A delightful tale that manages to combine the magic of NYC in the early 1900s, the burgeoning silent film industry, and murder. Make that murder plural. I've enjoyed this series from the beginning and it's been a delight to follow Molly as she's matured and grown into a young mother. She's now married to police captain Daniel with not just an adopted 14-year old daughter, Bridie, but toddler Liam and baby Mary Kate. Let's just say, Mary Kate's loud demands to be fed -- remember this is set in the early 1900's before bottle feeding became common -- keep Molly tied to home and hearth. For the most part she doesn't mind, in fact, she loves it, but, well, as a former female detective, she does miss that rush, too. The characters, both regulars and the rest, are well fleshed out and you'll love getting a peek at how early silent movies were made, including how dangerous it was at times. Dangerous and competitive. Be sure to read the historical notes at the end to discover who was real (I think Mary Pickford is obvious, as is Edison), who wasn't and more.
The story centers around daughter Bridie being asked to fill in after a female star is fired. Bridie is only 14 but Molly agrees with the stipulation that it's just this once and she'll return to school the next week. Yes, silent movies were written, rehearsed, and filmed in only a matter of days. While disturbed by several accidents on set, Molly accepts that it's all part of the nature of the art initially while keeping a close watch over Bridie, who seems a natural. Than, there is a death. Accident or murder? Bridie has a close call that Molly is unable to accept was 100% an accident. Then there is another death. And... well, I won't detail any more of the plot except to share my amazement that Thomas Edison was depicted by the movie people as the potential murderer all for his determination to lead the charge in the new industry. Since history tells us he wasn't a murderer, it was intriguing to see Molly put her detective skills back in motion and follow the clues to find the real killer.
Bottom line, I was probably as captivated seeing how silent movies got their beginnings. It was great fun to discover some of the camera tricks used for special effects, not to mention how some tense scenes were done. All with little budget and quickly. Definitely fun to spend some time with Molly's friends Sid and Gus, who were captivated by the art of film making. Flamboyant friend Ryan is on hand, too, as both a film script writer and actor, giving us another vantage point on how these early reels were cranked out super quickly. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where Daniel's new job with what appears to be the fledgling FBI office in NYC leads them. Something tells me him being employed by the government won't keep Molly out of investigating. Thanks to #StMartin'sPress - #MinotaurBooks for allowing me this early virtual visit via the time machine back to NYC to catch up with Molly and the rest. Will Bridie be content to leave the spotlight now that she's felt the rush of film making? What exactly will Daniel's new job involve?
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