A great book by a fantastic author. The writing is excellent and the mystery keeps you turning the pages. Characters are well developed. Highly recommend.

I love this series. There are enough twists and turns and the main character is compelling. Add in the steampunk setting, and I am hooked.

Love this series.I am a Brooklyn girl so I love reading books set there.A strong women as a leading character involving mystery another page turner in this series.#netgalley#crownpublishing

"It's the summer of 1894, and an infidelity case has brought PI Mary Handley to a far corner of Brooklyn: Coney Island. In the midst of her investigation, Mary is contacted by a convicted man's brother to reopen a murder case. A prostitute was killed by a Jack the Ripper copycat years ago in her New York hotel room, but her true killer was never found. Once again it's up to Mary to make right the city's wrongs.

New York City's untouchable head of detectives, Thomas Byrnes, swears he put the right man behond bars, but as Mary digs deeper, she finds corruption at the heart of New York's justice system, involving not only the police, but the most powerful of stock titans. Disturbing evidence of other murders begins to surface, each one mimicking Jack the Ripper's style, each one covered up by Thomas Byrnes.

As Mary pieces together the extent of the damage, she crosses paths with Harper Lloyd, an investigative reporter. Their relationship grows into a partnership, and perhaps more, and together they must catch a killer who's still out there, and reverse the ruthless workings of New York's elite. It'll be Mary's most dangerous, most personal case yet."

Jack the Ripper? Yes, I'm a sucker for anything that macabre!

Mary Handley has her hands full trying to prove that her client’s brother Ameer Ben Ali is innocent in the murder of Carrie Brown. In the search for the truth Mary runs into real trouble all the while dealing with “Masculine Patronization” in an era where women were trying to get men to understand that they were stronger than men gave them credit for.

Author, Lawrence H Levy’s writing of a strong, brave woman is refreshing. Mary is a spitfire and humorous to boot! Some might find her annoyingly blunt, however I didn’t. I thought she was tough when she needed to be tough and sensitive and soft when she needed to be. I loved seeing both sides of her character. Her investigative prowess is straight on, her steps always ahead of the police. There is a relationship that builds from a step in her first investigation in the book that might be not what it appears to be, only you can decide by reading the book.

This book is the 3rd and final episode in the trilogy of The Mary Handley Mysteries. I didn’t read the first 2 books and I thought It held its own when it came to not having to know the back stories. I enjoyed the depth of the characters, her father, his boss Leo, Mary’s landlord, book proprietor Lazlo and the others encountered along the way. I appreciated the real people characterized in the book too, Andrew Carnegie, Russell Sage and other tycoon moguls and the realism that their voices came out as dealing with the fictional characters.

Mary Handley never once cringes when she is dealing with the harsh realities of murder and takes the task in hand aptly. I felt as if she could have been a real person in modern day fighting for women’s rights and the rights of the lowest of the low as she does in the story.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this book is that it ended too soon. The location of Brooklyn is part of my heritage it drew me in wanting to experience the ugly corners, like Coney Island was back in the Victorian Age and compare it to it’s modern day atmosphere. I hope that everyone wants to take that last stop in Brooklynn as I do now.

Mr. Levy even has a map of Brooklyn during Mary's time that you can find Here.
I think I need to go back and read the first two books and also, follow along on the map for Last Stop in Brooklyn.

Please go and buy this book and the 2 proceeding books at your favorite Indie Store. For convenience you can buy at Amazon and B&N. I prefer the Indie route.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 for a not so obvious mystery, the swell writing and the historical aspect of the book.

I thank Crown Publishing for allowing me to read Last Stop in Brooklyn via Net Galley in lieu of my honest review. It was a fun and mysterious read.

I enjoyed reading Last Stop In Brooklyn by Lawrence H. Levy. His female PI character, Mary Handley, is a progressive thinking “old maid,” at age thirty, with Irish roots and a self-determined outlook. The plot started with Mary’s pedestrian case of spouse spying and quickly incorporated the politics of the day, famous names of the times, and the issues debated then (and now). Mary’s fidelity case morphs into a personal dilemma and engulfs her in murder. What I didn’t realize fully until I read the author’s notes at the end—much of this story is based on real events and people. Lawrence Levy wove his fiction around fact—well, which is why I wanted to interview him. Please welcome Lawrence H. Levy to WWK. (Interview with Larry follows) E. B. Davis

This book caught me by surprise! I knew the story is set in the late 19th century New York, but I didn't expect the story to be based on real figures/ real events. So as a historical fiction fan, reading this book doubled my fun! I have not read the first two books in the Mary Handley series. But it was not a problem, this book can be read as a standalone novel.

Thanks Crown Publishing and netgalley for this ARC.

Love this series, it's the best kind of historical mystery series. You can start anywhere in it but you will definitively want to read them all. Can';t wait to see what Lawrence H . Levy writes next.

It was such a pleasure to read this book! Mary Handley is one hell of a private detective… and in the 19th century, no less! The book starts with an explosion, but ends with fireworks! In a time when Andrew Carnegie, Russell Sage, Jay Gould, and John Rockefeller, people were angry and frustrated and anarchy was on the rise. So was corruption in the New York Police force. Inspector Thomas Byrne joins the force and proclaims he will have Jack the Ripper apprehended in 36 hours. Well, Inspector Byrnes did apprehend someone… but was it indeed Jack the Ripper?

Mary’s first case came from a family friend who suspects his wife of cheating. Little did she know it would lead to a much bigger case that speaks to what’s going on in the country. Did I mention Jack the Ripper?! This leads to Mary’s next case. Yes, she’s working two cases. While the characters are intertwined in the two cases, the cases aren’t related, but they are intriguing. Brian Murphy thinks his wife is having an affair. He hires Mary to find out if that is true. What she stumbles upon is much bigger! A key witness to the assassination attempt of Russell Sage. The witness, Brian’s wife. This leads her to meet Harper Lloyd, who becomes extremely helpful in her second case, Ameer Ben Ali.

She’s hired by his brother, Basem Ben Ali to prove he is innocent of killing prostitute, Carrie Brown. Ameer is Algerian and occasionally live across the hall from Carrie. When she is murdered, Ameer is arrested, tried, and found guilty by a “jury of his peers”. Mary’s investigation takes her to Coney Island, a huge tourist attraction in a country of immigrants. While there you will meet characters who are not that intricate to the case but help you understand the time period. The opinions of immigrants were not very high, but not just for African-Americans, but for the Irish, Eastern Europeans… anyone who was different. Mary holds a different world view and was not afraid to voice those opinions. Her retorts to some of the comments will having you in stitches. Can she save Ameer from certain death or will he fall victim to a severely corrupt judicial system?

The pacing was a bit slow at times, but it was full of information that helped you understand what it was like to live in Brooklyn during the 1890’s. It also gave you, as the reader, an idea of what you would have experienced during this time period. Mary’s reasoning and deduction skills are modern and amazing. So is the constant banter she has with Harper. They have really great scenes together. What really fascinated me about this book is the research that went into telling this story, as most of the characters are actual people. Some of the chapters do fly by. The writing keeps you engaged. You find yourself wanting to know what will happen to the characters in this chapter and what will happen next. This was a great book and I’m so glad I was picked to read it.

Mary Handley has been building her private detective business for a few years now. She agrees to take on a case for a man who fears his wife is cheating on him. It is not something she normally would pursue, but the man's mother is a friend of Mary's mother. Along with the marital fidelity case, she is also asked to look into a murder case from 3 years before. The accused man's brother is sure of his innocence and wants Mary to find proof. It seems that his brother was charged with a Jack-the-Ripper style murder, mostly on circumstantial evidence and the fact that he was Algerian. As usual, her investigation causes conflict with political powers in New York and Brooklyn. Police don't look kindly on those who say they arrested the wrong man, and the crooked cops don't want anyone looking too closely at their affairs.

For those who have read Mary's other adventures, the return of Brooklyn's first female detective will be a welcome reunion of reader and character. Those who are encountering Mary for the first time, will be amazed at the painstaking recreation of 1894 New York. Many notable figures of the day have a place in the story, including - Andrew Carnegie, Jacob Riis, Russell Sage, and Theodore Roosevelt. It is incredible how many real events and people are worked into the plot. Even the booths of Coney Island, the prevailing prejudice against immigrants, and the attitudes toward women are present. Mary is a complex character with intelligence, courage, stubbornness, loyalty, and a determination to succeed despite society's restrictions and the disapproval of her own mother. Readers will be eagerly awaiting her next appearance when they reach the last page.

During the summer of 1894 Mary Handley is asked to investigate the conviction of a man of a prostitute. Detective Thomas Byrnes is convinced that the right man has been convicted. But Mary discovers many disturbing facts.
An interesting mystery which just about kept my interest.

Thanks Crown Publishing and netgalley for this ARC.

This was my first mystery from Lawrence H. Levy. I liked it so much I went back to read the previous two.
Mary is rambunctious, mysterious, and all around a knockout. She can take care of herself and business in New York- this makes her a target of unscrupulous men. They won't get her down through.

It’s 1894 and Mary Handley, New York’s first female detective, has a lot on her plate in this clever historical mystery, the third in the series which features Handley as a fearless and modern-thinking independent woman during a time of major growth and social change. The story begins when Brian Murphy hires Mary to find out whether his wife is having an affair. Simple enough until she finds out what the wife is up to, which pertains to the real attempted assassination of Wall Street magnate and railroad titan Russell Sage. A second case brings Mary face-to-face with powerful industrialists, career politicians and corrupt police investigators involved in a highly publicized murder case and all mired in the complex machine that defines turn-of-the-century New York.

Mary’s new case focuses on the actual murder of Carrie Brown, a prostitute who was brutally killed in the city’s East River Hotel. Rumors were that Jack the Ripper had come to America and NYPD Inspector Thomas F. Byrnes was under pressure to solve the crime quickly. The evidence was circumstantial, but an Algerian named Ameer Ben Ali, who was a regular the hotel, was convicted and sent to prison for life. Mary gets involved when Ameer Ben Ali’s brother hires her to find out the real story.

Much of the investigation takes place on Coney Island, Brooklyn's last stop, which at the time was the largest amusement park and resort destination in the United States. It attracted all types, wealthy vacationers, immigrants and working-class visitors. It was a perfect place to disappear or hide a crime and when another woman is murdered, this time Meg Parker, a black prostitute from the Gut section of Coney Island, Mary wonders if there is a connection to Carrie Brown’s murder. Subsequent murders that follow a pattern make Mary’s investigation a race against the clock, including the whereabouts of a mysterious man with blond hair. To connect the dots, Mary turns to her old boss, Superintendent Campbell and her police officer brother Sean, who put their jobs at risk to help their favorite lady detective.

I enjoyed this new story, which includes many of the city’s actual movers of the time, including Sage, Andrew Carnegie, Teddy Roosevelt, social reform photographer Jacob Riis and Captain Alexander “Clubber” Williams, a corrupt police inspector whose interrogation methods became known as the “third degree.” Levy does a great job showing what New York was like during the 1890s, highlighting the very topical prejudices and difficulties for the immigrant population. Racism and anti-Semitism as well as hatred towards different cultures, especially Arabs, were common and Levy does not hold back when he depicts these beliefs in several uncomfortable scenes. The author balances these and other gritty, adult scenes with the light banter between Mary and her new love interest, reporter Harper Lloyd.

Readers will also like learning more about Mary and her family dynamics, including her very likable father who works in a butcher shop and her meddling mother who wants nothing more than to see Mary settled. This story line reflects an optimism among Mary’s family, despite the prejudices, danger and violence that surrounds them.

I recommend Last Stop in Brooklyn to readers who like imagining what historical figures were like and who enjoy the intrigue of an entertaining mystery.

I enjoyed this entry into the series. It touched on a lot including race, corruption, income equality, and immigration. With Mary Handley leading the charge, the reader could almost believe that a change was going to happen in her capable hands. The murderous twist was surprising, but I thought the ending itself was kind of abrupt.

Last Stop in Brooklyn is the third of the Mary Handley Mysteries by Lawrence Levy. Due out 9th January, 2018, this entry pits Brooklyn's first female consulting detective against anarchists, corrupt business tycoons, crooked politicians, a serial killer, and her overbearing mother.

I love period mysteries, especially with feisty female sleuths. I'm used to allowing a fair bit of latitude for anachronism and style to make books more readable for modern audiences.

The book is thoroughly readable, but had too much superficial snark (for snark's sake) which made it seem very modern when read. It didn't seem like a period mystery at all, except for references to famous local attractions (like the Elephantine Colossus on Coney Island). The language was anachronistic as well. Though the word 'f*ck' was probably in use at the end of the 19th century (1894), it wasn't all that common (according to Wikipedia) until the mid 20th century and having the female protagonist use the word several times felt somewhat jarring to me.

The dialogue and plotting were well paced with several interwoven plot-lines which resolve into a (mostly) tidy denouement. There is a problem with the serial killer plotline (why are the records sealed for those murders??). It's certainly an entertaining ride, even though the constant (but sadly not historically inaccurate) racism and sexism in the book are wearying. There are multiple racist and unflattering pejoratives used for black, Jewish, Irish and female persons in the book as well as a surprising (to me) amount of cursing for a period cozy mystery. I wasn't offended (in context, obviously) but it did yank me out of the story, to some degree.

There's always some risk involved in writing narrative fiction which includes historical characters and verifiable dates and events. I found no obvious errors with dates, but wasn't thorough in checking. The characterizations of some of the robber barons was a little two dimensional (again, to my taste).

All in all, an entertaining and well written period cozy mystery with some caveats. I finished it in two sittings and enjoyed reading it.

Three stars

Stats:
Title: Last Stop in Brooklyn
Author: Lawrence H. Levy
Publisher: Crown Publishing
320 pages, Kindle and Paperback formats
Anticipated release: 09 Jan, 2018

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.

This is a unique mixture of history and mystery with a strong woman as the detective. I love the time period and the way the author weaves historical people and events into the plot. If you like history, mystery and a good plot with many twists as well as strong characters be sure to read this one. Loved it

Huh.

For starters, I have not read the previous two books in the series, so I might feel differently if I had, but this started out _very strong_ and then devolved somewhat by the end.

I think, upon contemplating it, the problem is that a lot of the historical "mysteries" in the book are real, so you expect a denouement which can't happen because it's based on real-life. For example, Levy delves into Russell Sage versus Laidlaw and also the Carrie Brown murder and Ameer Ben Ali. Narrative technique would demand that there would be some progress on both of these issues by the end of the book, but that's not possible as that's not what actually happened. (Of course, if I'd bothered to go google names, I would know this, but that would ruin the ending of the story, right?)

Therefore, the plot feels like it's been slapped on top of history. I see what Levy is doing, but I kind of wish he skipped several of the famous cases and instead focused on his own characters, who were fascinating and a lot of fun.

This novel was very well written and kept my interest. It was very entertains and I highly recommend both this author and novel!

How often do you find a book that in the first few pages has you so hooked that you want the whole series, as soon as possible, in order so you don't have to stop turning the pages to find out about the main character? (phew, got that out all in one breath) PI Mary Handley immediately became a friend whose adventures I became a part of page by page. I cannot wait to read more, LOVED Last Stop in Brooklyn.

I love this heroine! I love how the author wove authentic historical detail into a story with a strong female lead. Will definitely look for this series and author in the future!