Viviana Valentine is a private eye in New York in the 50's. Along with her partner, World War II vet, Tommy Fortuna, they set out to solve crimes. In their latest case, they are hired to investigate a serious of weird noises terrorizing a large mansion.

The mansion belongs to a wealthy scientist. His partners and friends form an interesting group of folks. The efforts to locate the noices are proceeding with little progress when things get complicated. An FBI agent, posing as a neighbor is murdered. The research being done in the house turns out to be something that all of the cold world countries are interested in. And it begins to appear that most everyone in the party isn't who they claim to be.

I love these period mysteries. Especially one from the 50's. The dialogue is witty. The characters are enjoyable. The solution isn't totally unpredictable. But the action is fun. I highly recommend this mystery.

Viviana Valentine Goes Up The River was a sheer delight to read!

Was I a bit confused at times? Perhaps. However, that was through no fault of the book but rather the fact that I hadn't read the previous instalment. Naturally, I was missing a bit of background for all the different relationships.

Still, I found myself charmed by the dynamic Viviana has with her partner Tommy, their new secretary, her landlady and every single person she meets. She is a force to be reckoned with and the people around her know her worth and respect her.

Viv was a truly fantastic character to view the mystery through. Smart and able to make excellent intuitive leaps, yet still very reasonably out of the loop about the latest science. Despite the fact that she doesn’t share the same education as the people she meets on the case, she doesn’t let it deter her and doesn’t let anyone sneer at her. She is so wonderfully sure of who she is in the world!

Nevertheless, she nearly meets her match when trying to discover the source of ghostly sounds at a rich man’s house in Poughkeepsie, and when what at first seems like the plot of a fun Scooby-Doo-like romp turns into a murder investigation. And wait, the victim was a federal agent? And there’s a top secret government laboratory in the house that they’re investigating? Well, it’s a good job, Viv and Tommy can just go back to their office in New York to recoup, right? Wait… What’s that about the bridge?!

Like I said, I had a lot of fun reading and discovering the world of 1950s New York through Viviana Valentine’s eyes. I absolutely have to pick up the first book and find out how everything started properly and I’ll be on the lookout for any further instalments.

Anyone who enjoyed Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher and AJ Pearce’s Emmeline Lake will for sure love Viviana Valentine. Make no mistake, she’s no carbon copy of either but she makes for just as excellent read.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Crooked Lane Books and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A cozy mystery page turner fans of the genre will enjoy

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!