The plot of the book was nice but the pacing was a bit slower which made the book a bit harder to read. I wish there was a little bit more tension and some higher stakes that would have made it hard to put the book down, but overall a decent read.

Elizabeth van den Broek is the only female reporter at the Herald, New York City’s most popular newspaper in 1880. She and her friend Carlotta Ackerman find a woman’s body wrapped like a mummy at the intended site of Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park. Elizabeth now investigates the murders, especially after more bodies turn up with ties to Egyptian lore. Her reporting implicates New York’s rich and powerful, and a serial killer is also watching every headline.

While Elizabeth uses her family connections to get the job as a Society reporter, she wants to report on larger issues, particularly those affecting women. She's not interested in social jockeying, likely because of her older sister’s psychosis, but she doesn't ignore the privileges that she has. We're treated to an extensive description of 1880 New York City, as much of the street activity is very different from her uptown upbringing. Her idealism makes her hope to educate the masses with her articles when everyone else around her feels it's hopeless. Some coworkers are willing to let her do her job, but there are those willing to demean her, whether verbally or worse.

Elizabeth is determined to do good in the world, which means she puts herself in situations where she is potentially in danger. There are also times when she freezes or reacts badly to reminders of her trauma. In refusing to let it stop her, she goes to the police station, and the morgue, and talks with the downtrodden who wouldn't reveal anything to the police. She pieces together a theory based on these clues, and we're along for the ride to see this to its conclusion. The mystery drew me in, and I had to know what happened next. Definitely a great peek into the time period, and a convincing mystery to solve.

Carole Lawrence introduces Elizabeth van den Boek, a female reporter on women's issues for the Herald, a popular newspaper, in 1880 New York. She uses her discovery of the bizarre murdered body of a woman as her key to become a news journalist. It also leads her into the murky underground work of dodgy cops and crime. Interesting look at New York of the time.

Not my type of book unfortunately. I don't want to be disrespectful to any culture, but the way that the historical parts were presented was boring...

I enjoyed the experience. I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish. The fast-paced plot kept me on the edge of my seat with twists and turns that were both unexpected and exciting. The characters were well-rounded and easy to root for, especially the enigmatic protagonist. The writing style was superb and the character development was strong, making it easy to get lost in the story. The author did a fantastic job building tension and creating a sense of suspense that kept me engaged throughout the entire book.

While I did find some parts of the plot predictable, the rich descriptions of the characters more than made up for it.

However, I did feel that the ending was a bit unsatisfying and left me wanting more. Despite this, I would still recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense with a touch of thrill and is interested in exploring the not so dark side of the genre. A solid 3 star read."

I was really excited for this book because it was a historical mystery about an Egyptian artifact. However, I could not connect with the characters. Also, I found a few plot holes in the story that lessened my enjoyment of it! Still, I recommend this for fans of historical mysteries. It just did not meet my expectations.

I don't know if the author has plans to create a mystery book series around the protagonist in this book, female journalist Elizabeth van den Broek. If not, then I feel this book would have worked much better if it had been planned as a duology.

The book has a strong and interesting premise with a lot of different story threads dealing with different characters which I feel deserved individual and detailed attention. There is a lot the author could have done with all these threads but in trying to merge all the them and finish the entire story in one book, the result is a rushed up and anticlimactic affair. A lot of the issues remain unresolved and there is a backstory to every character that is hinted at but never properly explored.... infact, a couple of characters are also introduced who just disappear from the storyline altogether. Even the Egyptian mythology aspect behind the murders is very basic.

Overall, a good premise that doesn't get the execution it deserves.

I received an e-Arc of the book from the publisher Thomas and Mercer and the author via NetGalley.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley for a pre-release copy of this novel.

I loved, loved, loved this book. It was a great mix of historical fiction and mystery. This mystery will keep you guessing to the very end. The main character, a determined female reporter in a field of all men, was inspirational and her character development was well done. I would absolutely love it if this book because part of a series.

Cleopatra’s Needle had everything I love in it— a Gilded Age independent female investigator (journalist), serial murders to solve and a focus on Egyptology. Unfortunately, it felt flat to me. I couldn’t connect with the characters in any meaningful way. I finished reading it, but I can’t recommend it. A fantastic premise that simply didn’t illicit any drama. I would not read a sequel to this book.

I found this to be a bit on the tame side, not that gripping. I did enjoy the historical aspect and think it could have been used to the book's advantage a little more. Not a bad read, but something was missing.
2 and a half stars.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for my ARC.

The story begins on an interesting note - Elizabeth witnesses a murder from her train window. She decides to pursue this line of investigation but reaches a dead end. (This bit reminded me of 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie.)

Elizabeth and her neighbor Carlotta discover a dead body wrapped like a mummy at a freshly dug site in Central Park. An obelisk called Cleopatra's Needle was to be installed at the site where the dead body was found. Elizabeth reports the crime on the newspaper and then, another murder occurs. But this time, the killer sends her a letter. She must know he's aware of her investigation.

There are plenty of side stories and the main story - the serial killings - become secondary. Also, many of these side stories are left hanging as the book ends. Many unanswered questions.

The ending seemed abrupt and did not do justice to whatever it was that the killer was trying to prove. Sorry this book wasn't for me. I expected a lot as the story began and was disappointed by the proceedings.

This late 19th century mystery was a middling read. Boring and overwrought with small, unimportant details in many chapters, the conceit of the main mystery is interesting and also the one part of the novel that isn’t described enough.

Lawrence clearly knows the time period well, and spends a lot of time giving us superfluous factoids as our heroine, lone female reporter Elizabeth, tries to solve a string of murders that are tied to elements of mythology. The Cleopatra’s dagger of the title is not an element of the book at all, by the way. And descriptions of Ancient Egyptian mythology fall by the wayside to talk about who’s eating what and how terribly dirty and vile the lower classes look. The victims of these murders are all lower class women, hinted or explicitly stated to be prostitutes, and we learn very, very little about them.

For a supposedly progressive narrator, Elizabeth is mostly concerned with her own standing in the world - she may not want to go to her rich parents’ dinners, but she does want to succeed at the newspaper above all odds. At times this ambition is admirable - I did like her courage in the face of the men she worked with sneering at her, insulting and even attacking her - but at other times she’s written as if she thinks she’s better than the people she reports on and comes in contact with. Take her friendship with a completely needless side character, her neighbor Carlotta, for example: Elizabeth clearly disdains Carlotta’s attempts at making friends with the only other single woman in the building, and yet she still allows Carlotta to follow her around. There isn’t any point to this awkward, forced friendship as far as the plot is concerned, and I was left wondering if Carlotta’s character was supposed to teach Elisabeth not to continually pity how the other half lives. If that was the case, it fell short of the mark.

In the end I got an interesting history lesson or two out of Cleopatra’s Dagger, but I didn’t find any characters to care about or a mystery that actually made me want to stay up late and keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would classify this novel as a historical crime mystery. The story switches POVs between Elizabeth and the killer.

Cleopatra's Dagger is an engrossing and entertaining murder mystery. It is well written with a lot of historical details and references. This is a fictional tale of crime in NYC in the 1880s. The setting is New York City during the Gilded Age era and the author does a good job of describing the mores and characters at both ends of the economic spectrum. The mood is set with gas lamps, street cars, tenement housing, street vending and horse-drawn carriages. It was like a Victorian novel in some ways.

I read a fair bit of this book before deciding it wasn't for me. I didn't care about the characters or find them interesting. I will not be finishing the book.

3.5 stars

The concept of Cleopatra's Dagger is absolutely juicy - a female reporter in the Gilded Age finds herself at the center of a murder investigation as bodies marked like Egyptian goddesses begin to crop up around New York. Are you kidding me? This feels like my dream novel. Ugh.

Maybe my expectations were just too high, but this book ended up being pretty middle of the road for me. I was really interested in getting to the heart of the mystery and following that storyline with our protagonist Elizabeth, but I felt like the plot was constantly sidetracked by the author's need to world build. It is clear that Lawrence really has a passion for the history, but I personally felt like the details overwhelmed the actual story. I wanted to pick up the clues along with Elizabeth, but I never felt like I really got an opportunity to do that because I was trying to keep all of the characters and historical details straight. I enjoyed the last 25% of the book when things really started to come together, but I do wish that the entire novel had been that consistently exciting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Interesting book with very intriguing characters. Quite slow paced at times, but otherwise it was an okay read

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read this book!

First a little sinopsis. The story follows a journalist in nineteen century New York. She is desperate to prove how all possibilities should be open to women, so when the possibility to move from the society column to detective journalism presents it self she grabs it. A murderer is on the lose targeting women and making them look as close as he can to Egyptian goddesses. On his twisted mind he is doing them a favour, and when a woman turns out to be the one closer to caught him she becomes the perfect next target.
The characterization of the book is amazing, the main character Elizabeth is a perfect example of a women looking to find a life for herself as she rediscovers reality around her. The main character narration interrupted by short chapters narrated by the mysterious killer are on point. The many topics shown in the book are perfectly intertwine. And all entered among women rights and society’s way of oppressing anything who is not a WASP. The book is easy to read and hooks you from page one. Can’t wait to experience more either of this characters or other words created by this author. An amazing read for anyone, anywhere and at anytime.

It’s 1880, New York. Elizabeth van den Broek, in a society where she has to prove herself as a woman in journalism, comes across a murder and decides to found out who did it.

I did not enjoy this book.

What bothers me the most is that the author didn’t give the readers the chance to play detective. No clues were provided, so the killer could have been anyone. Consequently, the book couldn’t keep my focus.

Was the sexual assault necessary? No. That storyline could have been useful to give an insight into the male-dominated society in which the protagonist lives. But, to my disappointment, it wasn’t well played so it felt out of place.

Also, the writing was quite simple and repetitive. Many chapters/scenes could have been cut out.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for proving me with this book in exchange of an honest review.

This wasn't as thrilling as I thought it was going to be and for some reason I thought it would have more Egyptian elements in it. Or actually be set in Egypt, which is why it caught my eye in the beginning. Very slow moving story, maybe the audio would be better!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in response for my honest review.

The book takes place in 1880 in New York City. Vassar graduate, Elizabeth van den Broek, is the only female reporter at the Herald. On her way to work on the Elevated, she sees a man strangling a woman in a 3rd floor window. Her boss tells her to forget what she saw and go to Mrs Astor's home on 5th Avenue to cover her garden party. Elizabeth does write up something about the garden party, but begins to investigate the murder she watched. She lives in the Stuyvesant and becomes friendly with young artist Carlotta, who has a studio there. They meet on the steps of the Metropolitan, and they find what appears to be an Egyptian mummy in a hole in the ground. When Elizabeth looks closer, she recognizes the woman she saw strangled from the El, and Elizabeth begins her assignment as a crime reporter.

Soon there is another "Egyptian" murder. Elizabeth is not appreciated by most of the male reporters, but she continues her reporting. Soon, she is getting messages from the murderer. When her older sister who is in Belleview disappears, Elizabeth must put herself into danger in order to save her sister. I might add that it's easy to forget how unrealistic Elizabeth's actions are for a woman in 1880's because the story is well told and very exciting.