This wasn't my favorite of the series but Schellman always does a great job with setting and plot. For my mind, this fell down a little bit on characterization - long time favorites acted inconsistent with earlier actions both in the book and the series. Still very much looking forward to the next one.

I will preface this review by stating that I didn’t realize it was a third book in part of a series. That was one me! However, at no point did I feel behind or left out of certain conversations.

This brought me back to my Nancy Drew loving days where each mystery is self contained and has a strong FMC as a lead. The biggest (and best) difference was the queer rep! I absolutely loved it and was not expecting it—having not read the first two.

The friendships Vivian had were great and I loved the tension between her and Honor, and just how caring and loyal Leo was. A 1920’s mystery with high stakes, parties, secrets everywhere, and you honestly feel like you don’t know if everything will be alright! If I a mystery can get me invested like that it’s a win!

I will be checking out the other books in the series to get caught up and interested to see if Vivian ends up in any other tough jams.

I absolutely love this series. The characters are such a mixed bag of race, gender, class and attitude. I even can respect some of the "bad" characters. Wonderful feel of New York City in the 1920's.

Vivian works late into the night at a speakeasy.....she also works a day job delivering dresses to wealthy clients. No one ever thought that it would be her day job that would land her in trouble.
As she waits for customer the husband is very kind to her. When he is called away by a maid announcing a visitor Vivian falls asleep waiting for the wife. When she wakes her life is changed. She finds the husband and he has been murdered. Since she is the only stranger in the house the police commissioner is set on arresting her.
It is only because of Vivian's boyfriend Leo, the commissioner's nephew, that she is able to get one week of freedom to see what she can find out on her own. Vivian is very good at finding secrets, but this may be more than she can handle.

This is the 3rd book in a series, but read well as a stand alone. I had not read the first books and had no difficulty connecting with the characters. I do have an opinion about Leo, but won't go into more about that, in case of spoilers for readers following the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Book for the opportunity to enjoy this fun, prohibition era, mystery e-ARC

At night she Vivian Kelly works in a speakeasy, serving drinks and dancing until sunrise. It's the 1920s so the drinks she serves are illegal and the stakes are high -- but the trouble she finds herself in stems from her reputable day job, making deliveries and alterations for a dressmaker. I absolutely loved this historical mystery. If Vivian fails to solve the murder, it will be devastating for herself and her family. The risks she is taking are real and the suspense kept me turning pages late into the night. It's the third book in the series, but there's enough backstory woven in that I was never confused (although references to previous events definitely have me wanting to track down the first two books!)

This is a fabulous series that just keeps getting better. Vivian and her friends at the Nightingale Club have to work together to get her out of some very deep trouble. While working at her day job, she wanders in on a newly deceased corpse, and she is an easy target for the police. Warned by the commissioner that she has a week to get herself out of trouble (if she can), Vivian has to figure out how to apply pressure to some unlikely members of the New York criminal underground, as well as rely on some risky behavior on the part of her friends.

The story is well told, the characters are interesting, and the historical setting is intriguing. All of this adds up to a series that I intend to follow closely.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Vivian is back and mixed up in another mystery in this, the third instalment of the Nightingale mystery series!

Set in roaring 1920’s New York, Vivian is a mild mannered dress shop delivery girl by day and a queer speakeasy party girl by night! Usually she finds herself mired in trouble from her evening occupational hazards… but this time her delivery gig has put her in the stew, when she stumbles upon her clients freshly murmured husband! An easy suspect when she is found with the victim’s blood on her hands, the police make it clear that they aren’t going to look much further for another assailant… it’s up to Vivian and her friends to find the real killer after she’s given a week to prove her innocence!

This third book in the series really built upon the background created in the last two books and added some new and interesting layers to the characters and their connections. The high stakes mystery had me on the edge of my seat as Vivian fights for her freedom and on the way finds out who her true friends are!

The Last Note of Warning by Katharine Schellman is available now! Thanks to Minotaur Books for my review copy.

I found this quite an intriguing read. Taken from the time period of the 1920's, the normal cultural mores are at times at a juxtapositon with the rebellion of unconventional types. The mystery will draw you in keep you absorbed until the end. This era was brought to life for me and added so much color to the book.

Another solidly plotted, fun Nightingale mystery from Katharine Schellman. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is an enjoyable and light historical mystery series that has been consistently well-paced and likable throughout its first three installments. These always feel like relatively low stakes mysteries, mostly because you know things will turn out alright in the end, but I appreciate having a go-to series where I know this will be the case.

I still wish there were a greater plot line tying the books together, as they feel more like standalones featuring the same characters rather than a series, since they’re absent any sort of mystery or major plot thread that evolves from book to book.

Mostly the characters are a likable if thinly written bunch, though I still wish we saw less of Honor and more of Mags, Bea, and Viv’s sister. All are present and contributing to the story here, but I’d like to see them feature more prominently in the future.

This book is rich in description, misdirection, friendship, love, and family.

This is the third in the series, but I don't feel like I missed out on much by not reading the first two in the series. There are minor hints of past events, but the book focuses primarily on this murder. Vivian is accused of murdering a man just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was the 1920s, and police work during that time may not have been as up to snuff as we see today. She is given one week to find an alternate suspect. She chases all of the clues with the help of one love interest, Leo, her friend, Bea, and a few others who may not have Vivian's best interests in mind. This trio finds themselves in some sticky situations around town but also in some fascinating locations. It is important to read the author's notes at the end. She discusses some of the events in the book and the research to accurately include those events in this book. If you didn't think they had drag events in the 1920s, think again.

This was such a wonderful mystery! It wasn't what I expected, but I don't know if I had any real expectations going into this novel. I had no idea who to suspect because many people had motives to kill this man. The revelation was quite a surprise, it was no one I expected.

I like that the author did not shy away from the LGBTQ angle. While it is not overt, there is a ball that actually occurred, which was a masked drag ball. Vivian also has a love interest in Leo and her boss, Honor. I felt like these scenes were authentic to the time and the characters.

There is also Vivian's relationship with her sister, Flo. With her sister married and expecting a baby, they aren't in the same house anymore, but that doesn't mean their bond isn't any less. You can see how much they care about each other.

This book has many wonderful characters besides the few that I have mentioned. So many people came out to support Vivian in uncovering the truth in this murder investigation. Some didn't think she would find the truth, and others treated this situation as a way for Vivian to "owe them" to be repaid at a later date. I do love how Vivian turned the tables on a few of these characters, putting herself in a better position.

This is a series definitely worth reading. If the first two books are anything like this one, that means they are well researched and fairly accurate to the times.

We give this book 5 paws up.

This is the third book in the rich and vibrant Nightingale mystery series set in prohibition-era New York. I enjoy this series for its unique speakeasy setting and the cast of diverse and memorable characters that keep the story interesting.

The main character is Vivan Kelly, who really gets put through the wringer in this book. She is the last person to speak to a man who was murdered in his home. I honestly thought there was no way she was going to untangle herself from this legal mess. Needless to say, the mystery plot was full of suspense and angst surrounding the final outcome.

Not only does Vivan have to defend herself from a murder charge, some of her romantic relationships also appear to be coming to a close. This adds to the tension and stress, but I’m glad to see her move on.

I highly recommend you read this series if you want to be immediately transported to New York in the 1920’s.

The Last Note of Warning is the third and newest installment in Katharine Schellman’s 1920s prohibition era historical mystery series set in and around a New York City speakeasy. Vivian is back to sleuthing when she comes across a murder during her daytime work as a seamstress and a very short week to trap the killer or be incarcerated herself on murder charges.
The murder victim a rich business man had quite a few people who could have wanted him dead and the story is intricate and well-paced and plotted. What i love even more is the amount of detail Katharine Schellman puts into her research and how this makes her stories come alive while i am learning about life in the 1920s. Another thing I love is that Vivian isn’t rich, she loves life but she has had to carve out her little corner in the world as a daytime delivery girl fitting dresses for the wealthy and spending her nights waitressing and dancing at the Nightingale. I love that the books shows diversity in a way that seems realistic for the time portrayed. I am a little annoyed that the whole Honor or Leo drama has been dragged all the way through the third book by now, maybe Vivian could make up her mind by the next book …. I will definitely be reading.
Now I‘ll have to find the ingredients for a French 75, which is this book‘s signature drink …

The Last Note of Warning is the third book in Katharine Schellman's Nightingale series, set in 1920's New York City.

The Nightingale is the speakeasy where the main character, Viv, works, and finds home. This installment has Viv trying to keep herself out of jail while solving a murder in which she is the prime suspect. Her boss and sometimes romantic interest, Honor, is deeply connected to the victim in unexpected ways, and Viv has to navigate that as well.

This is a strong third installment, and I thought it worked better than book 2. Honor is solidly back in place as a character, and also as someone Viv would like a shot at loving (which kind of faded out in the last book). The other regulars are here - Viv's sister, Florence doing her own navigation as a white member of her husband's Asian family; Danny, the Nightingale's bartender, and Viv's brother-in-law; Leo, Viv's partner in crime and sometimes romance; and Bea, Viv's remarkable best friend. One of the best thing about a Schellman book is that she lets all her characters grow along the way - they don't ever stay static.

Schellman is also a terrific researcher. This book takes us into the historical drag scene in New York City in the 20's, and also makes clear that privilege makes a huge difference. The perspective in these series is not of the idle rich slumming it in a downtown speakeasy - it's the people working the floor, and behind the bar and with the band and in sweatshops. It is richly imagined and backed up with that strong research.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for the e-arc.

1920s New York comes to life again in this third installment of the series, and Vivian gets caught up in her most dangerous scrape yet. The tension in this book is palpable, not only with the big plot points, but also in the relationship dynamics. It’s a real nail biter with one twist after another. I think you’ll love the setting, the LGBTQ representation and the big reveals!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my copy. These options are my own.

Vivian Kelly has run into trouble before, which is not entirely unexpected, given that her second job is working at a speakeasy. She should be okay delivering dresses to the upper crust of New York society, though, right? Wrong. During a dress delivery, she finds the body of the homeowner, with whom she’d had coffee minutes before. The police have decided on Vivian as the killer, and it will take all her determination and all the help her friends can give to keep her from prison.

Her friends are glad to help, with the exception of Honor, the speakeasy owner. She’s Vivian’s boss, and maybe a bit more, and has used her considerable connections to help Vivian in the past. Not this time, and as Vivian gets closer to being imprisoned, she’ll learn whether Honor will keep her secrets, even if it costs Vivian her life.

Vivian is (somewhat) less impulsive than she was, which is a good thing, since her sister is heavily pregnant and not there to provide the voice of reason (and disapproval). I’m glad to see that Florence is more supportive now, and that the sisters are growing closer, even though they no longer live together.

Why you should read this book: The series gets stronger with each book. Vivian seems to be learning that she has friends she can rely on, like her boyfriend Leo, and Bea, her best friend. Vivian has gained a family with Florence’s marriage to Danny, but she’s also still searching for her mother. She’s with Leo, but she’s still drawn to Honor. The relationships of Vivian to each, and each to the others makes for an interesting dynamic.

Why you might not want to read this book: Since there are such complex relationships, there are some slow-moving plotlines, and not everything gets resolved in each book.

4.25/5 stars. Recommended

I received an advance copy from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The setting (New York City during prohibition) is one of my favorites for any historical fiction book. There’s something glamorous about those underground speakeasys with the jazz music and flirting. This was a time period where being working class didn’t necessarily mean you were excluded from the scene, and LGBTQ relationships were nothing to side eye in those smoky clubs.

Vivian Kelly works as a shop assistant in a dress shop, where she has a front row view of the luxuries that the wealthy elite can afford. By night, Vivian works serving drinks and dancing the night away in a deliciously illegal underground club known as the Nightingale. As the book opens, Vivian is dating bootlegger Leo and her sister Florence has recently married the bartender at the Nightingale and is pregnant with their first child. I hadn’t read the previous book but it seems that Vivian is also in a semi-love triangle with the owner of the Nightingale, Honor.

It isn’t the Nightingale that gets Vivian into hot water during this mystery, it’s a dress delivery that Vivian makes to the home of a wealthy client. When the client’s husband is found dead at home and it turns out Vivian was the last to see him alive, she becomes a prime suspect. Though there are other suspects, Vivian is working class and the victim was part of the wealthy high society, so the police commissioner finds her to be the simplest culprit.

Vivian negotiates a week to clear her name and turn up another suspect, but that isn’t her only problem. The more she looks into the dead man, the more convinced she becomes that she might know the real killer personally. And that person may have set Vivian up to take the fall for the crime. The pressure of the case strains her relationships with her sister, Leo, and Honor. Secrets begin to surface and Vivian may find herself left out of both of her love interests and sent straight to prison.

Since I hadn’t read the previous books, I was worried that I wouldn’t understand the dynamics between the characters, but that wasn’t a struggle at all. Pretty quickly I learned the good and the bad of her relationship with Leo (the bad being namely that he is related to the police commissioner accusing Vivian of the crime). I also loved Florence (Vivian’s sister) and her husband Danny (the bartender at the Nightingale). I can’t speak to whether their courtship was tortured in previous books, but in this book, they are a completely likable couple. Florence is the more measured sister, which made her the perfect supporting character to Vivian’s bold and slightly dangerous approach to life.

Through a delightful and gripping mystery, there is an interesting undercurrent of classism that is explored just the right amount. Schellman doesn’t hit the reader over the head with it, but the point is impossible to miss. Vivian was the only non-status person present in the house of a wealthy murder victim, so she becomes the prime suspect whether it makes sense or not. As everyone that Vivian thought she could trust begins to question her, Vivian sees that they may not come through for her in her time of need. Who will pull through for Vivian? You’ll have to read to find out!

Vivian is a great character and a lot of fun to read about. Florence was a nice balance and there are some tender moments between the sisters that delivered the heart in this book. Meanwhile Vivian’s love life is anything but settled. Some relationships fall apart, others come together, but in the end it’s possible none of them are right for her. Vivian is going through one of those life events that drops all pretense and starkly bares her relationships for her. Some people that she thought were on her side fail her, but others come to her aid. It’s the type of moments that show Vivian who her real friends are.

A wonderful mystery for those new to Vivian and the Nightingale crew and fans of the series alike!

The Last Note of Warning is book 3 in the Nightingale Mysteries by Katharine Schellman.
This was an engaging, multi layered mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.
The murder mystery was so well done. I enjoyed the many twists and turns.
Schellman has done a terrific job of integrating diverse characters into an original storyline.
A fun, well thought-out mystery. I loved the characters immersed in 1920s NYC - excellent mix of historical fiction and cozy mystery.

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Vivian's life finally started to improve until the day she delivered dresses to Mrs. Buchanan, one of the richest women in New York. She didn't find her at home, but while waiting, she was drinking coffee with her husband. He was called to a meeting with a client and soon after, Vivian found him lying dead on the floor. Vivian immediately called for help. Being the last person to see Mr. Buchanan alive, Vivian was charged with his murder. The commissioner gave her a week to prove her innocence, otherwise she would face the death penalty.

Vivian was in the wrong place at the wrong time and her mission was to find the real murderer. She had her friends from The Nightingale who tried to help her find the truth. Only Honor, the owner of speakeasy, who always supported Vivian, refused to help.

Good mystery with an interesting set up. I found myself in a world of illegal nightclubs, parties, and gambling. Gossip and eavesdropping were normal activities in society back then. I was afraid for Vivian when she eavesdropped on the conversation behind the door, but even more intriguing was an arranged eavesdropping during the reading of the will.

I liked the Nightingale staff and how supportive they were of each other. The Nightingale, a speakeasy, was an illegal place where young people partied, drank, and danced all night long. This story made me feel like I was back in the days of Prohibition in New York, which I knew little about.

Dear Fellow Reader,

Happy June! For the first time in a while, it feels like we had Spring. Gardens were up and going earlier than normal and the lilacs are spent and back to being green bushes. It is always so great to go back to longer days. Remember when you were young and had to go to bed when it was still light out?

Bed in Summer

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light

In summer, quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people’s feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894

Last July, I reviewed The Last Drop of Hemlock by Katherine Schellman. (https://cecooney.com/2023/07/10/the-last-drop-of-hemlock-by-katharine-schellman/)

It was the second book in a series that featured Vivian Kelly as the main character. (I still haven’t read the first book.) The books take place in Manhattan in 1925. Vivian works for a seamstress during the day making deliveries and then at night she works in a speakeasy.

In The Last Note of Warning, we meet Vivan as she is delivering a dress to Mrs. Buchanan. She is to deliver the dress and make sure the dress fits perfectly. When she arrives at the house, Mrs. Buchanan is not there so she is told to wait. While waiting she meets Mr. Buchanan. They exchange some pleasantries, and he gets Vivian a cup of coffee. He is then called to meet a guest in his office by a maid. Vivian is tired from her long nights at the Nightengale and while waiting falls asleep. She wakes and knows that she needs to get back to work. She goes in search of someone to say that she is leaving. She finds Mr. Buchanan dead in his study. The police come and she is blamed for his murder. She contacts Leo Green, her beau, to help her since his uncle is the Police Commissioner. The Commissioner tells her she has one week to find the murderer, or she will go to jail for the crime. Vivan goes back to the Nightingale to enlist Honor Huxley’s help. Honor owns the Nightengale and has connections that Vivian thinks can help her. Vivian turns her down and says that this time she can’t help. Vivian is hurt by this refusal, but the clock is ticking and she needs to find out why Mr. Buchanan was murdered and by whom? Was it his new wife? Her gambler son (from a previous marriage)? And who was slowly poisoning Mr. Buchanan? And why weren’t the cops looking for the maid that Vivian said came and got Mr. Buchanan for a meeting?

Nothing was falling into place. Vivian couldn’t run away – the commissioner told her he would go after her sister, Florence if she disappeared. It truly looked like she was going to go to jail.

I enjoyed this book. There are enough twists and turns to keep you trying to figure out how Vivian will be saved. And she has to be, right? I think it is a great addition to your TBR pile. And someday I will read the first book.

Thanks for reading!

The Last Note of Warning by Katherine Schellman is the third in a series featuring Vivian Kelly who works two seemingly unrelated jobs in mid-1920s New York. During the day, Vivian delivers and alters dresses for a luxury dressmaker. At night, she works at a high-class speakeasy, which is her real passion. A scandalous murder intersects the two sides of Vivian's world in The Last Note of Warning.

Although this book can be read as a standalone, it would help the reader to have read the earlier books in order to better understand some of the major supporting characters and their relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for this eARC.