Bea’s uncle has died. It has been ruled a suicide. But, Bea has her suspicions. She and her best friend, Vivian decide to investigate. They discover more than they bargained for. A blackmail scheme is occurring in their poor neighborhood. The scheme is designed to rob their neighbors of what little they have and threatening their lives with poison if they don’t comply.

I enjoyed the setting of prohibition and the speak easy, The Nightingale. There are a bunch of characters and this led to a bit of confusion in places. But the story moves quickly and is pretty intriguing!

The narrator, Sara Young, is wonderful. She did a great job with all the characters…even when she had to drunk sing in a scene.

Need a quick, atmospheric mystery…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

The Last Drop of Hemlock is set in New York City in the 1920s. This is the second in the series and, while it does work as a stand-alone, I think you get a much better feeling for the characters if you read them in order. Vivian and her sister, Florence, are poor, but better off than they used to be. The setting, from their tenement building to the club where Viv works to the street’s cities, felt real. I loved the details – the smells, the sights, the people.

The mystery was well done. In a city where everyone works by their own moral standards, some of which are more gray than others, there are plenty of suspects in the murder. And Vivian’s reasons for looking into the death make sense- they can’t trust the cops. She has to call in a favor or two and puts herself in a couple of dangerous positions, but it all feels in character.

It’s not a quick moving book. It takes time to walk through the streets, to talk to everyone, to spend some time dancing. It’s not that Viv takes her time, it’s that she has the rest of her life to live in addition to catching the killer. She can’t afford to take off work, but she does have friends and family on her side.

I listened to the audio and the narrator did a fabulous job bringing Vivian and New York City to life. The characters were easily distinguishable and you can just hear their attitudes in her voices. I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

Well, I'm a bit disappointed. I judged a book by its cover and thought this would be a great experience. It is a great cover. I just feel that there wasn't enough storyline for a book this long. It dragged for me.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy of The Last Drop of Hemlock for an honest review.

Although it’s not the way the phrase is usually meant, Bea Henry’s wish, actually a downright need, to know what really happened to her suddenly late uncle Pearlie, is a case where she got what she asked for – and wished she’d never opened the can of worms wriggling behind his death.

Not to mention under it, over it, and all around it. Until all that’s left is a dangerous question that her best friend Vivian Kelly truly does not want to know the answer to.

Pearlie was dead, to begin with. With a belly full of arsenic and labeled a suicide by an overworked coroner. But Pearlie was barely middle aged, had just reconnected with his family, had been claiming he was coming into a lot of money and seemed to have everything to live for.

Bea was having a hard enough time believing that her beloved uncle was dead, but suicide was simply out of the question. No matter how things looked, it made no sense. Leading her best friend to want to help her solve a puzzle that no one should have looked twice at.

After all, they were warned.

But Vivian can’t resist either helping a friend or solving a mystery, so she’s off on a seemingly mad quest to discover what really happened, only to uncover a much bigger cockroach skittering around in the dark than she ever imagined.

Escape Rating B: As I was listening to The Last Drop of Hemlock, I remembered what I wrote about the first book in this series, Last Call at the Nightingale. Specifically, that I liked the book but did not love it – and that is just as true for this second book in the series.

The historical details of the setting feel absolutely pitch perfect, and utterly true about life in the poverty-stricken areas of Jazz Age New York City where Bea Henry’s black family and the orphaned Irish Kelly sisters live on neighboring blocks but aren’t supposed to acknowledge each other as neighbors, let alone best friends.

While at The Nightingale, the jazz club and speakeasy where Bea ‘Bluebird’ croons to a packed audience and Vivian waits tables and dances whenever she can, they have a place where they can be who they are, owned and operated by a woman who loves other women, seconded by a Chinese bartender who has to be careful every minute he’s outside the club and sometimes even within it.

I had the mixed sensation with this book, as I did with the first, that I was fascinated by the story but frustrated by the characters, and now that I’m two stories in I think that’s down to Vivian herself. The story follows in Vivian’s wake, through a limited perspective where the reader only knows what Vivian knows and only sees what Vivian sees, and we’re not able to see what’s happening when Vivian is not present.

But we do see inside Vivian’s head – albeit not in her “I” voice. So we know what Vivian thinks and feels. And it still feels like Vivian is too naive to be even half as successful as she’s been. She keeps thinking that everything is going to be alright – which it’s not. It’s not that she’s optimistic – it’s that she’s blind and clueless in a life that should have disabused her of that notion long ago.

The Nightingale’s bartender Danny Chin is an optimist – but he’s still realistic about his situation. He’s just decided to look on the bright side wherever he can without losing sight of the dark side that is always there. Vivian does a lot of pretending that dark side isn’t there until it slaps her in the face – particularly when it comes to poking her nose in murder.

So I’m back at liking this but not loving it. Fascinated in many ways but not as engaged as I wanted to be. Certainly the mystery pulled me along quite handily, particularly in the way that I thought I knew ‘whodunnit’ at the halfway point, only to discover at the end that while I kind of did, I also kind of didn’t. And that even at that end, neither I nor Vivian quite knew all of the answers.

I did like this more than enough that I’ll be reading – or more likely listening to – the next in the Nightingale Mysteries whenever the club next opens it doors.

Back at the Nightingale for another murder mystery! Vivian and Florence are at it to figure out Bea's uncle's death, but run into a scheme of threatening letters and the mob.

I liked the mystery aspect of this one in trying to figure out who was sending the threatening letters, but I wished it had more one the time period feel like the first book. Maybe I just wanted more of it taking place in the Nightingale.

Some nice character background development happen as well with Vivian and Florence trying to find out more about their mother, but I dominated the story a bit and interfered with concentrating on the mystery. The narrator helped a bit with keeping engagement in the slower parts.

I hope the next book brings back more of the speakeasy feel!

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this Audiobook for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for the ALC. One of my favorite series that not enough people are into. Love these cozy mysteries.

This book painted a wonderful picture of life in the 1920s. I am intrigued by speakeasys and jazz and thought the author did an amazing job describing the atmosphere to make you really imagine you were there. I did not realize this was book 2 of a series after I had already been approved for it and began reading, but I don't think anything was taken away by not reading the other novel first. I think it worked out as a standalone, but maybe had I read the other one first I would have been more interested in what comes next. I have to admit, this one was a do not finish for me. I did listen to the entire first half, and while I still really want to know who did it- I couldn't keep following along. I'm not sure what it was aside from the fact I felt it was dragging a little. From what I did read, I will rate this a 3-star as I thought it was a good story and mystery and I thought it was very descriptive.


Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for a free audio book in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 rounded up!

When I was first sent THE LAST DROP OF HEMLOCK, I didn’t realize it was the second book in the series; whoops! Lucky for me, I didn’t really need the first book to know what was going on. Sure, there were references to the first book that went a tad over my head, but it didn’t make or break the story.

The book is marketed as a “cozy mystery” and while it is, I don’t think it’s the genre for me. The characters are all adults, but for some reason it felt really young and I’m not the biggest lover of YA books. I genuinely liked the idea of the story, just not really how it was executed.

The mystery seemed a tad far fetched yet I didn’t know who the “bad guy” was until it was revealed. It did keep me on my toes but man, this story was SLOW. Maybe that’s something to do with the cozy mystery aspect?

I enjoyed the setting and historical aspect, but it wasn’t enough to really make me love it.

Big thanks to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the ALC.

Content warnings: death, gun violence, poison

The Last Drop of Hemlock is the second in the Nightingale Mystery series and although I have not read the first book, it was easy to pick up the basics and get a sense of the main characters.

The writing created an atmosphere that really transported you to the 1920s New York prohibition era. The pacing was slower in parts but overall the mystery and amateur sleuthing plot was entertaining, including the big reveal.

The audiobook narrator was engaging with appropriate tone and intonation which propelled the story along.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to review.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
•
I was super excited to be able to jump right into this one after finishing the first in the series. This one grabbed my attention right from the start with yet another murder, and to think - a poison ring none the less…
•
I love the atmosphere that has been created in this series revolving around the 1920’s during the age of prohibition and speakeasies. We follow once again Vivian as she works with her friend Bea, Leo, Honor and Danny to try to figure out who was behind the murders. I really enjoyed the character building in this one, how each character has grown. I felt that the pacing was a bit slow in the middle, but it felt to flow much better to me than the first in the series. I think Schellman did a great job at bringing the story full circle in the end, tying everything up nicely with the murders. Not only was the ending great but something happens, leaving a bit of a cliff hanging leaving me to believe that there will be a third in the series, with another mystery to solve, which I will definitely be looking forward to.
•
I felt that the narration was great. Sara Young narrates as she did the first and I felt her narration to be much better in this one.
•
If you are a fan of atmospheric historical fiction mysteries (specifically the 1920’s) with a touch of romance thrown in, then I recommend this series. I really enjoyed this second installment to the series! This one just released on June 6!
•
Thank you to @netgalley, @dreamscapemedia and Katharine Schellman for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Vivian Kelly works at the Nightingale, illegal speakeasy and jazz club with her best friend Bea. Bea is a talented singer whose Uncle Perly is a security guard at the Nightingale, he has recently moved from Baltimore but no one quite knows why, so when Perly is found dead but police rule and it is rules a suicide, Bea knows something suspicious is going on. Soon her and Viv find themselves in a lot deeper than they ever imagined trying to get to the truth.

Second in the Jazz Age book series, The Last Drop of Hemlock is an immersive period murder mystery with some great twists and turns. I loved the characters particularly honour and the LGBTQ+ elements of it


.

The book has an excellent narrator, who's clear with good emphasis and emotion keeping you engaged throughout. A solid 3.5 rounded up.

I wanted to love this audio book but I struggled and ultimately DNF.
Im honestly not sure if it was the narrator or the author that drove me to finally say I don't care who killed Pearly or why?

If you enjoy 1920s prohibition jazz age Mysteries then this one is for you. For fans of Gatsby and Miss Fisher will love this murder mystery. I had not read the first in the series so did not have the whole backstory of past relationships of the characters but there was enough backstory in this one to still enjoy it as a standalone.
This was a fun read that kept me guessing till the last

This is a mystery, set in the 1920s. The main characters work in a speakeasy. When, Pearly, who is an uncle of one of the girls, dies, they decided to figure out what really happened. If you are looking for a cozy mystery, you are likely to enjoy this story. I liked the setting, the main characters and the premise. I found the story slow, the slang from the 20s too random to work well, and the narrator didn't work for me. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

✨Book Review✨

The Last Drop Of Hemlock
Format: audio
Arc: yes
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: in a 1920’s speakeasy, Vivian and her best friend Bea dance the night away. Their carefree lifestyle is brought to a screeching halt when Bea’s uncle Pearlie ends up dead. The police are calling his death a suicide, but is it? Will undigging the truth end up getting Bea and Vivian killed?

✨My thoughts✨
What I liked:
-1920’s vibes
-queer characters
-atmospheric writing

What I didn’t like:
-too much talk of drinking and dancing at some points
-ending was not surprising
-characters were somewhat flat

Overall, this book was just alright. I was very excited because of the 1920’s and murder mystery vibes, but it ended up just disappointing. It wasn’t shocking at all. At multiple points throughout, it just seemed like she wanted to just talk about the nightclub, drinking, and dancing. But after a while, it got really old.

Thank you NetGalley, the author, and Minotaur Books for this ARC. My opinion thereof is an unbiased opinion of the book in exchange for this ARC

Fun romp through the Jazz Age! I enjoyed the cast of characters and the mystery, I just think it may not have been the book for me.

I really liked the overall premise of this story.

Girls working in speakeasy (among other places) during prohibition find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery when one of their uncles is found to be poisoned.

Then they find themselves embroiled in something bigger when it is found that ransom notes have been delivered all over the neighborhood.

I listened on audio and I found the 20s vernacular a bit contrived. This could have been the narrator, and it could have worked in the paper copy. Some of the vernacular was used in a way that isn’t how my midwestern family uses it today (for example, shake a leg doesn’t mean dance here in Michigan, it means to hurry up because we have to go NOW.)

Well done overall, entertaining and I didn’t guess who the big baddy was.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to Prohibition Era New York. Again! We are once again dancing and drinking with Vivian Kelly. I loved the first one in this series and was so happy to read another book with the rich and diverse cast of characters. I really appreciate how Schellman writes characters that are real - they have flaws and personalities and thoughts that are genuine. I love that this book has a mystery that is explored but that there is also a theme of what happened to Vivian's mother that ties the books together. Also, and this is the best part, new information comes to light that definitely leaves room for another book!!

Unable to listen to this one without having access to the first. I didn't realize it was a second in a series when requesting

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I couldn't get through this book as I found the narrator to be dull and I kept missing large chunks of the text due to losing track of the storyline.