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.

The Last Note of Warning is the third in the Nightingale Mysteries cozy mystery series, but, thanks to massive time and relationship jumps, I thought I missed a book. Set in the 1920s, this series follows Vivian Kelly, a poor young woman who lives with her sister. By day she makes deliveries for a dressmaker and, by night, works at a speakeasy where everyone can and will mingle with anyone, LGBT relationships are nothing to stare at, and the woman running it all makes Vivian’s head turn every time. But murder has a way of following Vivian, and this one forces her to prove her own innocence, forcing her romantic rivals to decide if she’s worth losing everything for.

Several months after the events of the second book, The Last Drop of Hemlock, Vivian is happy with her bootlegger sweetheart Leo, but now lives alone since her sister married the Nightingale’s bartender and is now expecting a baby. After a dress delivery goes unexpectedly awry, she stands accused of murdering the man of the house. He was kind to her, but she maintains she doesn’t know him. The police commissioner, though, needs a culprit, and Vivian’s not only the only one he has, but she’s a nobody and the victim was a member of New York’s high society. With just a week to clear her name and present another suspect, Vivian does all she can to play every card she has, and then some. It’ll strain not just her relationship with her sister, but her romance with Leo and her mutual interest with her boss, Honor. As secrets come to light, Leo and Honor will be forced to decide if Vivian is worth the risk of losing everything.

There’s nothing quite like following a cozy mystery series where the characters grow, change, and undergo major life changes in each installment and then starting the next book only to desperately wonder if you’ve missed a book sometime in the last year since the last book came out. It took me a few chapters and frantic searching to discover, and come to terms with, the fact that I did not miss a book. Instead, The Last Note of Warning makes some big jumps from the second book. It jumps several months into the future. Vivian and Leo are still seeing each other and they seem comfortable with seemingly not moving it forward. Things are, of course, complicated because Leo is the police commissioner’s not quite on the up and up nephew and both Leo and Vivian frequent their favorite speakeasy. But the harder jump to wrap my head around was with Vivian’s sister Florence. I adore Florence, who is older and more levelheaded, and loved her budding romance in the second book with the Nightingale’s bartender, Danny. I expected to see them dating in the next book, not married and expecting a baby, so I kept wondering if I missed a whole book somewhere. After I figured it out and came to terms with it, it was much easier to enjoy the story.

This was a pleasant change from Vivian being forced to solve a murder mystery or taking it upon herself to prove someone was murdered and didn’t commit suicide. Instead, Vivian is the only unknown in a society family’s house when the man of the house is found murdered, so she becomes the sole suspect. Of course Vivian didn’t do it, but the police need someone to pin it on, and she’s a nobody, so no one would miss her. Vivian, though, isn’t new to solving murder mysteries, but she is new to finding most of her allies suddenly standing to the side. Honor and Leo have ties either to the family or the police, so they can’t offer her much help. Instead she finds herself leaning more on a society woman I absolutely love because she runs quite an underground network. Their relationship is fascinating and fun, and I love the way they function. But it was also hard to see people Vivian had come to rely on just not be there for her when her life is on the line. Every girl wants to know if she’s worth it for someone to throw everything they love and care about on the line, right? Well, Vivian’s about to find out, and it creates quite a shuffle in her romantic life.

I really enjoyed this one. The mystery was a lot of fun, there were backward and forward slides in Vivian’s love life, and it was really fun exploring high society. I love the relationship between Vivian and Florence, and enjoyed the quiet, tender moments between them. There’s also the matter of who their father is and who claimed their mother’s body. There wasn’t as much done with this subplot as I had hoped for, but it certainly keeps me reading. There was just too much going on in Vivian’s life in this one, and I was glad to see her complete commitment to it. Vivian is spunky and delightful and I completely get why Florence is forever worrying about her. But I loved her determination to see things through and do whatever it takes to solve the case. It was just harder this time around because I could hear the ticking clock and feel her desperation. It was hard to see everyone standing away from her, but it was also heartening to see who did flock to her.

Vivian has no shortage of friends. Many of the powerful ones who would have been huge helps chose to sit this one out, though I did love the way it all played out in the end. When it looked like Vivian would be forced to go it alone and probably end up arrested, other friends jumped out of the woodwork, eager to help and have fun with it. One of these was a society girl who also frequents the Nightingale, and I really loved how this part played out. I love getting a peek into the glitz and glamour of the 1920s, and this was certainly a fun part of it I didn’t know about. It did feel like it went on for too long, but the things Vivian uncovered were quite interesting. I loved how she thought fast on her feet and could make friends with just about anyone.

The truly fun parts, though, were when Vivian learned things about the people around her, things that helped her understand why they couldn’t help and things that had her looking at things in different lights. Some of it I could predict, but some things took me a little longer to figure out. I did feel like it took her too long to really home in on the major players in the murder mystery because doing that probably would have helped her solve this in a much shorter amount of time. But, at the same time, it would have taken away from other parts of the story that had to be told. Besides, Vivian’s best friend Bea steps in in the most amazing and committed way. I love the cautious spunk Bea has, and the devotion these friends have for each other is incredible and heartwarming.

The Last of Note of Warning is probably my favorite installment in the series so far. It did a lot with the characters and really put Vivian’s safety and life on the line. I loved seeing the players shuffling around as their own lives have to play out in certain ways. It’s also always just so much fun to travel around in high society with Vivian. I adored her bravery and the way she looked at things with a realistic eye. Even though I had faith she’d figure it out, things looked bleak from time to time, so I had a great deal of fun with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Katharine Schellman’s "The Last Note of Warning," the third installment in the Nightingale mystery series, offers a thrilling and atmospheric dive into the perilous world of 1920s New York. With a backdrop of Prohibition and the vibrant, yet dangerous, nightlife, Schellman crafts a luscious and intriguing tale that blends mystery, romance, and the queer experience in an era fraught with both glamour and risk.

Vivian Kelly, the novel’s resilient protagonist, lives a double life. By day, she’s a diligent shop assistant, rubbing elbows with the city’s elite as she delivers luxurious dresses. By night, she transforms into a vivacious fixture of the Nightingale, a clandestine speakeasy where she serves illegal drinks and dances till dawn. Her complicated relationships with her bootlegger boyfriend, Leo, and the enigmatic owner of the Nightingale, Honor Huxley, add layers of emotional depth to her character.

The story takes a sharp turn when Vivian becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a wealthy client’s husband. With the police and media circling, she strikes a desperate deal for one week of freedom to clear her name. Schellman masterfully builds tension as Vivian delves into the victim’s life, uncovering secrets and lies, and realizing that someone close to her might be setting her up to take the fall.

Schellman’s writing vividly captures the essence of the era, from the smoky, jazz-filled nights at the speakeasy to the ever-present threat of police raids. The novel’s historical detail and immersive setting are significant highlights, drawing readers into a world where every night holds both excitement and danger.

"The Last Note of Warning" excels in character development, particularly in portraying Vivian’s determination and vulnerability. Her interactions with a cast of well-drawn supporting characters, each with their own motives and secrets, keep the narrative engaging and the mystery complex.

However, while the book is richly atmospheric and character-driven, it occasionally stumbles in pacing. Some middle sections of the novel can feel a bit slow, as the build-up to the climax takes its time. Yet, this minor flaw is overshadowed by the overall suspense and the intricate plotting that leads to a satisfying resolution.

In summary, "The Last Note of Warning" is a captivating addition to the Nightingale series. Schellman’s ability to weave together mystery, romance, and historical authenticity creates a compelling read that keeps you guessing until the very end. Fans of historical mysteries, especially those with strong female leads and queer themes, will find much to love in this evocative and suspenseful tale.

I really enjoyed this latest addition to the Nightingale mystery series. I flew through this one! The stakes were very high and it was interesting to see how different characters reacted to specific outside pressures. The choices some of those characters made surprised me. I’m interested to see how that plays out in future books.

This is a great series. I love the LGBTQ+ representation in a Roaring Twenties setting. Vivian is at the edge of so many worlds. She’s white, but Irish (so still discriminated against in certain ways). She is working class but often rubs elbows with the rich and powerful. She’s a shopgirl by day and a waitress at an illegal speakeasy by night. She’s also bi, which makes for a very intriguing love triangle.

Vivian deals with a lot of high-powered people on a regular basis—from the police commissioner to the owner of the dress shop to criminal masterminds. I love that several of these people are women, especially those involved in NYC’s criminal underbelly. These women are very good at what they do and it’s fascinating to see all their machinations play out.

Note: This is the third book in the Nightingale mystery series. This story builds off the previous books, so it is best to read them in order. Book 1 is Last Call at the Nightingale.

"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. Daytime she makes deliveries and final alterations for a high-end dressmaker. Nightime she works as a waitress and sometimes dancer for a high-class speakeasy, her real passion. The two careers intersect in this book after a client's husband is murdered while Vivian waits for the client to return home for her final fitting.

Although the book could be read as a standalone, it would help to have read the earlier books in order to better understand some of the major supporting characters and their relationships. I enjoyed the book and recommend it, especially to anyone who has read the first two in the series. I did find the pace sluggish at points, but overall it was a good read. It does have elements of LGBTQ and interracial relationships, but they are not a major part of the plot or character motivations. This review is based on an advance review copy from NetGalley.

The Last Note of Warning is Katherine Schellman's third installment of the Nightingale Mysteries and all of the reader's favorite characters are back in action, living their best lives after dark. In this novel, Vivian finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and is accused of murdering a well known "fat cat". While she is understandable distraught, the Commissioner of the Police Force gives her one week to clear her name. With the odds very much stacked against her, and without the help of her secret love, Honor Huxley, Vivian must find out who had the most to claim by taking down this very powerful man.

I found this plot to be interesting, but very drawn out. The action dragged in the middle and while the audience can assume Vivian is going to come out on the right side of the law, I found myself skipping pages just to get there. The ending fell a bit flat as well. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed Schellman's portrayal of the queer and drag culture in Harlem during this time period. Mention of Harlem's Hamilton Lodge and Masquerade Balls gave the audience an understanding of and a peek into a little mentioned aspect of the LGBTQ historical community.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this novel.

The stakes are even higher in this mystery when Vivian Kelly is the only suspect in a murder. She has a week to find another suspect for the corrupt commissioner, or she‘s going to jail.

This series just keeps getting better! One of the biggest things I love in this series is the cast. Every character, from Vivian our protagonist, to minor characters that show up only for a page or two, are distinct, They have unique voices, backgrounds, and motivations. And it’s such a diverse cast. In this volume, we get to see Viv rely on the support of the community she’s built for herself at the Nightengale, and we also get to learn more about Honor, one of the most mysterious side characters in the whole series. And I really enjoy Vivian. She is such a great protagonist. She’s plucky and determined and determined, while showing that she is human. We see her fear as her deadline creeps closer.

And the countdown did an excellent job of ramping up the tension, The mystery itself was paced really well, and while I did predict part of the solution, the red herrings were really well fleshed out, and I found myself second guessing my predictions several times. I cannot wait to read more in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this arc.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Katharine Schellman for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I have absolutely loved this series so I was so excited to get approved for the third book !!

While Vivian is out making her dress deliveries, the unexpected happens and a clients husband gets murder. Even worse Vivian is arrested for the murder. Vivian convinces the commissioner to giver her a week to try and clear her name. Will it be enough time for Viv and her friends to find the truth?

The first two books of the series have been fantastic and the third, The Last Note of Warning, didn't disappoint! I love the style of writing and time frame of these books. The storyline keeps moving and keeps you glued to the book wanting to know what happens next! The characters are loveable and steal your heart! 4.5 stars from me and hope there will be more!

This was a delightful murder mystery that had me very intrigued. I loved the depth the characters had and the writing was exceptional. I couldn’t put this book down, I just had to find out who the murderer was.

3.5 stars

This was an interesting slow burn of a mystery. I was definitely intrigued at the start, but it kinda fizzled out shortly after. For whatever reason, it took me FOREVER to read this book. Although the plot hooked me for a bit, my desire to continue reading it faded more and more each day. The 1920s speakeasy setting was enjoyable. It wasn’t amazing and it wasn’t terrible, just not my vibe. I like to feel something when I read a book and I got nothing from this. I did enjoy the friendship between Vivian and Bea. Bea was a rider forsure and I liked how they had each others backs. I do understand that this is the 3rd book in the series and I have yet to read the others so maybe that’s why it didn’t hit like I wanted it to? Regardless, for the slow burn mystery lovers out there, this one is for you.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

This is a heroine who isn’t always easy to love and she, at times, made me want to shake her a bit over her confrontations with other characters. But then Vivian Kelly has grown up in the world of orphanages and hard knocks where you have to look out for yourself first. As this is book three in the series, there will be spoilers here for the first two. I think new readers could start here but it would be a steep learning curve to get all the relationships and tangled web of interactions straight.

Vivian has managed to advance in one of her two jobs where she worked long hours at a seamstress shop. Today’s delivery though has landed her with a possible murder charge as she was the one who found the victim. The Police Commissioner, who doesn’t really care if she did it or not, has given her a week to find the real killer or he’ll happily throw her to the wolves. Can Vivian find the clues from the people involved in order to clear her name?

Vivian also still works at The Nightingale, a speakeasy carefully and ruthlessly run by Honor Huxley, a queer woman who wears pants, knows which palms to grease, and who takes few prisoners. Vivian and Honor have felt sparks as they dance and kiss but as Vivian finds, she is still very much on her own despite what Honor seems to feel for her. Another person helping Vivian is Leo who has his own issues with the Police Commissioner but also some contacts who might help Vivian.

The people Vivian needs to assist her are usually not nice people and live by collecting and paying off debts. I do something for you and then can call in the debt when I need something from you. One sinister yet also interesting woman (who like Honor has bruisers who work for her) first appeared in book one and smilingly catches Vivian in a net of debt. Paying that off helps Vivian discover a few things. Other people Vivi knows from the Nightingale fill in some blanks in the puzzle. But Vivi’s Black friend Bea, who sings like a sultry angel, is probably the most helpful.

Vivi chases clues, eliminates red herrings, struggles to keep from collapsing from the work and stress but does finger the killer though the end way things play out is still complicated. She also shows she’s been learning and manages to put herself ahead of the debt game with one person who has lots of power and now owes Vivian … big. I also enjoyed watching Vivi and her (now married and very happy) sister Florence who have worked through tough relationship times.

There are still unresolved personal issues for Vivian and her sister as well as an upcoming and I hope happy event for them, and others, to look forward to. Vivian’s relationships with two other important people in her life have changed and yeah, now someone else owes her. Vivian is getting wiser, also a bit harder but is not one to go down without a fight. B-

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.
The third book in the prohibition-era series about Vivian Kelly sees her faced with new challenges.
Even though she's happier with her work situation, with a day job making deliveries for a dress shop and a part time job as a waitress at the Nightingale speakeasy, Vivian's life is still complicated.
During one of her deliveries, she ends up being the last person seen with a rich socialite who appears to have been murdered. She does manage to gain time to try and prove her innocence by calling in some favours and her hunt for the truth takes her all over 1920s New York.
Like some other readers I was puzzled by the way the authorities kind of jumped to conclusions, but then let her go to investigate instead of the police doing this. I also find it odd that this series is described as 'queer', based on, a kiss or two between women? the inclusion of women dancing with women?
I'm also hoping that the somewhat abrupt ending promises a 4th book where Vivian might have some time to figure out what's really important to her.
Recommend for fans of mysteries with realistic backgrounds and 'regular people' characters.

This series is so fun! The setting is perfect and I love the roaring 20s vibes throughout the book! The mystery took me a little bit to get into this time, but by the end, I was very invested and loved the twists and turns. I also love the romance subplots! I definitely have my favorite love interest but both were so sweet and fun to read! I really hope Katharine Schellman writes another in the series very soon!

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Note of Warning is my new favorite in this sumptuous, decadent mystery series! It has more of the same fantastic speakeasy vibes: the parties, the dresses, the drinks, the music! Paired with the dynamic cast of characters we know and love and a great mystery makes this one hot summer read!

In The Last Note of Warning, our favorite lead character Vivian must prove her innocence in a murder case, and she's got one week to do it. I loved the time countdown with this book and I feel like Schellman improved her pacing in this installment. The timeline keep things moving along quickly and I really couldn't put this one down.

Without giving spoilers, the characters in this book, who were already mysterious, got another dose of intrigue. To be more specific: we get more back story on the elusive Honor Huxley. I really enjoyed getting deeper into the lives of these characters and now I can't wait for the fourth book!

I received a free digital copy of The Last Note of Warning from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

As a mystery, this book does a good job of telling an intriguing story. Maybe it’s me, but I had a hard time with the premise that the police wouldn’t bother investigating the murder of a prominent citizen—and instead assume that the person who discovered the body must the killer, and if she wants to avoid a guilty verdict, she’s going to have to find the true killer herself. If you can overlook this situation, then you might enjoy the story.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I got The Last Note of Warning and then realized that it was book 3 in a series. Of course, I went back and read the first two before I started this. While this ended up being my favorite, I’m glad I went back and read the other two. This one relies heavily on the background established in the first two books.

Vivian is at it again, but this time her freedom is on the line. She finally has a life she enjoys, delivering dresses for the shop during the day and serving drinks at the Nightingale by night. She has a steady date in Leo and while Honor has denied her a relationship they have been able to remain friendly. That is until Vivian is in the middle of a delivery and the husband ends up murdered and she is immediately to blame. She will spend the remainder of the story using all of her detective skills and high level connections gained in the first two books to try and clear her name and avoid spending the rest of her life in jail.

This one was definitely more high-stakes and I enjoyed it more than the other two. The semi-love triangle was a bit much for me, because at this point Honor no longer should be an option. She has clearly made her decision as to where her interests are and it is not in a relationship. I am also wondering if we are ever going to find out about Vivian and Florence’s parents. It seems like it has been dragged out way too long at this point.

Enjoyed the story, didn’t love the ending.