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Book #1
by Katharine Schellman
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.
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.
"[An] excellent series launch...Schellman vividly evokes Jazz Age Manhattan as Vivian proves to be a most imaginative sleuth. Readers will eagerly await her return." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A Jazz Age murder thrusts a good-time girl into the uncomfortable role of secret shamus...A colorful period crime yarn with a heroine with rooting for." - Kirkus Reviews
"A compelling, atmospheric series debut. Schellman expertly creates a strong sense of place, introducing a nightclub as a world where people of different races, classes, and sexual orientations can come together." - Library Journal
"Readers will love Last Call at the Nightingale for its twisting plot, its flair for historical detail and its inclusive cast of appealing characters. Schellman's author's note on historical accuracy broadens the appeal of this engrossing jaunt into murder and dangerously good times. Don't look away, as the surprises keep coming until the final page." - Shelf Awareness
"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
This information about Last Call at the Nightingale was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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.
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