Murder at the Flamingo
A Van Buren and DeLuca Mystery (Book 1)
by Rachel McMillan
352 pages
Thomas Nelson (July 10, 2018)
“Maybe it was time to land straight in the middle of the adventure…”
Hamish DeLuca has spent most of his life trying to hide the anxiety that appears at the most inopportune times — including during his first real court case as a new lawyer. Determined to rise above his father’s expectations, Hamish runs away to Boston where his cousin, Luca Valari, is opening a fashionable nightclub in Scollay Square. When he meets his cousin’s “right-hand man” Reggie, Hamish wonders if his dreams for a more normal life might be at hand.
Regina “Reggie” Van Buren, heir to a New Haven fortune, has fled fine china, small talk, and the man her parents expect her to marry. Determined to make a life as the self-sufficient city girl she’s seen in her favorite Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn pictures, Reggie runs away to Boston, where she finds an easy secretarial job with the suave Luca Valari. But as she and Hamish work together in Luca’s glittering world, they discover a darker side to the smashing Flamingo nightclub.
When a corpse is discovered at the Flamingo, Reggie and Hamish quickly learn there is a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in 1937 Boston—and that there’s an underworld that feeds on them both. As Hamish is forced to choose between his conscience and loyalty to his beloved cousin, the unlikely sleuthing duo work to expose a murder before the darkness destroys everything they’ve worked to build.
My Rating:
Sometimes stories are in the people whose life’s pages no one thinks of turning…
Reggie didn’t have the privilege of choice when it came to finding gainful employment. Economic times had fallen hard for those with numerous skills she didn’t possess.
She almost missed having someone to rush home and apply red lipstick for. Someone to turn in front of a mirror and adjust her skirt for. Someone she would watch the clock to be fashionably late for…
They both knew Luca had a past. Heck, anyone seeing that suave Valentino gait would know Luca Valari had a past. And probably a present.
There are layers and layers of crime here. You’d think it was a chocolate cake.
“He’s too good looking to be sinister,” Nate reassured with a wink at Hamish. “Besides, he doesn’t have the right mustache.”
Hamish couldn’t help but follow Reggie with his eyes. He hadn’t known fabric could cling like that. The material of her dress knew what it was doing…
My Review:
It took me several chapters to ease into this tale and acclimate to the writer’s style. This was a slowly developing story with tons of details that filled my head and initially appeared merely observational yet gradually most of these ancillary tidbits dovetailed into a finely woven tapestry. This was a thoughtful and insightful read that included, gangsters, mystery, a bit of pining romance, family drama, humor, Bostonian history, and one character’s interest in the newly created Superman comics.
Murder at the Flamingo kicked off a new series and was my first time reading the talented scribblings of Rachel McMillian. Ms. McMillian has a unique writing style and provided a complicated and intriguing plot populated with distinctive, intriguingly flawed, and complex characters. Her writing was highly descriptive calling forth sharp visuals that included not only the sounds and sights but also set the emotional tone for each scene. What I struggled the most with was the lack of communication between the characters as they all seemed so secretive and furtive, as such, the majority of the book consisted of the observations and inner musings of the highly captivating two main protagonists who aspired to be Nick and Nora from The Thin Man movies, although, unfortunately, they were lacking the adorable Asta.
Empress DJ
About Rachel McMillanRachel McMillan is a history enthusiast, lifelong bibliophile, and author of the Herringford and Watts series. When not reading (or writing), Rachel can be found at the theater, traveling near and far, and watching far too many British miniseries. Rachel lives in Toronto where she works in educational publishing and is always planning her next trip to Boston. Facebook: RachKMc1; Twitter: @RachKMc; Instagram: RachKMc.
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