Near Prospect Park: A Mary Handley Mystery

Set in 1896, Levy’s fraught fourth whodunit featuring intrepid New York PI Mary Handley (after 2018’s Last Stop in Brooklyn) throws series fans a curve. After someone steals a play script from W.S. Gilbert, the famed librettist receives an unsigned ransom note offering to return it in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in exchange for $4,000. Gilbert hires Mary to meet the thief in the park, where the exchange goes awry, and she loses consciousness after being shot. Mary wakes up to the sight of her investigative reporter husband, Harper Lloyd, who’s been fatally shot, lying nearby. Mary, who left the ransom note at home, feels guilty that her forgetful act apparently led Harper to follow her to his doom. Teddy Roosevelt, a member of the board of police commissioners, aids Mary in her search for Harper’s killer. Levy does a better job of making a female gumshoe in this era plausible than many of her contemporaries prowling the same turf. Readers will be curious to see what turn Mary’s career takes next. [em]Agent: Paul Fedorko, N.S. Bienstock (Jan.) [/em]