I love Beatriz Williams, and was delighted to find this first book in her new trilogy! The dual timeline was a bit of a challenge to follow, but once I figured out the characters in each time period, I settled in for an engaging read. Ella, who caught her husband cheating and moves out on her own, lands in a building with a past as a speakeasy!

Now I can't wait to read The Wicked Redhead before the final book, The Wicked Widow, comes out in October.

It was the first time I read anything by this author. Some parts were very good and engaging. Other parts were not, in my opinion, fully developed. It went from one thought to another without a link. We find out her step-father is a criminal at the same time her relationship is floundering. Because of this I had a hard time relating to the characters and Ella, the main character, left me unconnected. Very disappointing as I so wanted to like this book but couldn't.

Beatriz Williams is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve loved all of her books—except for this one, “The Wicked City.” After I accepted a free copy from NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for a review, I realized that I had checked this book out of the library on two separate occasions but never finished it. This time, since I received a free copy from the publisher, I felt compelled to read it in its entirety. Unfortunately, my initial negative opinion of the book was justified.

“Wicked City” alternates between two timelines: 1998 and 1924. Ginger Kelly is the primary character in 1924. She works by day as a typist for Sterling Bates, some type of financial company, and in the evenings she frequents a speakeasy in the basement of the building next door to her apartment on Christopher Street in New York City. After she is arrested at the speakeasy following a police raid enforcing Prohibition, she is accosted by a mysterious FBI agent named “Anson,” who asks her to work undercover against her stepfather, a prominent bootlegger in Western Maryland near the Appalachian Mountains. She eventually agrees because she despises her stepfather, a brutal figure who holds his small rural town in thrall.

The 1998 timeline focuses on Ella, who moves into the same Christopher Street apartment that Ginger inhabited after Ella separates from her husband, who she caught cheating with a prostitute. Soon after moving into her apartment, Ella meets Hector, a building superintendent of sorts, with whom she feels an instant though reluctant attraction. Hector warns her to stay out of the laundry room at night as strange things happen on the other side of the wall, where Ginger’s speakeasy used to be located. The current residents often hear mysterious jazz music coming from that location.

Although I usually love books set in the 1920s, this book did not hold my interest. Neither Ella nor Ginger were particularly engaging and the narrative felt like it dragged on interminably. Moreover, the timelines were separated by so many pages that when one resumed, I had a difficult time picking up the thread of the story. Then after putting all this effort into reading this tedious book, it came to an abrupt end, presumably to be picked up in the next installment of this trilogy.

The only redeeming qualities in this book were Beatriz Williams’ trademark snappy dialog (at least on Ginger’s part), and her ability to recreate the feel of an era through a combination of thorough background research and evocative prose. Unfortunately, neither the “snappy dialog” nor the “evocative prose” saved this book from bogging down with too much narrative filler.

This book was so fun. This is a dual timeline book where the first location is a modern present-day story where Ella catches her husband cheating and moves out on her own in a building that she discovers has an interesting past. Her building was once a speakeasy that just can't give up on its past. That is right the building is almost like a character in some parts of the book.

The Wicked City is the first book in The Wicked City books, it is followed by The Wicked Redhead and the next one will be The Wicked Widow (which comes out later in 2021). No one tells a prohibition twisty tale quite like Beatriz Williams, I mean she is the master!

I love Beatriz Williams’s characters and this book was no exception. Being the first in her series about Geneva “Gin” Kelly, it sets the stage for the characters’ backstories. Anson is probably my favorite character; frustrating at times but through it all, the purest character in my opinion. Absolutely recommend this book to anyone wanting an escape into a fast-paced story.