Cleopatra's dagger

Set in 1880 Manhattan, this excellent whodunit from Lawrence (the Ian Hamilton mysteries) stars Elizabeth van den Broek, the New York Herald's only female reporter. Typically assigned to stories about high society soirees, Elizabeth hopes to be able to cover crime and soon gets the chance to do so. While riding the Third Avenue El, she spots a man in an upper-story apartment window apparently strangling a woman. Her editor rejects her pitch to investigate, but Elizabeth does so anyway, and her suspicions of foul play increase when she learns that the female occupant of the apartment has disappeared. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's serendipitous find of a woman's corpse buried in the hole being dug for the city's new Egyptian obelisk, Cleopatra's Needle, could be related to the case. Elizabeth's sleuthing never strains credulity, and Lawrence makes New York City come alive with numerous colorful details, from its mean streets, where girls selling hot corn differ "from prostitutes only in that they were usually younger and (hopefully) not sexually available," to the transit options of the time. Fans of Victoria Thompson's Gaslight mysteries will hope for a sequel. Agent: Paige Wheeler, Creative Media. (Apr.)

Lawrence introduces a new character-based series set in 1880s New York City. Elizabeth van den Broek may come from an old Dutch family, but she's a rebel. Her father is a judge; her beautiful mother is a talented pianist and a bit of a snob; and her beloved sister resides in a psych ward in Bellevue Hospital. At the New York Herald, where her father's influence got her a job, Elizabeth is fed up with writing society puff pieces. On her way to work on the L, she spots a dangerous opportunity for a story: a woman being choked in a third-floor apartment over a butcher shop. She tells her editor, who annoyingly sends her off to cover Mrs. Astor's garden party instead. Returning to the apartment, she learns from an old woman that the girl who lived there has vanished. Back home in the Stuyvesant, Elizabeth makes the acquaintance of Carlotta Ackerman, an artist who rents a studio in the building. They agree to meet at the Metropolitan Museum early the next day to walk Carlotta's dog, Toby, in the park and introduce her to bagels. Toby's discovery of a body dressed as a mummy in the hole dug for the obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle catapults Elizabeth into opportunity and danger. After her editor reluctantly agrees to let her cover the story, more murders follow, and Elizabeth discovers a pattern linked to Egyptian gods. Along the way, she suffers prejudice and physical attacks in a world not meant for ambitious women. Since the corrupt police actively hinder her work, she's on her own. The complex, intrepid feminist heroine bodes well for future installments. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.