Former private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is happy living in Greenwich Village with her policeman husband Daniel, along with their toddler son and teenage ward. Her life has held many surprises, but nothing like the one Daniel has for her when he announces he is giving up his captain's position with the NYPD to run for sheriff of New York City on the Tammany Hall ticket. Worse yet, they will be moving to an upscale residence on Fifth Avenue. The usually indomitable Molly is unsettled by the new house, intimidated by the servants, and uncomfortable in her new role in society as a politician's wife. When Big Bill McKenzie, Daniel's new boss, who is running for mayor, is found dead in a locked room, Molly finds it's up to her to sort it out. This satisfying nineteenth entry in a perennially best-selling historical mystery series (following Wild Irish Rose, 2022) moves the characters ahead to 1907 and is the second to be coauthored by Bowen's daughter, Clare Broyles.

It's 1907 in Bowen's mildly diverting 19th Molly Murphy mystery, the second coauthored with her daughter (after 2022's Wild Irish Rose), and Molly's police captain husband, Daniel Sullivan, has some shocking news for her. Despite Daniel's previous clashes with Tammany Hall, he's accepted their offer to serve as the city's sheriff. Plus, he's agreed to move his family into a fancy Fifth Avenue home that's a perk of the position. Molly eventually overcomes her anger at not being consulted before her spouse made these decisions, as they lead to multiple mysteries for her to probe. She's a passenger on a tour boat belonging to Daniel's corrupt patron, Big Bill McCormick, when a fire breaks out, the second such conflagration on one of McCormick's vessels, leading her to suspect arson. The authors also toss in a fatal stabbing in a locked room. There are the usual number of contrivances, such as someone rescued from a perilous situation turning out to have an influential parent. This collaboration offers familiar pleasures for series followers. Agents: Christina Hogrebe and Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Mar.)

A talented sleuth's peaceful life is turned upside down in 1907 by a stroke of apparent good fortune. When Molly Sullivan's husband, police Capt. Daniel Sullivan, tells her he's leaving the force to run for sheriff of New York County, backed by Tammany Hall despite his long opposition to the Tammany record of corruption, Molly is shocked and furious. They're loaned a mansion on Fifth Avenue, complete with staff and bodyguards, and all the bills are paid by Tammany honcho William "Big Bill" McCormick. Despite her many reservations, Molly goes along with Daniel's pleas to reserve judgment. Their ward, Bridie, has been attending a private school paid for by Molly's wealthy, eccentric friends Sid and Gus, where she's picked on by her posh schoolmates for her simple clothes and mundane background. That all changes when Bridie rescues her nemesis, Blanche McCormick, from a fire aboard the McCormick family boat during a class field trip to the Statue of Liberty and the two become fast friends. They're all soon enmeshed in the lives of Big Bill's family, which also includes Junior, a disabled son from his first marriage, and Cornelius, a rebellious son from his present marriage. When Big Bill is found murdered in his locked home office during Blanche's birthday party, the police detective assigned to the case is useless, forcing Molly and Daniel to do some sleuthing of their own. Bill had plenty of enemies, including William Randolph Hearst, but the answer may lie closer to home. Bowen and Broyles, who never disappoint, take a deep dive into the world of early-1900s New York. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Former private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is gobsmacked when policeman husband Daniel announces that he's moving them to a lush Fifth Avenue home and running for New York sheriff on the Tammany ticket, making bedfellows of the corrupt politicians he's always despised. From the New York Times best-selling Bowen and Broyles, her teacher/musician daughter.