Review

Summary: Sophie Taylor, shopgirl, and Lillian Rose, actress, are two young women earning a living by working at the fashionable Sinclair's department store when a mysterious theft leaves Sophie as one of the top suspects.

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Notes: Set during the time of Mary Poppins, this is a delightful mystery series. The eccentric American Mr. Sinclair, not to be confused with a dino-friendly gas station of that name, has built a spectacular department store. He wants the shopping experience to be one of luxury and ease. The author, Katherine Woodfine, does a spectacular job of conveying the setting, from the marble steps to the rooftop dining. The reason I labeled this as Alternant Reality is because in "Nightfall in New York," there is a ship that is the Titanic (by a different name) but doesn't sink. At times, Lillian Rose and the suffragettes can get slightly feminist, but not too bad. They mostly want to be allowed to do things that "Proper Young Ladies" don't do, like learn martial arts, vote, carry a gun, be detectives, etc. However, it often comes out at being angry at the men in charge of things. 

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Violence: Not much in the first book, but as the series goes on, it increases. The main villain is a crime boss and is trying to start World War One.

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Age of main character: sixteen to twenty-two

 

Romance: A little. Both of the main girls like particular boys, but it's not mushy at all. Also, despite the fact that Lillian Rose is a dancing girl in the West End, she's a moral young lady. She just doesn't like being perfectly prim and proper.

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Scary themes: The Crime Boss, mostly. Several characters get beat up, one gets kidnapped. There's a traitor. At one point, they are trying to stop the villain from getting the instructions to make "Sky Fire."

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Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery/Alternant Reality