Oh I liked this story! How fun that she read penny dreadfuls then saw crime everywhere she looked. Like the boy that cried wolf, no one believes her when she actually sees a crime. And thus the mystery begins. I liked the case of characters and the suspense. I totally recommend this book.

The White City (True Colors series) by Grace Hitchcock was a wonderful book of suspense taking place during the Chicago Worlds fair. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the author. The characters were believable and relate-able. Filled with suspense, danger and romance. When Winnifred visits the fair she believes she sees a women being kidnapped but her father, who is a police inspector doesn't believe her. But she is persistent and he lets her investigate by going undercover as long as she has a bodyguard with her; Jude Thorpe a policeman. Based on a real life crime this is an excellent book by Ms. Hitchcock. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

I received this book from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

If you enjoy the era before automobiles, learning about the Chicago World’s Fair, and solving mysteries, you will enjoy this intriguing book! Winnifred Wylde is the police inspector’s daughter, she is the captive of her Aunt Lillian’s stream of suitors, and she is curious and observant of her surroundings.
Winnifred notices a young woman being threatened by a man with a gun at the World’s Fair, and she thought the man might be behind the series of abductions in the White City (Chicago). She was on a date with the boring Mr. Saunders at the time, but she quickly takes a grip car (trolley?) to her father’s police station.
Winnifred tells her father about what she saw, but she has previously led some of the officers on meaningless quests after she thought she had seen something important that pertained to a case. Winnifred was also an avid novel reader with a wild imagination.
However, her father wisely decided if she was going to pursue a criminal, she needed to be protected, so he put his newest detective, Mr. Thorpe on her trail to protect her when she went out.
Winnifred has a daily pass to the World’s Fair, she and Mr. Thorpe spot the criminal and Winnifred learns that he needs a secretary and so she volunteers her services. You will have to read the book for yourself to see what happens to Winnifred, Mr. Thorpe, and a wealthy suitor who is also a writer!

HIstorical true crime is the basis for this book. It was a bit slow. I thought that the characters were a bit cliche' and lacking in depth.

The first thing I enjoyed about The White City by Grace Hitchcock was the care the author took in creating the atmosphere of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The heroine of the story, Winnifred Wylde, loves to read, so each chapter of The White City begins with a quote from popular books from that time period. The author often used Charles Dickens and Jane Austin quotes to set the scene for the reader, as did the terminology of that historical time and place: reticule and grip car, for instance. Other details such as inserting her hat pin. Scenes such as Winifred and one of her love interests, Detective Jude Thorpe, eating creole food for the first time were delightful. This showed the impact that the World’s Fair had on increasing cultural awareness. It also served as a humorous and romantic scene.

Grace Hitchcock crafted the plot well crafted. I would describe this author as a weaver of words, interspersing, history, romance, mystery and idealism in perfect measure.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was how “clean” The White City was. It never lost its integrity and was never hokey. The White City is absolute proof that you can write a Christian novel without being preachy. Christian values came through naturally and appropriately. This was especially impressive considering the background mystery was drawn from one of the evil serial killers in all of American history. As a reader, I feared for the main characters. Yet never once did the author describe the details of HH Holmes’ gruesome crimes.

I loved every minute of The White City and had a hard time putting it down. This novel is part of the True Colors—a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime. I hope to see more of the characters we were introduced to in The White City. They came to life on the page and it was hard to say goodbye at the end of the book.

It’s a rare book of which I can’t find something wrong. This is one of those perfect books. I am proud to recommend Hitchcock’s debut novel, The White City, to anyone who likes mystery and romance with a dash of history. This would especially resonate with women young and old (and teenage girls).

I give The White City an enthusiastic 5 stars!

The White City is currently available for presale. It will be released on March 1, 2019.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The White City: True Colors: Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime

This is a new series called True Colors by Grace Hitchcock, with The White City being her debut novel in the series. As you can see, they are historical stories of romance and American crime, which is what got my interest. It must have been a late night when I was sleep deprived when I chose this one because somehow I mistook this for non-fiction. But since I agreed to it, I’m going to read and review it anyway. I tend to like my true crime well, true. Strictly non-fiction and the lines have blurred when it comes to putting these books out on that category, despite them being fiction. With that said, I read the book with an open mind and it turned out to be rather good, all in all.

The author chose a real serial killer to base her story on, H.H. Holmes who was active at the time of the Chicago World’s Fair when he had his famous hotel with the strangely built rooms on the upper floors. There were bad rumors of all sorts about it, but it didn’t stop people from staying there anyway, as rooms were hard to come by with people coming from all over the world to see the fair. While I found the premise of the story a bit shaky, the story itself worked quite well and the characters were pretty likable. By the end, I was pretty pulled into it and wanted to see how it was going to end. It is listed as a Christian book but there wasn’t an overload of that type matter as it went along, it just sort of blended in with what was going on. I think romance readers will go for this series, especially those of a Christian nature. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Grace Hitchcock, and the publisher for my fair review.

A great read regarding historical facts surrounding Chicago’s World Fair, 1893.
Winnifred is a likeable character that I enjoyed. Historical fiction with a little suspense and romance. I would recommend this to any fan of this genre as well as true crime.
Thank You NetGalley, Grace Hitchcock Barbour Books for the chance to read for an honest review.

This was my first Grace Hitchcock book and it definitely won't be my last. Everything about the plot and characters flowed perfectly from the first paragraph. I truly enjoyed spending time with Winnie and Jude. I always love a character like Winnie who loves books and she is quite fun and witty to boot. Jude is earnest and dependable all in an alluring, charming way. And the supporting cast of characters were lovely as well, including Jude's rival.

My only problem with the book was the historical inaccuracy in the account of H.H. Holmes. However, I am a real history buff and a particular fan of the Gilded Age so I am quite familiar with this story. There is actually a lot of accuracy with regards to his crimes and how he operated so the author obviously did a lot of research (great details about the World's Fair too!), but there was no investigation of him until much later. However, I was so absorbed in the story that I enjoyed the book despite what would normally be a deal breaker for me. That says a lot about the quality of the writing and the story. I highly recommend it.

I did receive an ARC in exchange for a fair review of this book.

I was highly intrigued by this story when I first saw the description of it. For me, the story itself was okay, but didn't hold as much suspense as I was hoping or expecting. In the beginning I felt the action started without getting a full grasp of the scene, but then after that the pace became too slow. I wasn't gripped by the story as much as I was hoping I would be. I would have like to at least see some clues along the way to reveal that the characters were on their way to solve the crime. Instead there are moments when Winnie is afraid for her safety, but no real effort goes into investigating. It was more of a waiting game than a criminal investigation. I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this since I know everyone has their own tastes and I already know of several others who thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was just a bit too slow for me. 

*I received a copy of this book through CelebrateLit. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

The White City by Grace Hitchcock is a fantastic debut novel. I had never read anything by this author, so I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this story, but the description and mysterious cover design intrigued me. I was thrilled to find a new author who I will be following and reading her books. I hope she writes quickly. The story is based on factual events, but I went into the story unaware of H. H. Holmes and his crimes. The author writes a fabulous mystery entwined with faith and romance. I thoroughly appreciated the author’s creative depiction of the historical events and her engaging writing brought her characters alive in the story. Since I didn’t know the history behind this story I found the plot had many twists and turns I wasn’t expecting. You know it’s a good book when you don’t want to put it down. This was that type of book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The White City is true crime. It's a thrilling mystery story. I found it a little slow for my taste. I wasn't able to connect with this one.

I am really excited to jump into this series about true crimes from Historical America. The first book in the series is from Grace Hitchcock, and this is her debut novel. The story of The White City takes us to the world of the World's Fair in Chicago. Deanna Guist has also done a series around the World's Fair. It appears to be a popular time period to write about.

But this time around, the novel is a mystery, which I LOVE to read. The idea of a heroine following her instincts from reading way too many mysteries has been done a number of times, but I still enjoyed reading the novel. The plot kept me engrossed as I flipped through the pages. It didn't take me long to finish the novel. I do like the idea of how the villain captured and eluded the police to get away with their crime.

The romance was predictable too. I had a good idea of who Winnie would fall in love with. It is pretty predictable for a strong heroine to fall in love with this type of hero. The romance didn't sweep me off my feet either.

I did enjoy following Winnie as she put herself in danger in order to prove her worth to her father. I do enjoy how she liked to read A LOT. It does remind me of me. I read A LOT and don't feel bad about doing it. It is a wonderful way to pass the time.

Overall, The White City is a different mystery that sparked my interest. The romance and characters were predictable, but I enjoyed hanging out with Winnie. I believe fans of historical mysteries like Jaime Jo Wright might enjoy this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of The White City by Grace Hitchcock from Barbour Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

While attending the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, Winnifred Wylde believes she witnessed a woman being kidnapped. She tries to convince her father, an inspector with the Chicago police, to look into reports of mysterious disappearances around the White City. Inspector Wylde tries to dismiss her claims as exaggeration of an overactive imagination, but he eventually concedes to letting her go undercover as secretary to the man in question—if she takes her pistol for protection and Jude Thorpe, a policeman, for bodyguard.

Will she be able to expose H. H. Holmes’s illicit activity, or will Winnifred become his next victim?

An engaging read based on real crimes. In Chicago, 1893, the World's Fair was in full swing, bringing huge crowds to sightsee, and a wave of crime. The inspector's daughter, Winifred, takes it on herself to investigate one on her own.

This story moves quickly, and picks up the pace with more action towards the end as Winnie digs in deeper. It has a touch of melodrama in parts, like the books Winnie likes to read, but fits well with the era. I liked Jude's character the best. He is brave, loyal, and smart. He and Winnie make a good crime solving pair. She turns to faith when faced with a scary task, and in her loneliness. "I am Yours, Lord. I am never alone."
The author includes interesting historical notes at the end to fill in the details of the actual crimes.

Fans of historical romances with some mystery will probably enjoy this story.

(An e-book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.)

THE WHITE CITY by GRACE HITCHCOCK is a really delightful read. The story takes place in 1893 in Chicago at the time of the White City fair. The novel has a bit of everything - romance, intrigue, humour, murder, and a good Christian message running throughout. I know it is Grace Hitchcock's debut novel and I certainly hope she writes many more of the same caliber!
I love the quotations at the beginning of each chapter, from well loved authors from long ago.
Winifred Wylde is police Inspector Wylde's daughter and seems to want to follow in her father's footsteps. She is not interested in the never ending social engagements that her aunt insists she takes part in, nor in the suitors that she is encouraged to spend time with, as her aunt is afraid of her becoming an old maid. She wants to do something worthwhile with her life. She is an avid reader of romantic suspense, and when she sees a woman being manhandled by a man at the fair grounds she is convinced that he is the White City kidnapper.
I am not going to tell you any more in case I spoil the read for you, except to say that I really loved this book and can highly recommend it.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Barbour Publishing Inc. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

I loved everything about this book!! It was very well written and full of drama, suspense and romance. This is the kind of book that you don't want it to end, but you just have to know what happens next. I can't wait to read more books by Grace Hitchcock. Thank you Barbour Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. This is my honest opinion and I highly recommend this book.

I'd like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. The cover alone drew me in and as soon as I read the synopsis, I wanted to read it, I hav long been fascinated by the Devil in the White City and the World Fair, but with that being said, I couldn't get into this book. I found it too slow and not to my liking.

Love was hard to come by for Winnifred. Enduring an endless stream of suitors was a burden that was best escaped by reading novels. Yet when faced with deciding between not one, but two men that she actually likes, courtship takes a very decided turn from burdened. After witnesseing an abduction, she gains a new job that threatens encreasing danger everyday. While one man speaks to her love of books, the other speaks to her love of adventure. Who will protect her and win her heart when danger comes calling? Find out in the debut novel by Ms Hitchcock.