Monday, February 19, 2018

Winter Reads: Last Stop In Brooklyn: A Mary Handley Mystery



Broadway Books; 313 pages; $15

I'm always a sucker for a good mystery, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to review the book Last Stop In Brooklyn: A Mary Handley Mystery by Lawrence H. Levy. It's a sequel to Second Street Station and Brooklyn On Fire.

Set in 1894, Last Stop In Brooklyn centers on Mary Handley, a private detective who finds herself traveling to Coney Island on an "adultery" case. Out of the blue, Mary is approached by a man requesting her to help her brother who was convicted of killing a prostitute in a New York hotel room.

Of course, Mary agrees to take on the case, which leads her to Thomas Byrnes, the New York City detective that swears he put the right killer behind bars. As she digs deeper in the case, the more she believes that Jack the Ripper could possible be the real killer.

Mary will have to team up with reporter Harper Lloyd and a few others, as she tries to unravel the murder mystery.

Final Thoughts

I've been on an Agatha Christie kick for awhile now, and the Last Stop In Brooklyn does have the right look and feel to be one of her novels. However, the book is in fact written by Lawrence H. Levy. I enjoyed reading the previous installment, Brooklyn On Fire, so I was excited to get my hands on this one.

The Good: The novel is really well-written; the descriptions and dialogue are excellent. Mary is a great character! There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the novel. Jack the Ripper sorta has something to do with the main plot, which is great as I'm a sucker for anything Jack the Ripper related. (Don't ask! I don't why!)

The Bad: There's several boring chapters that just fill like fillers. It's a little too graphic compared to other two books in the series. There's some anti-discrimination preaching that feels a bit out of place for this story.

Overall, while I did like reading Last Stop In Brooklyn, it's definitely the weakest link in the series so far. It's not a bad read or anything like that, but I was disappointed with final outcome.


*Note : I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

About the Author

LAWRENCE H. LEVY is a highly regarded film and TV writer who is a Writers Guild Award winner and a two-time Emmy nominee. He has written for various hit TV shows such as Family Ties, Saved by the Bell, Roseanne, and Seinfeld. Last Stop in Brooklyn is his third novel in the Mary Handley Mystery series.

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