City of Lies was an unexpected delight. Despite the description, the cover kept convincing me that this was more steampunk than historical fiction, and IT IS NOT. It's historical fiction that really dives into the suffragist movement (Elizabeth masquerading as a suffragist worked well as it allowed the reader to learn about the movement along with her). It's gritty, with Elizabeth's history as a grifter in a time when women's options were limited, and both the history element and the plot as Elizabeth uses her "street smarts" to survive were fascinating. I love that this is listed as the first in a series as, while the main storylines are wrapped up at the end, what the future could hold for Elizabeth and her friends is full of possibilities.

Elizabeth Miles is an outstanding character. She was raised a con artist and thinks on her feet. When she is arrested with Suffragists picketing the White House in her effort to escape Thornton's thugs, she assists the women in dealing with the ordeal at the Occoquan Workhouse. Once they are released she really has to be creative to stay alive with Thornton on her trail and maintain her new identity.

Anna Vanderslice is a gentle and fragile suffragist that Elizabeth befriends and assists to get through the workhouse. Anna bonds with Elizabeth quickly, relying on her courage. David Vanderslice is Anna's brother who becomes a part of the story once they are released from the workhouse. Mrs Bates is an older lady arrested who takes Elizabeth under her wing. Gideon Bates, is her son and a lawyer who fights to get the Suffragists released and remains a key figure.

The settings are all a matter of historical record, even the Occoquan Workhouse. Ms. Thompson did an amazing job of bringing the Suffragist movement to life, and gives the reader a slight taste of what women endured to get us the vote. I found the depiction of the workhouse and the infamous "night of terror" well done without getting graphic.

The plot twists and weaves and kept me turning pages. The pacing is perfect, suspense is maintained and I never had to drag through any sections. The interweaving of the historical events of the Occoquan Workhouse with Elizabeth's flight to escape a murderous man was pure genius.

The climax was full of tension and some edge of your seat thrills, loved it! The wrap up was equally enjoyable, with it's own twist.

I had high expectations from the book blurb, and the story lived up to all of them. Besides the importance of what it took [historical accuracy is high in the story] from many brave women to literally fight for the vote as a backdrop to the plot, the characters shined. Elizabeth is a complex lead and Anna has her own depths that come forward. The plot twists kept coming and I had to known how Elizabeth was going to get out of each challenging situation. I give high praise for this novel and already am a fan and want the next installment.

Rating: Shear perfection - Couldn't Put it down. Buy two copies, one for you and one for a friend.

I am a huge fan of the Gaslight mysteries but I feel a bit like City of Lies lied to me as it's not a mystery at all but a historical romance.

Elizabeth Miles is  a grifter who was working a con with her brother when it goes horrible wrong. They conned the wrong man as Oscar Thornton is not a nice person, he is very ruthless. He has already caught her brother and his two goons are beating up on him and since there is no hope of her helping him she runs but Thornton sees her and sends his goons after her instead and she sees her only hope of escape in a group of women who are protesting for women's right to vote.

While in jail she meets a young woman named Anna and a older woman named Mrs. Bates who take to her rather quickly. Anna thinks Elizabeth is so bold and different and you can quickly see she wants to be like her and likes her more than Elizabeth realizes. Mrs. Bates son is a lawyer and when he finds out from David (Anna's brother) that things are not going well for the ladies he works with the ladies lawyer to try and figure things out.

The women were suppose to be sent to the jail in town but they didn't have room for them and they are sent to a workhouse where things are very nasty and it's very trying for them. Probably about half of the book has to do with Gabriel and the other lawyer trying to figure out where the ladies are and the ladies going on a hunger strike and making the government look bad if they don't get the ladies eating, so lots of women's movement stuff. 

After they get out though Elizabeth finds out that she is not safe and has to come up with an elaborate plan to bring down Thorton that has to do with those she just met, mainly David. Gabriel is fascinated with Elizabeth and can't see why she wants to hang around with David and this is where the romance part falls in. 

I liked Elizabeth and Mrs. Bates but I was not a fan of Anna. Elizabeth is a strong character and though she is a lot like her father there is a part of her that would like to be a real lady. I really liked Gabriel as he might not have been a huge fan of the movement but he never stood in the way of his mother or even made Elizabeth feel bad about anything. David is kind of wimpy but I think he was suppose to be. :)

It was all rather interested though I could do without some things as that is my preference in reading but I can't say that I was wowed by it and a bit disappointed as my expectation was higher.

I was expecting a mystery, but at 40% in there was still no mystery so I quit reading. The women's suffrage movement was interesting to learn about, but the dialogue was often too melodramatic and the frequent mentions of the rules of propriety were irritating and inauthentic - people would not have literally thought "the rules of propriety say I can't do this," the rules would have been so ingrained that they would have just followed them (or rebelled against them) but the phrase "rules of propriety" would not have been a literal thought in their minds.

LINK WILL GO LIVE (11/10/17)

Victoria Thompson is a very prolific mystery author, with another long-running steampunk series, that somehow I've completely missed! But, as nice as it is to discover a new author with a long-running series, it's also a bit intimidating to look at as a whole. With that in mind, I was thrilled to learn that she was starting a new series just this fall. Problem solved: get in at the beginning of this series and have another series to happily follow for years to come! Or at least that was the plan. Unfortunately, you also have to enjoy the first book for this long-game plan to really work. And while there are pieces that I enjoyed here and there, "City of Lies" just didn't do it for me.

The story starts off well enough with readers meeting Elizabeth Miles in the midst of a complicated con. These first few chapters started off so promising. This entire con, and the role that Elizabeth plays within it, is smart, snappy, and intriguing. She is presented as an independent and wily woman making her way through the world in maybe not the most ethical manner, but one that is definitely interesting to read about. And then the con goes wrong and she finds herself on the run, and suddenly caught up with a group of women protestors. And right away, the book went off the tracks for me.

While those first few chapters were short, they did a lot to convince me that Elizabeth was a heroine who was canny and had managed to make a life for herself in a way that is only accessible to the brave and street smart. But once she's on the run, I immediately began questioning all of her decisions. Was getting arrested (and then shipped far, far away to another prison), really the best way to avoid goons chasing her down the street? I mean, I've seen "The Bourne Identity" probably more times than I should admit, so I'm all for the "get lost in the protestors" method of evasion. But notably, "go to prison and then buy into a hunger strike" is never a part of his plans. And if Bourne's not doing it, neither should you!

Part of the problem was that I never became very interested in the women that Elizabeth meets here. I had to repeatedly page back to remind myself what was distinctive about each of them. And while, obviously, their protest movement is historically important, it just read as...blah. Which almost seems like a feat in and of itself.

I was also not digging the romance. This book seems to walk the line between many different genres (historical, mystery, romance), but isn't fully committing to the common expectations of any of them. The romance was too chaste. The history was too plan. The con/mystery element fell to the way side (also the original book description on Goodreads is completely misleading , referencing Elizabeth chasing down a killer in D.C., which isn't right at all).

While Thompson's writing seems solid, this book simply didn't seem to have much new to say or offer for any of the genres that it covers. And Elizabeth, who started strong, quickly fell into a character rife with confusion and unclear motivations. As I haven't read Thompson's other series, I can't say if some of these complaints may just be that her writing style and storytelling choices just aren't for me or whether this is an outlier from her previous books. Maybe some time I'll pick up one of those and see, but this book lands solidly in the middle of the road for me. I didn't hate it, but I also won't remember it. For fans of Thompson, however, and perhaps those who like more chaste historical romances, this might be worth checking out?

Rating 5: In one word: bland.

Thompson weaves historical facts, friendship, LGBT, women's rights and a dash of romance into this suspenseful tale. In the author's notes, Thompson describes how some of the events that happened to our heroine Elizabeth Miles, Anna and other characters actually happened during the Women's Movement of the 1920s. Of course, she took some liberties, but I love when actual events are woven into a tale, it gives it an air of authenticity.

Very enjoyable read. The characters were really interesting and the plot just propelled me through the book. Were some of the circumstances a little pat? Yes, but I was enjoying it enough not to care. I will definitely recommend to library patrons who enjoy historical books with a little romance.

I really wanted to love this book with the great description and how much others were talking about it. This book will be a great read for some people with the action and story line. However, I personally could not stay interested in it and had to make myself pick it up to continue reading it. I didn't care for the character one way or another. I didn't dislike or like her which usually it is one or the other and that is fine because that is what happens. This character though, I just couldn't bring myself to care about what was happening with her.

It was supposed to be a great con, easy money, but this time Elizabeth Miles finds the “respectable” businessman she has conned is a brutal and deadly con man himself and he is out for both his lost money and revenge. Running scared, Elizabeth gets herself carted off with the women of the Suffragists’ movement and for a woman on the run, jail may be the safest place for her.

Little did Elizabeth realize, these women would change her life and introduce her to a world of privilege and women who are equally as strong as she is and not the pampered princesses she always thought them to be. Now she has one last con to pull and it will take all of her skills, skills that could cost her newfound friendships and even her heart. Who knew doing the right thing could be even riskier than being a grifter?

With a villain as dastardly as Snidely Whiplash and a romantic interest as honorable as Dudley Dooright, our sweet Elizabeth is up to her neck in lies, cons and a new found conscience that lights up each page of this fast-paced and fascinating read!

CITY OF LIES by Victoria Thompson provides a little history, a little drama, some tense moments, and a delightful cast of characters that make this trip back in time a wonderful escape! While Elizabeth may not be the typical heroine, she is a truly memorable and lovable character who steals the show as she manages to shine across each page and wiggle herself out of each predicament she finds herself in! A fun read for sure!

I received an ARC edition from Berkley in exchange for my honest and voluntary review!

Series: Counterfeit Lady - Book 1
Publisher: Berkley (November 7, 2017)
Publication Date: November 7, 2017
Genre: Historical Mystery/Suspense
Print Length: 320 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

I think I read some good reviews so I was excited to see this on NetGalley. I didn't finish this, though: half-way through, there's still no clear indication of where this is going. A character was portrayed one way, then was reintroduced in a different light. Supporting characters are not unique from each other. The main character hasn't been given enough background to be sympathetic.

This was an engrossing and fast-paced read, though it was more of a (chaste) romance than I expected it to be. The historical setting and the details of the suffragist movement were fascinating. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review!

More historical fiction than mystery, it is still an intresting read. Set during the suffrage movement, we follow con woman Lizzie/Elizabeth from when a con goes bad to her joining a group of women to get away from the mark. Learning some of the history of the movement was fantastic and having such a strong character to follow through it was appealing. I look forward to more in this series.

I had a very hard time getting into this book. Even with everything going on--scams, con artists on the run, arrests, hunger strikes--I just didn't feel drawn into the action. I also didn't feel a connection with Elizabeth, and had a hard time understanding why she would put herself in unnecessary danger by going all-in with the suffragists and participating in the hunger strike. I felt as though I didn't understand her motives and therefore could not get a sense of why she was feeling what she was feeling and doing what she was doing. When I put the book down I did not get that sense of "I can't wait until I can start reading this again." I found I did not care about the characters or what happened to them. This is not a book I would recommend.

Such a different character from Victoria Thompson's Gaslight series. The only way Lizzie the grifter can escape her mark is to best him in another con. Hoping this will be a continuing series.
Goodreads

I actually enjoyed this story and loved the historical background with the suffragists (never suffragettes). That said, the dialogue was weak and the character development very minimal, even for supposedly main characters. I had absolutely no backstory or affection for the main male "love interest" Gideon who found the main heroine, Lizzie, fascinating for no apparent reason other than she was "different" and seemed to lie a lot. I think with a more time spent on character development and frankly a bit more thought put into the pat and abrupt ending this could be a 4 or even 5 star book. The author shows great potential for story-telling. She just goes awry when she doesn't give you enough backstory and emotional context to actually care about any of the characters. I can barely remember any of their names outside of the main 3 or 4.