There's a new spunky female character in town. Her name is Biz Adams and she is a photographer for a newspaper. Nothing special, you think, but wait - this is 1939 and Biz is from a Manhattan society family. Her real name is Elizabeth.

In Murder She Encountered by Peg Cochran. Biz and her reporter partner Ralph Kaminsky are off to cover a robbery at the 1939 World's Fair. What they find is the body of a dead woman. Biz is a woman ahead of her time and a terrific character. Looking forward to more of her adventures.

Biz Adams, also known as Elizabeth, is working as a photographic journalist along with veteran reporter Ralph Kaminsky as they cover the World’s Fair in 1939. Nylon stockings are just coming into use, and a young woman is found dead with one around her neck. I enjoyed the many characters that worked at various booths in the World’s Fair. It set us up with plenty of suspects. There was also a sweet story between Biz and Kaminsky, her work partner, and then a romance with a detective who was not from her social set. Thoroughly enjoyable historical mystery.

I found book three just as entertaining as the first two books in this series. Although it's mostly a light read, it doesn't just ignore societal issues happening at the time (it just doesn't dive deeply into them). I like that there is a little romance happening on the side and that it is moving slowly and not taking center stage. I really enjoyed the setting of the World's Fair; I'm not sure I've ever read much about it before. I hope to see more books in this series in the future.

Murder, She Encountered by Peg Cochran is a terrific quasi-cozy mystery and a terrific read for anyone who likes WWII era fiction. One of the outstanding things about this book, which doesn't always happen, is that the author kept us solidly in 1939 New York between speech patterns, history happening in real time, and social history as it was happening. The mystery was a good one, with the lead characters, a reporter and his female photographer. Ralph Kaminsky was a veteran crime reporter and his sidekick/photographer Elizabeth Adams was a society girl out to make a place in this world. They were a terrific pair, playing off each other constantly. Elizabeth worked hard throughout the book to become more independent, to put aside her parents' expectations and make her own way in an era where status was everything, and woman stayed living in their parents' home until they got married and moved to their husband's home. Where nice girls didn't date guys from the other side of the tracks. Cochran did a fabulous job keeping all this in the forefront of her novel. Too often authors set the stage in the beginning and then forget all about it as the novel progresses. No Cochran.

A young woman is found drowned/strangled floating in a pool with a pair stockings wrapped around her neck, important in an age where women still wore silk stockings and nylons were just at the cusp of usage. There were several other murders, seemingly not connected, but coincidental. It took the police and Kaminsky/Adams to unravel the whole thing, which they did in the end, through a lot of hoofing around New York City in an age before cell phones, Internet, and Uber. This was an excellent mystery and museum piece, both. I highly recommend it.

I received a free ARC of Murder, She Encountered from Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations expressed herein are solely my own. #netgalley #murdersheencountered

4.5/5 stars

Peg Cochran shows once again that she’s a master at the cozy historical mystery!

The historical setting is expertly crafted and obviously very well-researched. Through the constant cigarette smoking, references to polio sufferers, talk of war, limited mobility of women, fashions of the time and fantasizing about one day having central air-conditioning in public buildings, the reader is transported back in time to New York City just before WWII. The World’s Fair held in NYC in 1939 is the backdrop this instalment in the Murder, She Reported series. The descriptions are never excessive but always on point to help the reader imagine the world in which Biz lives and just what is and isn’t possible as yet. I absolutely adored the depictions of the expos and shows presented at the fair. Nylon stockings made their debut in 1939 and feature prominently in this novel!

The mystery itself is well-plotted. Upon the discovery of the crime, potential suspects immediately emerge. There are a couple I really wanted to be guilty and others whom I felt a bit sorry for. As we follow Biz and Kaminsky in their search for the big story, we meet even more suspects and have to wonder at the veracity of some of stories they are being told. The clues and red herrings come pouring in and, bit by bit, Biz and Kaminsky, with the reader, piece together the main culprits and why they may have done what they did. The big reveal is quite dramatic, and may even make you grateful for access to a cell phone these days!

The romance between Biz and Marino steps up just a notch as they both meet the respective parents. It’s not a given that this is a love that’s meant to last. Social and cultural differences and expectations do weigh heavily, after all. Biz seems determined to set and follow her own path, however, and not just in the romance department. Young women of her class and time were expected to live at home until they married. She wants to buck that trend and sets out apartment hunting. Future books will reveal how that decision affects her relationship with her family.

Overall, I enjoyed visiting the NYC of decades ago and piecing together a mystery without the aid of modern forensics and instant research capabilities. I look forward to continuing this series.

This is a historical cozy, set in 1939 at the World's Fair. Biz (Elizabeth) is a woman of the future with a job as a photographer for a newspaper. She and her journalist partner Ralph Kaminsky, have been sent to the Fair to report on a burglary. While there, they stumble upon a murder. Kaminsky and Biz are sure there is more to the story. So they dig deeper.

This was a fun and easy to read. It didn't keep me turning pages and I am not sure why. Perhaps the setting and time period? I liked Biz. She was trying to break out of the normal expectations for someone of her position. Her boyfriend is an Italian police officer, she works, and wants to move into her own apartment. Kaminsky is exactly what you imagine a journalist of the time to be. Hard as nails, smokes and drinks to excess and is always chasing a story.

Elizabeth Adams continues her career as a newspaper photographer, working with the gruff reporter Kaminsky. They are sent to cover the story of a maid found dead on Long Island. At first everyone thinks Noelle Donovan was killed in the hurricane that hit, but they soon realize that she was dead before the storm came. She also was pregnant. Who was the baby's father? Was he the killer? Biz and Kaminsky are determined to get the scoop. Kaminsky needs it to keep his job, and Biz wants to help him. Along the way she sees her friend, Sal Mineo, as he's the detective assigned to the case. She also struggles with her duel life - wealthy socialite on one hand, working woman on the other. Which side will win out, and what will it mean for Biz and Sal?
This was an entertaining mystery even if I did spot the killer well ahead of Biz.

They started out going after a story about a robbery at the World's Fair. Instead they run into a murder. A young woman in the water with a nylon stocking around her neck. Did she drown or did she get strangled?

Alibi and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has just been published so you can grab a copy now.

Elizabeth is the photographer and Kaminsky is the journalist. They make a good team. The cops drag off a hot dog seller who paid too much attention to her. They don't believe he's guilty so they start investigating on their own.

They question a lot of people. But in the middle of the hunt, Kaminsky gets sick and has to stay in the hospital. Since there was another murder, Elizabeth keeps digging.

In the meantime, she has a cop she's falling in love with. Her mother doesn't approve. She want her to marry a young rich man, not a cop. Elizabeth's heart isn't listening to her.

What Elizabeth finds is a huge crime and the major killer is very dangerous. Now that he knows she knows, he plans on killing her next...

Murder, She Encountered is the third book in the Murder, She Reported mystery series.

Elizabeth “Biz” Adams, photographer for the Daily Trumpet and reporter, Ralph Kaminsky gets a call to head out to the World’s Fair to report on the finding of a body in the Aquacade. As they are approaching the Aquacade they pass the police escorting Joey Dorman who has been arrested for the murder of Florence “Flo” Grimm. Flo worked at the DuPont exhibit, who was promoting their latest discovery...nylon hose, which Flo had been strangled with. Biz and Kaminsky don’t feel that Dorman is guilty and set out to learn who the killer might be. In their questioning of Flo’s co-workers, they are considering her boyfriend as a prime suspect, but soon they also have to start considering some of her co-workers.

Just as they are on the right path to solving the murder, Kaminsky needs to be hospitalized and Biz begins to wonder if the killer will be found. But then Biz realizes that she has been on several assignments with Kaminsky and decides that she just might be able to learn who the killer might be.

I love this series, not only are the books well written and told, but they also have a wonderful cast of characters. In addition, the reader also learns what life was like, in this book, 1939, living conditions and costs of various items. I also enjoy reading about Biz and how she deals with her mother. The mother wants Biz to find a young man from society and marry and give up her job at the paper. But Biz has met Detective Sal Marino and feels that he might be the man she would like to have a romantically involved with.

I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in this very interesting series.

Murder at the 1939 World’s Fair

Elizabeth “Biz” Adams, a photographer, and her colleague, Ralph Kaminsky, a reporter, are at the l939 World’s Fair in New York City reporting on a robbery. Instead they encounter a murdered young woman found in the Aqucade’s pool with a nylon stocking around her neck. Elizabeth snaps a photo as the police arrest Joey Dorman, a young hot dog vender. He’s terrified and says he’s innocent.

Elizabeth’s photo makes the front page, but she can’t forget the frightened look on Joey’s face. She’s convinced he’s innocent, and she and Kaminsky set out investigate. When Kaminsky is injured, Elizabeth decides to continue alone.

The World’s Fair is a perfect setting for this cozy mystery. The author does a good job of describing the marvels on display as well as bringing in the tense atmosphere as the world careens toward war. Elizabeth is a perfect heroine for this era. She comes from a wealthy family. Her mother wants nothing more than to see her married, but Elizabeth wants to make her own way.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries this is a good series. The books have serious mysteries to solve, but keep any illicit sexual encounters out of the story line.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Elizabeth 'Biz' Adams wants to earn her way in life as a newspaper reporter and to live on her own, even if it means moving from the posh life she has grown up in to a cold water flat. She is a very good photographer and teams up with a veteran reporter, Ralph Kaminsky. One very hot summer day in 1939, they get a tip that there has been an armed hold up of a hot dog stand at the New York World's Fair. Off they go, eager to scoop the other newspapers, having been told that they are the first to get this tip. Upon arriving at the fair they discover that the tip is a bust. As they start to leave there is some commotion and the police pass by with a young man in custody. When Biz looks into his eyes, she is certain he isn't guilty of anything. With the hope of an even bigger scoop than a robbed hot dog stand, they track down the crime scene and the cop on the case is her boyfriend. A young woman, working at the DuPont exhibit demonstrating the new nylon stockings, is found floating in an exhibition pool, a nylon stocking wrapped around her neck. Now that is a huge scoop and Biz has taken lots of photographs, ready to land on the front page.
She and Ralph start to follow the case but soon Biz has to go solo when Ralph ends up in the hospital. No worries, she is intelligent, gutsy and clever. Investigating soon puts her in the killers crosshairs and tests all of her skills.
The setting of 1939 and the New York World's Fair were, to my ear, pitch perfect - start to finish. The description of the Summer heat and the sights, sounds and smells of the activity at the fair were so real, they drew me in and kept me hooked. The mystery was well crafted and the characters were well developed. Having enjoyed each of the three books, so far, in this series, I hope there will be many more.
My thanks to the publisher, Random House and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Photographer "Biz" Adams is assigned to reporter Ralph Kaminsky. It is 1939 and NYC is the home of the World's Fair. When a young woman is murdered at the fair, Biz finds herself investigating alone when Kaminsky ends up in hospital. Elizabeth's quick thinking helps her friend Det. Marino catch the killer.

A fast-paced historical cozy mystery set in 1939 and highlights the upcoming technology we take from granted now.

Murder, She Encountered is the third book in the series featuring photographer (and budding reporter) Elizabeth "Biz" Adams. In this outing, she gets to test her wings as a reporter when her mentor Sal Kaminsky falls ill. She more than rises to the occasion as a millennium woman in 1939. She is a smart and savvy woman who goes against the stereotypes of women of a certain class (in that era) and forages her own way both professionally and personally with her detective friend Sal Marino.
Much of the book takes place at the 1939 World's Fair and it is rich in detail and makes the reader feel as if he were actually there.
I highly recommend this book and the others in the series.

This is the 3rd book in the series and I believe the best to date. Set in New York City in 1939 this is a grittier cozy than most. Biz is a spunky main character and completely enjoyable. The book is well written with plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested.

Murder, She Encountered
(Murder, She Reported #3)
by Peg Cochran

Kindle Edition
Expected publication: December 3rd 2019 by Random House



Goodreads synopsis:
A gutsy Manhattan socialite encounters murder and corruption at the World’s Fair in this captivating historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Susan Elia MacNeal, and Rhys Bowen.

New York City, 1939. A rising star at the Daily Trumpet, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams has been sent to the World’s Fair—billed as the “World of Tomorrow,” a look toward a brighter future even as the drumbeats of war grow louder—to cover a robbery. What she stumbles upon instead is a dead woman, dumped into the Aquacade’s pool with a nylon stocking wrapped around her neck.

Elizabeth snaps a photo as the police arrest Joey Dorman, a gentle young hot dog vendor who made no secret of his obsession with the murder victim. Even though she’s thrilled that her photo makes the front page, the fear and confusion evident on Joey’s face are haunting. So Elizabeth vows to prove his innocence—or his guilt—with her partner at the Daily Trumpet, Ralph Kaminsky. Meanwhile, her romance with Detective Sal Marino is heating up, and Elizabeth is more determined than ever to follow her heart.

But when Kaminsky’s efforts to expose the real killer land him in the hospital, Elizabeth is forced to continue the investigation on her own. And as she tries to narrow down the long list of suspects, she discovers a dark secret running through the Fair—a secret some would kill to protect.

***

4.5 Stars

This is the third book in the Murder, She Reported mystery series by Peg Cochran.

This series just keeps getting better and better. I reviewed book two MURDER, SHE UNCOVERED back in May and gave it four stars. I will definitely need to pick up book one just to complete my series reading.

This book is just all old-fashioned journalism set in 1939 at the World’s Fair in New York. Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is out main character during a time when women weren’t exactly taken for their word about things. Back then the guys were in charge and very few women had jobs like Biz does in this book. It is definitely quite different from now. I cringe when the police let the reporters wander onto a crime scene. Since this is set way before CSI was ever a thing, there is no wonder rules aren’t in place to keep the scene safe from outside influence. Forensic clues mean nothing in this time period unless there was a clever Sherlock Holmes wannabe in their midsts. And so far I haven’t discovered one in this series.

Biz is quite clever and has a unique outlook on life due to her wealthy parents and her ability to have a lot of things others in her community have to go without. She is very cognizant of this fact and plans through much of the book to move out and live on her own away from the family.

Biz is a photographer for the Daily Trumpet working with a veteran reporter named Kaminsky. He is away in the hospital for much of this story so Biz is set loose to discover the clues all on her own which I found refreshing. A woman is found at the fair dead. She works for the Dupont exhibit where they are revealing nylon stockings and this is what is used as the murder weapon.

The first suspect is, of course, the boyfriend. And when that man is found dead not long later, the police are scratching their heads and this pushes our Daily Trumpet reporter to dig more into the details of the case and putting her in a more and more dangerous position.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to other books in this series. This feels like almost a whole new cozy mystery genre since it is not as fresh and clean as most cozies and has a bit more grit than I am used to. And more grit is not necessarily bad. In this case, it is very good. Very, very good. Keep up the great work, Ms. Cochran! I appreciate you!

If you love a good cozy mystery, definitely check out this one. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

"A gutsy Manhattan socialite encounters murder and corruption at the World’s Fair in this captivating historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Susan Elia MacNeal, and Rhys Bowen.

New York City, 1939. A rising star at the Daily Trumpet, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams has been sent to the World’s Fair - billed as the “World of Tomorrow,” a look toward a brighter future even as the drumbeats of war grow louder - to cover a robbery. What she stumbles upon instead is a dead woman, dumped into the Aquacade’s pool with a nylon stocking wrapped around her neck.

Elizabeth snaps a photo as the police arrest Joey Dorman, a gentle young hot dog vendor who made no secret of his obsession with the murder victim. Even though she’s thrilled that her photo makes the front page, the fear and confusion evident on Joey’s face are haunting. So Elizabeth vows to prove his innocence - or his guilt - with her partner at the Daily Trumpet, Ralph Kaminsky. Meanwhile, her romance with Detective Sal Marino is heating up, and Elizabeth is more determined than ever to follow her heart.

But when Kaminsky’s efforts to expose the real killer land him in the hospital, Elizabeth is forced to continue the investigation on her own. And as she tries to narrow down the long list of suspects, she discovers a dark secret running through the Fair - a secret some would kill to protect."

I read a book earlier this year that wasted the World's Fair setting, so THANKFULLY I have another book to set this right!

I really liked Murder, She Encountered. Another good murder mystery by this Author. I have enjoyed all three books in this series. Elizabeth and Kaminsky are at it again chasing leads to quite a few murders at The World's Fair. A good story with bold characters and a very good ending.
#MurderSheEncountered #NetGalley

I give Murder, She Encountered 4 stars for its good murder mystery.
I would recommend this book to Cozy Mystery Fans.

A murder mystery set at the NY World's Fair in 1939. Our heroine is a fledgeling news photographer who has been teamed up with a seasoned reporter. A call out, to a mysterious death, at the fair leads them to several characters with a less than Sterling reputation. However, bearing in mind, this is the tail end of the depression and prior to WWII are the characters anything less than average. Another, seemingly unrelated death, soon have the unlikely pair involved in several facets of each death which seem to point in the same direction.

I have rated this book 4 stars and recommend it to anyone who prefer their murders without all of the gory details that are usually prevalent in a modern murder mystery.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

A good book overall. I like the heroine. Spunky and always willing to get the scoop. The mystery was rather predictable, but pretty good. I would be willing to read this author again.

Peg Cochran has written the perfect cozy mystery:
A good mystery
Likable (most of them, anyhow; at least one is a murderer) and believable characters
Dysfunctional families
Historical setting
A light touch of romance
Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is the crime photographer for the New York Daily Trumpet. Ralph Kaminsky is the reporter to which she is assigned. Together, with Detective Sal Marino (Biz’s “boyfriend?”), they will need to identify and find the murderer of the unidentified young man pulled from one of the lakes at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Along with a fun jaunt through the fairgrounds and the subway system transporting visitors to and from the fair, we also get a glimpse of the historical events and settings of the era. This reviewer was particularly fascinated with the mention, albeit brief, of the SS. (sic) St. Louis’ arrival from Europe. Though the details are not discussed in the current book, a quick search of Google showed how similar the attitude of Americans in 1939 parallel those of many Americans in the 21st century, with similar results.

For the reader looking for a historical novel or just a good cozy mystery, Murder, She Encountered might just hit the spot.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.