Death of Riley: Amazon.ca: Rhys Bowen: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

In this second series title (after Murphy's Law), Irish immigrant Molly becomes an apprentice P.I. Unfortunately, she's soon investigating the murder of her boss-with a little help from a likable police detective. An authentic historical about New York in the early 1900s.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In Bowen's second Molly Murphy cozy historical, which follows the Agatha Award-winning Murphy's Law (2001), Molly reluctantly accepts a job as a companion to Miss Van Woekem in order to pay the bills. Intrigued with a man who is apparently investigating a neighbor of Van Woekem's, Molly tracks down Paddy Riley and convinces him to let her work in his office. To Molly's chagrin, he does not allow her to do any investigating, only light cleaning. However, one day when Molly reports to work, she finds Riley near death and glimpses his murderer leaving the scene. Molly decides to solve the murder on her own and perhaps even continue to run Riley's business. Her investigation leads to new skills and experiences with the intellectual crowd, and she unmasks the killer in a rather far-fetched denouement. However, Molly is a smart, feisty, independent heroine, and turn-of-the-century New York City is realistically portrayed, along with the Irish immigrant experience, in this appealing series by the author who also writes the Evan Evans mystery series. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars HIGHLY ENTERTAINING..., Mar 8 2012

By

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Death of Riley (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an enjoyable cozy mystery series featuring twenty-three year old Molly Murphy, a recent immigrant to America's shores sometime at the turn of the twentieth century. This is the second book in that series.

Fans of the first book will not be disappointed with this offering, in which the very independent Molly seeks her way to secure the American dream. After a brief stint as a lady's companion, she decides to become a private investigator, an unheard of occupation for a woman in the early nineteen hundreds. She becomes an assistant to Paddy Riley, a private investigator with a seamy reputation, and before long, he ends up dead.

This leads Molly on her own private quest to find his killer. Of course, Captain Daniel Sullivan of the New York City Police Department, with whom Mollie is in love, is in the picture, though complications have arisen in the romance department. With very little help and guidance, Molly has many adventures in her search for the killer, a killer who will stop at nothing to keep Molly from becoming successful in her quest for justice.

This is a lively, fun series of cozy mysteries that are well-written and offer interesting plots, as well as well-developed characters. The series is replete with historical detail evocative of a by-gone era. Those who enjoy the historical cozy mystery genre will definitely enjoy this entertaining series.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Work, Again!, Mar 17 2004

By

Elizabeth Slater (North Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death of Riley (Hardcover)

Rhys has managed to put together another well-written, original mystery, featuring Molly Murphy, an immigrant from Ireland in New York. After helping the police find a murderer, Molly decides that investigation is the field for her. She badgers Paddy Riley into taking her on as his apprentice in his detective agency. Paddy insists that this was no job for a woman, but lets Molly clean and organize his office. Until she walks in on Paddy's murderer.

Molly, unsatisfied with the police investigation into her mentor's death, decides to find the man who killed Paddy and attacked her. The story unfolds with Molly's new experiences in New York, her new friends, and her tenacity to investigate. The beginning of the story seemed to take a while to come together, but once it did, I couldn't put it down.

Now on to: For the Love of Mike!

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4.0 out of 5 stars A fine new character, Oct 28 2003

By

Valerie Adolph "Coast Journal" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Death of Riley (Hardcover)

Rhys Bowen, author of the Evans series of cozies set in Wales, continues her Celtic course with an Irish protagonist. This time it is a woman and the setting is New York of a century ago. But the Celtic element remains strong - Molly Murphy is an individualist with a strong sense of self and the ability to cut through waffle, semi-truths and untruths so she can pick out the germane and the useful. Molly has the Celtic gift of insight and the ability to make leaps of the imagination, leaving logic far behind.

She is a fine character, this Molly, saddled also with imperfections, including that imagination which is at times TOO vivid. Strong characterization is this writer's greatest asset. The setting, especially the class system of New York a century ago, the dialogue, the pacing are all good but it is the true-to-themselves characters that lift this book out of the ordinary.

The plot is unusual and well-conceived and the truth remains hidden almost to the end. The historical period and geographic setting combine to strengthen the dramatic tension.

But read the book for the pleasure of Molly Murphy's uppity-ness in a time and place that did not sanction the uppity. Read it for a look at life in Greenwich Village a century ago, and enjoy Molly's proud new "parents", Sid and Gus.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Molly's at it again
Molly Murphy has decided after many failed attempts at employment to be an investigator. Since this is the early 1900's in NYC many find this announcement nonsense and dismiss it... Read more

Published on Feb 24 2003 by tsm224

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner for Rhys Bowen
Murphy's Law--the first book in Rhys Bowen's new Molly Murphy series--won an Agatha award last year. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if Death of Riley won another. Read more

Published on Jan 27 2003 by Margaret Chittenden