Murder at the Flamingo (A Van Buren and DeLuca Mystery)
Hamish DeLuca is done having his father intervene in his life. He decides to leave home and move in with his cousin, Luca, who’s living in Boston. Luca’s opening a new nightclub, The Flamingo, and has hired Regina Van Buren as his secretary. Regina is an heiress but is running from her stifling high-society life. On the night of the Flamingo’s opening, a cigarette girl is found dead. After a police officer dismisses it as an accident, Hamish and Regina discover signs of murder and take it upon themselves to crack the case.
McMillan’s phrasing is a bit awkward. In example, one paragraph ends with: “There was something… genuine about him. Yes, genuine. That was more than she could say for Schultze! She fingered the phone wire. Or herself.” I’m sure the “or herself” doesn’t refer to the sentence about the phone wire, but this type of clumsy wording and/or sentence placement is distracting. I also thought the narrative was weighed down by the endless street directions. For those unfamiliar with Boston, particularly in 1937, street names don’t convey a good perspective on distance or illustrate the city’s grandeur.
Character-wise, Hamish suffers from anxiety issues, and he provides a unique and captivating point of view. Additionally, McMillan knows her 1930s cinema (loved the Katherine Hepburn references!) and radio. The wardrobes, nightclub atmosphere, and music are all well detailed. Mystery-wise, the murder happens after the midpoint in the book. When it did finally occur, my interest was beginning to wane. While this is the first in a series, the buildup is simply too long and makes the plot feel like it was dragging its feet. However, the story has good characterization and spot-on 1930s glamour.
