Deception by Gaslight: A Gilded Gotham Mystery
In the winter of 1888, stunning 26-year-old Genevieve Stewart fights to remain the only female reporter at New York City’s leading daily paper. The novel opens with Genevieve pursuing leads to a generous jewelry thief in a rough neighborhood. Suddenly thugs surround her in an alley where a dead body lies a few steps away. The thugs threaten to rob her and worse. The leader of the band, handsome Daniel McCaffrey, rescues her but refuses to provide any information on the thief, called Robin Hood, or about the dead body. The story then unfolds through the separate points of view of Daniel and Genevieve.
Days after that first encounter, Genevieve meets Daniel at a high-society ball and begins to wonder if he is Robin Hood. The jewelry heists continue, and multiple well-known high society members are murdered. Daniel and Genevieve cooperate to find the thief and the killer or killers. Together they discover that the deaths may be linked to a complicated real-estate scheme. They grow to admire each other, even begin to fall in love, but mutual suspicions interfere. She wonders if Daniel is Robin Hood or even the murderer. He wonders if she is using him to get her big story. Along the way, Genevieve must evade stalkers and multiple attempts on her life.
Belli accurately portrays New York’s street thugs and aristocracy, their dwellings, clothes, food, how they interact. Creative and unexpected plot twists impel the story. The ending leaves big holes open, but a promised second novel will likely fill them. Overall, Deception by Gaslight is an interesting American addition to the Victorian mystery subgenre.
