The Illusion of Murder
Carol McCleary
Forge, Apr 12 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765322043
In 1889, Nellie Bly begins her quest circumnavigate the world in under eighty days. Two weeks into her quest, Bly is in Port Said, Egypt where she witnesses a homicide. Before the victim dies, he talks briefly to Bly.
She wonders if the deceased was English as she sets out to leave Egypt. Bly and her mostly British retinue continue the trek into Asia, but more murders follow. She begins to wonder if her aristocratic companions are the cause for the rash of homicides that plague her expedition and decides to use her journalist investigative skills to solve the murders.
Based on Nellie Bly’s true account of her Around the World in 72 Days, The Illusion of Murder is a terrific thriller as the intrepid journalist uses her investigative skills to try to solve homicides plaguing the adventure. Nellie makes her second historical whodunit (see The Alchemy of Murder) work. The sleuth reporter is brave but not a modern day super female warrior as part of her psyche remains anchored in the Victorian age. Readers will enjoy traveling the globe with Nellie as she ends up in one hot pot of stew after another while trying to break Phineas Fogg’s record as recorded by Jules Verne.
Harriet Klausner
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