*I received this E-Arc from Book Sirens. All views expressed are my own.*
And we’re back with another Penelope Harris murder mystery! I saw that author E.W. Cooper released the sequel in the historical series and had to jump on it! For those that have not read The Jade Tiger, I suggest starting there first before cracking this book open. Let’s spiral back into time with, Murder At the Met.
There are two things Penelope Harris would rather do than get involved with another murder—sing opera and flirt with Thom Lund. When two tickets ensure Penelope and Thom get some precious time together at the Metropolitan opera, neither believes another murder will interrupt their romantic evening.
Fate has a different plan. Before the night is over, a failed manufacturing tycoon is found dead at the bottom of a staircase, his poisoned and dying daughter nearby. Is it an accident? Suicide? Or murder? When a fellow soprano pleads for help, Penelope just can’t help her inquisitive nature.
As Penelope pulls back the cover on a diabolical crime, Lund rushes to complete the investigation of a suicide on the Gold Coast of Long Island. What they find will uncover the sordid underbelly of high society and put Penelope on the wrong side of her own gun.
Murder At the Met picks up a month after the shenanigans that happened during The Jade Tiger. I like the fact that Cooper kept things moving along and didn’t create a brand new atmosphere to highlight a new drama. It’s the best feeling when someone brings back a story and all the original characters are still in play. Cooper easily slid in new characters that fit well with the continuation of the story.
The story surprisingly didn’t have much to do with Penelope this time. Usually, if I hear the main character will be a subject of a murder mystery series, they will always be a suspect in a murder. Since this was not the case, I was having the time of my life trying to figure out who the murderer was. Just when I thought I got Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang to help me unmask the culprit, a curveball of a plot twist broke my theories. It was quite a ride!
In my previous review for The Jade Tiger, I mentioned that certain characters were forgettable and didn’t have any real goals. Now that I’ve built a rapport with the cast, I can say that everybody’s purpose made sense now. It all came full circle in the sequel.
Overall I rated this book 3-Stars. Compared to book 1, there were fewer descriptions and world-building but, that doesn’t stop the reader from picturing the sordid detail of the story. A quick reintroduction of the characters would have been nice, but I also think that would have interrupted the flow of the story. Cooper has already started working on a third Penelope Harris mystery, so stay tuned to see what the operatic girl is up to next.