Last Call at the Nightingale

by Katharine Schellman

Overview

First in a captivating Jazz age mystery series from author Katharine Schellman, Last Call at the Nightingale beckons readers into a darkly glamorous speakeasy where music, liquor, and secrets flow.

"Schellman is at the top of her craft and delivers a murder mystery with clever twists and turns and memorable personalities."—Denny S. Bryce, Bestselling Author of Wild Women and the Blues

New York, 1924. Vivian Kelly's days are filled with drudgery, from the tenement lodging she shares with her sister to the dress shop where she sews for hours every day.

But at night, she escapes to The Nightingale, an underground dance hall where illegal liquor flows and the band plays the Charleston with reckless excitement. With a bartender willing to slip her a free glass of champagne and friends who know the owner, Vivian can lose herself in the music. No one asks where she came from or how much money she has. No one bats an eye if she flirts with men or women as long as she can keep up on the dance floor. At The Nightingale, Vivian forgets the dangers of Prohibition-era New York and finds a place that feels like home.

But then she discovers a body behind the club, and those dangers come knocking.

Caught in a police raid at the Nightingale, Vivian discovers that the dead man wasn't the nameless bootlegger he first appeared. With too many people assuming she knows more about the crime than she does, Vivian finds herself caught between the dangers of the New York's underground and the world of the city's wealthy and careless, where money can hide any sin and the lives of the poor are considered disposable...including Vivian's own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250888228
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Series:	The Nightingale Mysteries , #1
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	235,489
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

KATHARINE SCHELLMAN is a former actor, one-time political consultant, and current writer. Her debut novel, The Body in the Garden, was a Suspense Magazine Best Book of 2020 and led to her being named one of BookPage’s 16 Women to Watch. A graduate of the College of William & Mary, Katharine currently lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.

Editorial Reviews

“The suspense will keep readers guessing until the end."

BookPage (starred review)

“Touches on issues of segregation, poverty, and class divides with a deft hand that leaves plenty of room for a very satisfying murder mystery with a great deal of heart.”

Mystery & Suspense

“The mystery plot crosses lines of class, gender, and ethnicity. This novel plays with our expectations and keeps our attention on every fast-moving page. Highly recommended."

Historical Novels Review

A BookPage "Most Anticipated Mystery & Suspense" book of 2022!

"Excellent . . . Vivian proves to be a most imaginative sleuth. Readers will eagerly await her return."—Publishers Weekly (Starred)

"Last Call at the Nightingale is a sexy, fun romp through the Jazz Age. With a well-plotted mystery and applause-worthy female characters, readers will soak up this spellbinding read."—Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment and The Bookseller's Secret

"This sharply paced, queer murder mystery, set in 1920s New York City, offers equal amounts of atmosphere, danger, and crime-solving. Independent-minded and sometimes foolishly fearless, Vivian is a multi-faceted protagonist who immerses readers into this stunning tale. Schellman is at the top of her craft and delivers a murder mystery with clever twists and turns and memorable personalities."—Denny S. Bryce, Bestselling Author of Wild Women and the Blues

"Katharine Schellman deftly evokes one of my favorite eras, the Jazz Age of 1920’s Manhattan. Complete with speakeasies, mobsters, and an unflappable flapper as its heroine, this is a book that should be savored with a glass of bootleg gin in one hand and a 78 of Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five on the gramophone."—Allison Montclair, author of The Right Sort of Man

"Secrets and suspects abound as Vivian Kelly finds herself ensnared in a murder mystery at The Nightingale, a New York speakeasy, in this exciting and evocative series debut. Brimming with Jazz Age atmosphere, suspense, and a cast of engaging characters, Last Call at the Nightingale wonderfully captures both the decadence and the struggles of the Roaring Twenties, and Vivian is smart and gutsy, a character you’ll root for. I’m already looking forward to her next adventure!"—Ashley Weaver, author of the Amory Ames and Electra McDonnell series

"Original, bold, and sexy, Katharine Schellman's Jazz Age New York isn't like anything you've read before. Beautifully paced, packed with evocative detail, this delicious mystery takes you to the Nightingale, a club where people can be who they really are, but everyone has secrets. Every character is memorable, from the sharp, vivacious heroine Vivian Kelly to the mysterious and alluring Honor Huxley. Dirty doings among New York's elite, family drama, and more than one love story make for a fantastic start to a great new series."—Mariah Fredericks, author of the Jane Prescott series

From the Publisher

09/01/2022

Author Schellman (the "Lily Adler Mysteries") is back with a new series about The Nightingale, a hip and carefree speakeasy in Jazz Age New York City. Vivian Kelly dances to escape her troubles—she's an Irish American orphan who lives and works with her straitlaced sister, both barely earning enough at the dress shop to survive. When Viv discovers a dead body outside the club's back door, others think she saw the murderer, and soon she's engulfed in a tangled mystery of local rumrunners, Chicago gangsters, secret pregnancies, and entitled aristocrats. Open-minded Vivian isn't sure whom to love or trust—Honor, the sexy club owner, who asks Vivian to find the murderer and offers free drinks? Or Leo, the handsome stranger who mysteriously appears after the murder to rescue Viv from dangerous situations? Narrator Sara Young doesn't have many titles in her repertoire, but her confident and skilled approach make her a narrator to watch. She uses a Midwestern American accent for most of the characters, and Nightingale owner Honor has a delightfully sultry tone. VERDICT Traditional mystery readers and lovers of 1920s historical fiction will enjoy this subtly inclusive listen.—Sarah Hill

Library Journal - Audio

01/01/2022

This latest from the author of the LJ-starred Silence in the Library features Vivian Kelly, who trudges and drudges through a seamstress's job in 1924 New York, escaping nightly to a club called the Nightingale where the Charleston spills forth and the liquor flows illegally. Discovering a dead body behind the club reminds her how disposable the lives of unflashy people like her can be. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

Sara Young brings Schellman’s new mystery series, set in the Roaring Twenties, to life with a smooth narration and unique voices for its diverse characters. Irish orphans Vivian and her sister, Flo, work as seamstresses by day. Looking for excitement, Vivian spends her nights dancing at a speakeasy called the Nightingale. Vivian’s voice is self-assured and flirtatious. Timid Flo sounds exasperated as she attempts to rein in Vivian’s wildness. When Vivian and her friend, Bea, discover a dead body in the alley behind the speakeasy, life suddenly becomes more dangerous. Honor, the owner of the speakeasy, who hires Vivian to investigate, has the self-assured voice of a person who is used to being obeyed. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

JULY 2022 - AudioFile