Helpful Score: 1
This logical, well-plotted mystery is set in late-19th-century New York. The overriding issue is whether Brooklyn should consolidate with Manhattan, and there are passionate views on both sides. Joshua Thompson, a wealthy Brooklyn businessman who made his fortune selling products to the Union Army, is a strong spokesman against consolidation. When he is shot dead on the street, forces in favor of the idea are suspected. Teaming up to solve Thompson's murder are Marshall Webb, a cultured, well-dressed journalist for Harper's Weekly, and BuckMorehouse, a gluttonous, unkempt, but clever detective. Also instrumental in finding the solution is Webb's workaholic girlfriend, who owns a shelter for abused women. Stephanie Quilty, a streetwise 17-year-old, lives there and has surprisingly much in common with the rich, rebellious young people who appear in the story. Many teens will be interested in the characters and in the descriptions of urban life when there were horse-and-buggies instead of SUVs, opium dens instead of crack houses, and today's boroughs were all independent cities.
