In Sunshine or in Shadow (Molly Murphy Mysteries, 20)
New York, June 1908. In the latest addition to the Molly Murphy mystery series, heavily pregnant, “retired” detective Molly is sent by her husband to stay with family in the countryside in order to avoid the typhoid epidemic sweeping the big city. Bored out of her mind and quite unsuited to afternoons of crocheting doilies, she gratefully accepts an invitation from her friends, a female couple called Sid and Gus, to visit a nearby women’s artist colony, Amicitia (so-called after the Latin word for friendship). There she meets a number of lovely and free-spirited women, including a journalist. These politically active ladies cheerfully stage a protest against a nearby mining operation, which mars the peace of the mountains and harms local wildlife.
But their fun is disturbed when Sid’s old-fashioned Jewish immigrant family, who lives nearby, hires a matchmaker to find husbands for Sid and her young cousin, Mira. The man chosen for Mira is Simon Levin, the owner of a successful furniture business who plans to build a hotel nearby. Soon after the matchmaker introduces them, Levin is shot with his own rifle while walking in the woods with Mira. The poor girl is naturally the prime suspect—even though the miners also have reason to dislike him, because he wants to shut them down since their dynamiting would likely keep away clients for his proposed resort. Despite her delicate state, Molly finds the real culprit with the aid of her journalist friend and the other women of Amiticia.
This is a solid, well-written mystery with a firm understanding of the history of New York City, the suffragettes, and the Jewish community in the Catskills. I particularly enjoyed the scenes set at Amicitia, which added welcome levity.
