Egyptian-themed murders

‘Cleopatra’s Dagger’ – Carole Lawrence

New York, 1880. Elizabeth van den Broek is the only female reporter at the Herald, the city’s most popular newspaper. Then she and her bohemian friend Carlotta Ackerman find a woman’s body wrapped like a mummy in a freshly dug hole in Central Park—the intended site of an obelisk called Cleopatra’s Needle. The macabre discovery takes Elizabeth away from the society pages to follow an investigation into New York City’s darkest shadows.

When more bodies turn up, each tied to Egyptian lore, Elizabeth is onto a headline-making scoop more sinister than she could have imagined. Her reporting has readers spellbound, and each new clue implicates New York’s richest and most powerful citizens. And a serial killer is watching every headline.

Now a madman with an indecipherable motive is coming after Elizabeth and everyone she loves. She wants a good story? She may have to die to get it.

This crime, murder mystery set in nineteenth century New York felt very slow and plodding. I did not get a sense of any threat or danger to the protagonist and thought the writer took too much detail in getting to significant points.

Whilst I could not foresee who was the perpetrator, I enjoyed being able to suspect many of the characters. Few clues are provided and readers only get brief snapshots of this criminal when the narrative perspective shifts on to them for intermittent chapters. However, I was disappointed that there were obvious problems with the murderer and felt that their troubled childhood and broken home was something that I have seen far too many times before.

The protagonist, Elizabeth, represents a woman striving against a patriarchal society. It was depressing to see how much resistance Elizabeth faces as a female journalist and I think the writer’s portrayal was realistic and accurate. Throughout, Elizabeth is negatively judged and this is exacerbated by her family wealth. At the newspaper, it is common knowledge that Elizabeth’s father used his influence to secure her role as a journalist. This adds to the division between Elizabeth and her male counterparts, a theme that is seen throughout the novel.

Across the story, Lawrence emphasises the social and gender gap existing at the time. To be honest, I thought the point was laboured too much and found the repeated references dulled the story. Too many times, the writer refers to the great wealth divide and how much the poor suffered. Coupled with the difference in gender roles, it felt like I was reading an article that raised awareness of this matter, rather than a murder mystery novel.

Furthermore, I found the attack scene on Elizabeth rather muddling. It did not appear to fit within the narrative and I thought it was another method that the writer uses to emphasise Elizabeth’s daily battles at the newspaper. Completing the story, I was confused that there are no further answers to this harrowing incident and was amazed at how quickly Elizabeth just carried on with her investigations. On reflection, I guess this is a product of the times and how women’s voices were just not acknowledged, but dominated by their male peers.

I liked the premise of the crimes but did not feel this story moved quick enough. Too much time was spent on details that I did not care about; not enough was about the murders taking place and the detective work involved. On the other hand, I appreciated the sub-plot about Elizabeth’s sister and thought this provided a well-needed break from the troubles on New York’s streets.

In conclusion, this was a decent historical murder mystery but I thought it lacked gumption and action. The conclusion was wrapped up too tidily for my liking and I was not overly convinced by the murderer. The Egyptian theme did make it a different story, but I was frustrated by Lawrence’s writing style and lack of pace when lives are at threat.

Book Bingo 2022 category completed: Crime book.