A poisonous silence

Adams continues her Deadly Twenties Mystery series, which began with A Deadly Endeavor (2024), as Gil Lawless, recovered from his run-in with the Schuylkill Slasher, returns to his work as a coroner's assistant in Philadelphia. Soon he and Marco Salvatore, his partner and friend, are called to a crime scene: a man has been poisoned in his own home: was it an accident or murder? Engaged by the widow to investigate, aspiring PI Edie Shippen jumps in with her keen intelligence and determination despite Gil wanting her to stay safely tucked away at home. As the number of poisoned men increases, the suspect pool includes rival gangs and everyone connected to Harold Fox's Norwood Studio and current film set. Working together would make sense, and Gil's struggle to remain disconnected from Edie might wind up costing them everything. Adams provides richly detailed descriptions of the clothing, movie sets and production, social bias and expectations, and medical issues, including the aftereffects of WWI, which give a real sense of the time and place. But it's the charming characters and the intricately plotted mystery that will have readers ready for the next installment. A great suggestion for fans of Anne Perry, Jacqueline Winspear, Elizabeth Peters, and Rhys Bowen.

In 1921 Philadelphia, a series of poisonings gives a new detective her first puzzling case. After having been shot while trying to catch a killer, Dr. Gilbert Lawless is back at the Philadelphia Morgue, where he and his partner, Dr. Marco Salvatore, are called to assist Det. Finnegan Pyle in his investigation into the death of Homer O'Hara. Pyle is there because O'Hara worked for gangster Tommy Fletcher, and Gil, Finn, and Tommy were childhood friends. But Gil has a different life now. He married a society woman who was shunned by her family for wedding an Irishman. Her death left him to care for their daughter even though he has shell shock from his service in World War I. When he stops for ice cream at Reading Terminal Market, a man dies at his feet. Like O'Hara, the man was poisoned with cyanide. Meanwhile, socialite Edie Shippen has set herself up as a private detective. Her assistant is Gil's sister, Lizzie, and her first client is a woman who accuses Lily O'Hara of murdering her husband. Although Gil and Edie love each other, Gil refuses to tell her anything. But Edie has ways of getting information. Edie and Gil attend a fancy party where Gil meets Edie's friend Ava Sylvester, an actress currently playing Juliet opposite Duncan Carroll, who looks very much like Gil. Edie and Lizzie are visiting Norwood Studios when Duncan also dies from poison. A reluctant Gil takes his place to finish up the remaining scenes. Because Pyle suspects Ava, a reckless Edie goes all out to find the truth. Socialites and gangsters mix in this riotous mystery filled with dead ends and dead characters. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.