The New York Times bestseller from the acclaimed author of A Northern Light, Revolution, Stepsister, and Poisoned. This thrilling mystery is perfect for fans of The Cellar and Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls. It's a story of dark secrets, dirty truths, and the lengths to which people will go for love and revenge.
Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter.
Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. The story is that Charles Montfort shot himself while cleaning his revolver, but the more Jo hears about her father’s death, the more something feels wrong. And then she meets Eddie—a young, smart, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. But now it might be too late to stop.
The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and this time the truth is the dirtiest part of all.
Praise for These Shallow Graves:
★ “Action-packed chapters propel this compelling mystery…[and] the injustices Donelly highlights remain all too relevant.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Lovely prose, historical intrigue, unique characters and setting. I devoured this book!” —Ruta Sepetys, New York Times bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea
“A splendidly hair-raising tour of the brightest and darkest corners of Victorian New York.” —Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity and Black Dove, White Raven
“A fast-paced Gilded Age crime thriller.” —Julie Berry, award-winning author of All the Truth That’s in Me
I read Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly back in the day before I began blogging and was really impressed by her story telling capabilities. Period pieces seem to be her specialty, so when I heard she was releasing a Victorian-era mystery with definitely creepy vibes, I was right on board. I had an ARC from ALA of this book and barely had the chance to start it last fall before I got sick the first day I was reading it, and after that distraction I never got around to picking it up again until a year later.
I'll start with the disclaimer that this book is definitely not as good as Revolution, but I found that I enjoyed it nonetheless. Jo was a likeable, if at times incredible naive, protagonist and it's always fun to read the rebellious-rich-girl narratives. I liked the way the press played a part in the mystery, and Jo's ambition to be a reporter and tackle women's issues was charming if a bit idealistic for someone from her demographic. I found that I did end up rooting for one of the romances in the novel, and I loved many of the eccentric secondary characters as well, such as Oscar, Jo's acquaintance turned friend who works in a morgue and practices the new and controversial "forensic science." I knocked a few stars off of my rating because I found the plot to be pretty predictable, and sometimes Jo was so stubbornly naive and took such stupid risks that I found myself rolling my eyes a bit. However, even if it wasn't the most original story I did like how all of the ends were tied up at the conclusion of the novel and how everything fit together in a pretty clever manner. I'd definitely try another book by Donnelly.
Overall: An engaging, if a bit predictable period mystery set it Victorian-era New York. If you're a historical fiction fan and like engaging secondary characters you'll most likely find this to be a suitable read for you.This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages
Reading updates
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19 November, 2016:
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19 November, 2016:
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