Laws and the struggle for women's rights alive -- while not skimping the more traditional tensions of love interests and the sleuth's search for the criminals. The story ranges from New York down to Richmond, faithful to the geography and politics of both, and never neglecting character development or the drama of human interaction in this tale of kidnapping, concubinage, and murder. Not only would I recommend this to any adult mystery fan, I'd commend it to mature high school students who are looking for insight in what it was like to live when it was a crime to be a slave or to help one in the "free" states of the North.

This is the second Glynis Tryon Mystery, and it is even better than the first one, Seneca Falls Inheritance. It is now 1854, six years after "Inheritance," and the abolitionist debate is going strong. The Republican Party has just been founded in Ripon, Wisconsin.

Glynis strongly believes in obeying the law of the land, but she is unable to obey the Fugitive Slave Act by turning in Kiri, a lovely young girl who has escaped from a plantation in Virginia, and who is the beloved of Glynis' landlady's son, Niles. Glynis helps get Kiri to the home of Frederick Douglass, where she is hidden awaiting the opportunity to escape to Canada, where Niles plans to join her. When Niles is captured and taken to Virginia for trial, Glynis and Jeremiah Merrycoyf go to Virginia to try to save him. There ensues a fine courtroom drama, with Glynis turning up a key piece of evidence. Glynis and Merrycoyf return to Seneca Falls, and the villian, Thomas Farley, is unmasked.

This is but a small sample of the plot twists of this delightful book. It is a great read, and you will learn a bit of American history in the bargain.

watziznaym@gmail.com

Ms. Monfredo is a force to be reckoned with within the historical mystery genre. Her heroine, Glynis Tryon, is a wonderful creation. She is by far one of the most intereting and realistic historical fiction characters that I have come across in quite some time. This book is an historical mystery, but it is also an expose of the American Slave Trade. Ms. Monfredo blends real-life people such as Elizabeth Stanton and Harriet Tubman into her stories, and this makes the books fascinating and truly informative. This book illustrates the powerlessness of women and slaves during the 1840's in America. And we also get a first-class mystery that kept me guessing throughout. I simply cannot wait now to read the next story in this powerful series.

It appears that Ms. Monfredo's books are no longer in print, which is a true shame. I generally have no use for historical fiction, but she takes great pains to try to have the facts in a row. One of the things I like best is the encyclopedia-type entries in the back of the books detailing where history stops and where fiction begins. As somebody with a bit of a mental block where history's concerned, I appreciate not learning "fiction in the guise of facts" to get myself in trouble. LOL

In addition to this, the stories are just plain good. The publishing order is the chronological order, and I recommend reading them that way. They don't go immediately head-to-tail, but they do interconnect in ways that will make more sense if you read them in order.

I have to say that, being in VA, I found a small mistake in this book where it takes place in my area. It doesn't hurt the story a bit, and, according to other locals I've talked to who wouldn't have recognized the mistake either, it doesn't seem to be all that common of knowledge.

This is an EXCELLENT series, and I strongly urge people to check it out.

If you haven't yet been introduced to Monfredo's Glynis Tryon series, you must--I repeat, *must*--read this author. The only way I can think to describe this series to the uninitiated is Sue-Grafton-meets-Caleb-Carr. Monfredo mixes history with compelling, suspenseful writing. Plus, she's created a heckuva love triangle. Intrigued yet? You should be!