Speak Easy by Lori Adams

Available December 4, 2021

Kate March is a precocious high school senior, following in her father's footsteps to become an intrepid reporter. Early one morning Kate gets a scoop: a famous Hollywood director has been found dead inside his home. Not only is Kate the first reporter on the scene, she gets there just in time for the police to find out that death was brought about by a bullet to the back.

The case is terribly complex. Before homicide was deemed to be the manner of death, dozens of employees, coworkers, friends, and neighbors traipsed through the crime scene, removing items from the house and trampling all over the room where William Desmond Taylor met his maker. Evidence was hard to come by so Kate could only question witnesses and put together the tiniest inconsistencies in their stories until she figured out who was to blame.

Though this book was significantly longer than the average cozy mystery, there was a moment of lag in the entire thing. Kate was on the razors edge of the action from page one until it was over. Though the story took place over the course of around two weeks, Kate went from a rambunctious high school girl to a sophisticated Modern female reporter. There were so many subplots and so many backstories that different angles of the story could be fleshed out for many books to come.

Kate can be a bit frustrating as she digs herself into one hole after another no matter how much her father and her neighbor and local police officer Nicky Masino beg her not to get involved. Despite that, you can't help but root her on and acknowledge that in her shoes I'd have done the same thing. Addy makes a great sidekick, she's adventurous but level-headed and well-connected. Mr. Morgan added some spice to the story, especially at the end.

I find the 1920's fascinating and this book gives you a whirlwind ride through what was probably one of the most interesting places in the United States during that time. Showing that time and place through the lens of a young woman getting ready to go out into the world and trying to decide who she wanted to be made it even more interesting. I also thought tackling the unsolved mystery of the murder of William Desmond Taylor was exciting, especially since the author identified the killer as having been the person I always thought seemed to have been the most likely suspect. Another thing I enjoyed was the back and forth timeline. Not all authors can pull this off but for me it read like a movie, where we're seeing the current time at the beginning of each chapter and then flashing back to the past. It worked really well and built suspense throughout the story.

This book was excellent and as you're reading I highly recommend checking out some of the movies that are mentioned in the book and the actors that appear in the story; there are lots of old movies from this era available online that will allow you to see the actors and actresses at work. I look forward to reading more in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.