by
N. S. Wikarski
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GENRE: Historical Mystery
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BLURB:
Consulting detectives Evangeline LeClair and Freddie Simpson face their most challenging case yet when a priceless Egyptian artifact is stolen from a Chicago museum. To make matters worse, the museum’s richest patron is robbed of a diamond necklace shortly afterward. Suspicion immediately falls on a wealthy widow and her scheming son. Trapped in their clutches is the widow’s hapless daughter, about to be forced into a marriage of convenience against her will.
The investigation is complicated by two mysterious strangers who have also taken an interest in the missing Egyptian relic. Solving both thefts will lead Freddie and Evangeline down some strange avenues of inquiry involving secret societies, international criminal masterminds, gentlemen jewel thieves, unexpected ocean voyages, and underworld kingpins. The two sleuths must either solve their case or join the ranks of fatalities numbered among THE BLACK WIDOW’S PREY.
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EXCERPT
A dark shape came hurtling out of the trees and made straight for the delivery man. At first, he appeared as nothing but a black blur, but Mrs. Featherstone’s field glasses were able to pick out a few distinctive features. He wore a black workingman’s cap, and his face was covered by a black bandit kerchief tied behind his head to conceal his features. It was the height of sartorial incongruity that he also wore a black opera cape over the rest of his dark attire. Running full tilt, the assailant drew a knife and drove it into the delivery man’s stomach, forcing him to drop the small box he had just retrieved from the back of the van. Without slowing or hesitating, the thief scooped up the prize and dashed away.
The delivery man lay moaning on the ground, crying out that he’d been stabbed. The movers, standing at the top of the building’s stairs, barely had time to register what had just transpired before the thief succeeded in vanishing into the depths of the park. When they had recovered from the shock, the two men dashed down the steps to drag the delivery man to safety inside the building where they could summon help.
Merriweather, who had observed the entire event without benefit of magnification, turned pointedly toward the lady.
Mrs. Featherstone lowered the glasses and shook her head emphatically. “This will not do, Mr. Merriweather.”
“No, madam. It certainly will not, though it’s just as I—"
She cut him off. “Do not say it!”
“Perhaps we ought to give chase,” he suggested mildly.
The lady looked down at her feet. “In these shoes? Are you mad?”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Nancy Wikarski is a fugitive from academia. After earning her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, she became a computer consultant and then turned to historical mystery and adventure fiction writing. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Society Of Midland Authors, and has served as vice president of Sisters In Crime - Twin Cities and on the programming board of the Chicago chapter. Her short stories have appeared in Futures Magazine and DIME Anthology while her book reviews have been featured in Murder: Past Tense and Deadly Pleasures.
Her Victorian Chicago Mystery Series, set in 1890s Chicago, has received People's Choice Award nominations for Best First Novel and Best Historical as well as a Lovey Award Nomination for Best Traditional Amateur Sleuth. Titles include THE FALL OF WHITE CITY (2002) and SHROUDED IN THOUGHT (2005).
Her seven-book Arkana Archaeology Thriller Series has been an Amazon Bestseller since January 2016. The series finale has received an award nomination for Best Mystery Of The Month from L.A.S. Reviews. Titles include THE GRANITE KEY (2011), THE MOUNTAIN MOTHER CIPHER (2011), THE DRAGON'S WING ENIGMA (2012), RIDDLE OF THE DIAMOND DOVE (2013), INTO THE JAWS OF THE LION (2014), SECRETS OF THE SERPENT'S HEART (2015), and THE SAGE STONE PROPHECY (2016).
Future projects include a crossover mystery featuring the amateur sleuths from the Victorian Chicago Series and an earlier generation of Arkana agents. A spinoff series of standalone mysteries entitled THE TROVE CHRONICLES will feature Arkana agents past and present. For details, visit www.mythofhistory.com.
Amazon author page
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GIVEAWAY
The tour dates can be found
here
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My review:
4.25 stars
The Black Widow’s Prey by N.S. Wikarski is the third book in the ‘Gilded Age Chicago Mystery” series and features intrepid and determined Evangeline LeClair and her associate, Freddie Simpson, as they undertake to retrieve a precious artifact that was stolen, and then become embroiled in yet another investigation. Unexpected allies and strange bedfellows affect the course of the investigation as the dangers keep rising and the facts of history are challenged.
This historical mystery is both entertaining and educational. There was no problem reading this as a stand-alone story, but this very engaging pair and their interactions definitely make me want to read the previous tales in the series to see how their relationship has evolved. I love the way history is explored through both the events described in the story and the discoveries made by the characters.
The author makes the era and society of the 1890s come alive while pointing out social inequities and highlighting the challenges that women have faced even as societies have changed. The concept of the Arkana society is intriguing, and I enjoyed learning how artifacts such as the one at the center of the mystery could change history as we know it. I enjoyed meeting the multiple unconventional women in this story and I was fascinated by the pragmatism in Evangeline’s response to the events that resolve the mystery. I look forward to reading more adventures involving this unconventional pair of amateur detectives.
A copy of this title was provided for review
