Lies That Comfort And Betray is the second book in the A Gilded Age Mystery series.

This is another historical mystery series that I really enjoy reading and this is a fantastic follow-up to the first book, What The Dead Leave Behind.

Prudence MacKenzie, whose late father was a famed jurist in New York City, and Geoffrey Hunter, an ex-Pinkerton agent, have formed a private investigation office.

It’s November 1988 and Jack the Ripper has just killed his seventh victim in London and New York City is desperately hoping that a violent killer will not strike here. Nora Kenny, whose mother once served Prudence’s mother, has come to help at Prudence’s home, but when no one answers the door she decides to head to St. Anselm Church for confession. When she sees someone she doesn’t want talk with she hides in the church and falls asleep. A few hours later her mutilated body is found wrapped in a tarp near the carousel in Colonial Park When the police Detective Phelan finds out that she had decided to not marry Tim Fahey, Phelan immediately arrests Fahey and takes him to The Tomb where he undergoes a horrific third-degree interrogation. Then a second body of another Irish maid is found, also mutilated and wrapped in a tarp. But this body was found near the stables on the Nolan’s property where she worked. When a third body is found, Prudence and Geoffrey are completely confused as this victim was not an Irish maid, but was a prostitute. So they need to rethink their clues and that brings them back to St Anselm Church.

Gefforey contacts his friend, Ned Hayes for help and he calls in some favors from saloon owner, Billy McGlory, who provides one of his informers on the street, homeless Kevin, and his dog Blossom provides some valuable information that will put Prudence and Gefforey on right track.

Ms. Simpson’s books are well written and have an interesting cast of characters. She provides the reader with an exciting story and an insightful look at New York City in the late 1880’s

I will definitely be watching for the next book in this very enjoyable series.

I dont know what I think about this book. I did like that it was a mystery/suspense that I felt like I could play along with to solve who did it. It is a detective mystery around a serial killer, but not too gory or dark for someone like me that easily scares. The author shares enough information to let you know what is happening in the crimes, but without delving in to deep nor in to too much detail. My opinion lessened however as the book went on and we got into the weird religious fetish and self restraints used by the suspects- which again were not overly descriptive to be too graphic, but were disturbing.and made the book less enjoyable to me. Went from a fun mystery to just being weird and confusing.

This atmospheric mystery by Rosemary Simpson is a pulse-raising trip to the Gilded Age in New York, where the police are corrupt, the maids are Irish, and the Pinkertons are (almost) the best detectives in the world. A Jack-the-Ripper act-alike is stalking New York, and the unconventional detecting team of Prudence MacKenzie and Geoffrey Hunter are hunting him down. Several false starts, take them off the trail, but with the help of a homeless tracker-dog, they get their villain in the end.

In 1888 New York Prudence MacKenzie and Geoffrey Hunter are private investigators. The Ripper of London is news but the New York police believe that they wouldn't take long to discover the murderer, until the first slashed body is found.
Unfortunately the writing style or the characters really didn't capture my imagination and draw me in. Though I was interested enough to read to the end.

This book goes a little bit slower compared to the first one, but is still a good and enjoyable reading and I liked the idea of Jack the Ripper moving to New York a lot, I think we will still hear talking about Father Brennan.

Leggermente piú lento del primo, questo secondo volume della serie resta comunque una piacevole lettura e l'idea di spostare Jack the Ripepr da Londra a New york ha funzionato abbastanza secondo me, credo che sentiremo ancora parlare di Padre Brennan.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

Lies that Comfort and Betray is a snapshot of New York City and environs in 1888. Known as the Gilded Age, it was anything but for women and immigrants, with women delegated to the kitchen and nursery, and the Irish and dogs not allowed in 'the better' stores and bars. Prudence MacKenzie, who has studied the law and was her father's assistant before his death (women were not admitted to the bar in New York at that time), has had some sorrowful troubles behind her, but she rallies as best she can, using some of her recent inheritance to team up with Geoffrey Hunter, a former Pinkerton investigator, as a private firm of investigators. The day she picks up their new elegant business stationery, the New York Times is full of the details of the 7th Ripper murder in London.

Before the week is out Nora Kenny is discovered in a Brooklyn park, eviscerated and cocooned in burlap. Nora is a Staten Island resident, a maid on the way to the city to assist the staff of her bosses' 5th Avenue home to prepare the house for the upcoming winter season. The New York Metropolitan Police move quickly to keep the case out of the speculative news, arresting Nora's intended and sealing him in the tombs. But only a week later another young lady, Ellen Tierney, this time a maid for the Nolan family living just blocks away from Nora Kenny's destination, is found in the courtyard of the Nolan home, eviscerated and bound in burlap as well. Again a quick arrest is made and Ellen's young man, an Irish cop is intombed for what the police is calling this copycat murder.

The second murder was a bit shaky as far as acceptance of the police line by the press and the citizens of NYC. But when Sally Lynn Fannon is murdered in the same way, the press and citizenry demand a full and careful investigation of all of the murders and the release of the men falsely jailed. And the only way they will receive that truth of these atrocities is through the efforts of Hunter and MacKenzie, Investigative Law.

The background on this novel is excellent, in time and place. The story is tight, the characters explored thoroughly, and though there are many, these characters steal a bit of your heart.

I received a free electronic copy of this excellent historical novel from Netgalley, Rosemary Simpson, and Kensington in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

As Jack the Ripper terrorizes London, a killer is on the move in New York. While the police try to hide this from the public, Prudence MacKenzie and Geoffrey Hunter fight to learn the truth before another unfortunate woman meets her end.

First of all, this is not a book for the faint of heart. It delves into the dark side of the time period with gruesome murders and abortion. Prudence was an interesting character as she is fighting against an addiction that wasn't her fault. She had depth, and what she has endured makes it more believable why she would choose to be a partner in an investigative team when she was raised to marry and continue as a part of society.

What rubbed me wrong was the writing style. A paragraph would start out with a sentence describing a character and then the very next sentence would be what that character was thinking, even if the rest of the section had been from someone else's perspective. The inconsistency irritated me to no end. (Also, I'm not sure why the thoughts of a dog and a team of horses were included. Was there really no other way to let the reader in on what was happening?) The rush to the ending left me off-balance and confused.

I had high hopes for this as I do love the gilded age, however, it just wasn't to my taste. Those who like darker mysteries might enjoy it.

Human wreakage.

Individuals who bear the scars of life so evident on the outside, and more's the pity, those who keep the wounds buried in personal tombs of the soul.

November of 1888 brings with it unstable times on the streets of New York City. London's Whitechapel murders seem to have gained a foothold here amongst the tall buildings and stately mansions. Has Jack the Ripper ventured on a cruise across the Atlantic? So it seems.........

Nora Kenny's body has been found in Colonial Park wrapped in a tarp. The young maid's dark curls and flawless face resemble that of an angel, but the rest of her has been ravaged by someone unworldly. Her family is devastated. The police, wishing to close the case quickly amidst public outcry, arrest Nora's fiance, Tim Fahey. Tim is locked in The Tombs notorious for its torturous tactics. Many a man has confessed to crimes under extremely excruciating duress.

The Kenny family contact Prudence MacKenzie who has recently set up an investigative firm with her partner, Geoffrey Hunter. Hunter is an ex-Pinkerton investigator with a law degree and Southern roots. Prudence studied law under the fine guidance of her now deceased father, Judge MacKenzie. Highly intelligent with fine-tuned analytical skills, Prudence faces the reality that no woman has been admitted to the Bar in New York City. Time and patience may serve her well.

When another body is found in almost the same circumstances as Nora Kenny's, Hunter and Prudence sift through what little clues and evidence they have. Both girls were Irish immigrants, maids, unmarried, and frequented St. Anselm's church in the neighborhood. Who could have preyed upon them, intentionally or not? And why? But when the third victim is a prostitute, both investigators are perplexed.

This is the second book in the Gilded Age Mystery series. It certainly can be read as a standalone with the author injecting just enough backstory so as to not give away the key pinpoints of the first. Rosemary Simpson creates a strong, self-sufficient female character in Prudence. With an unusual twist, our Prudence must overcome a dependence upon the addictive tincture of laudanum given to her in her daily tea by a nefarious individual in the first book. She functions well, but the little brown bottle is like a plague in her life.

Simpson has quite the talent in her character development as you'll find out throughout this entertaining read. The plot threads will criss-cross towards the end with surely the wonderment of who, exactly, is guilty and who is not? I'm looking forward to the third installment from the very talented Rosemary Simpson.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Kensington Publishers and to Rosemary Simpson for the opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rosemary Simpson, and Kensington Books for allowing me to read and review an ARC of Lies That Comfort and Betray. I enjoyed this book. 4 stars.

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
This is a story is about Heiress Prudence MacKenzie is a valuable partner to attorney Geoffrey Hunter, despite the fact that women are not admitted to the bar in New York’s Gilded Age. And though their office is a comfortable distance from the violence that haunts the city’s slums, the firm of Hunter and MacKenzie is about to come dangerously close to an unstoppable killer . . . 
LIES THAT COMFORT AND BETRAY
 The murders in Whitechapel are shocking enough to make news worldwide, and in the autumn of 1888, Geoffrey and Prudence find the stories in the New York Herald quite unsettling. But London is not the only city to be terrorized by a mad butcher.
 Nora Kenny makes the occasional journey on the Staten Island ferry to work in Prudence’s Fifth Avenue house, just as her mother once served Prudence’s mother. As little girls, they played freely together, before retreating into their respective social classes. Still, they remain fond of each other. But when Nora slips away to Saint Anselm’s one chilly Saturday to confess her sins and never returns, Prudence is alarmed. And when Nora’s body is discovered in a local park, Prudence is devastated.
 Nora will not be the only young woman to fall victim, but the police are uncertain what they are dealing with. Has the Ripper sailed across the Atlantic to find a new hunting ground? Is some disturbed soul copying his crimes? A former Pinkerton agent, Geoffrey intends to step in where the New York Metropolitan Police seem to be failing, and Prudence is just as determined to protect the poor, vulnerable females being targeted. But a killer with a disordered mind and an incomprehensible motive may prove too elusive for even this experienced pair to outwit.
 From the author of What the Dead Leave Behind, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric mystery that captures both the elegance and sophistication of nineteenth-century New York, and the secrets and bloody terrors that lurked behind its gilded facades.
“Simpson's debut, first in a planned series, features complex characters, a vivid look at old New York in the late 1800s, and a mystery with a twist.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Launching an atmospheric new series set in Gilded Age New York, Simpson incorporates historical events and figures to add verisimilitude to this tension-filled story. For mystery readers who appreciate period detail, including fans of Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries.” —Library Journal



This was my first book by this author, and I did enjoy it. It was fast paced and just alltogether an easy read. I give this book a 4 star rating!