The Fatal Flame

Starred review from March 30, 2015
A serial arsonist terrorizes New York City in Edgar-finalist Faye’s superior third historical featuring Timothy Wilde (after 2013’s Seven for a Secret). In the spring of 1848, Robert Symmes, a Tammany Hall politician, meets with Wilde, one of the city’s police officers known as copper stars, and Wilde’s police-captain brother, Valentine, at the Queen Mab, a Manhattan brothel. Symmes needs their help. An advocate for more humane treatment of the city’s female workers has thrown a note through the alderman’s window threatening that things will burn if conditions don’t improve. One of the slum buildings that Symmes owns is soon gutted by fire. Wilde’s investigation is complicated by the reappearance of a lost love and Valentine’s decision to oppose Symmes in an upcoming election. As in her previous books, Faye’s diligence in researching the period is manifest, and readers will feel transported back to mid-19th-century Manhattan. The whodunit aspect is compelling, but Faye is equally adept in incorporating the women’s rights movement of the time and attitudes toward the mentally ill into the story line. Agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor.

April 1, 2015
Concluding volume in Faye's gritty, atmospheric trilogy (Seven for a Secret, 2013, etc.) about New York City's fledgling police force. It's 1848, and "copper star" Timothy Wilde enters, pursuing loathsome Ronan McGlynn, who entices newly arrived Irish girls with the promise of jobs and delivers them to brothels to be forced into prostitution. His silent partner is alderman Robert Symmes, a Tammany Hall stalwart like Timothy's brother Valentine and one of the many full-bodied characters who return from the two previous novels to pose ethical quandaries for our hero. Disgusted by Symmes' offer of virgin fare as a political favor, Valentine decides to run against him in an election that threatens Tammany's grip on New York, as abolitionist Barnburners like the Wildes face off against Hunkers who want to appease the slave-holding South. Also fulminating against Symmes is Sally Woods, a fervent feminist who may be setting fires in his factories to revenge his quashing of a strike by female garment workers, as well as a more personal betrayal. Timothy must identify the arsonist while grappling with his feelings for Mercy Underhill, the unstable love of his life, and Elena Boehm, the landlady who occasionally shares his bed. Once again, Faye paints a mesmerizing picture, aided by vivid use of the thieves' slang known as "flash," of a city in the crude, brutal early stages of capitalism and democracy, where little heed is paid to the poor and powerless-until election time. The mystery is wonderfully tangled yet resolved with clarity; among the many intriguing developments is the semiredemption of Silkie Marsh, the spurned madam who plotted against the Wilde brothers but now proves (somewhat) less evil than her smooth superiors at Tammany Hall. A stark, satisfying finale provides justice for some, but not for all, as befits this uncompromising portrait of a morally ambiguous world. More fine work from a writer smart enough to know when a series has run its course. It will be exciting to see what the talented Faye decides to do next.

Starred review from May 1, 2015
There is nothing Timothy Wilde fears more than fires, which have killed his parents and left his face badly scarred. Nowin 1848 in New York Cityfires are being deliberately set, destroying buildings and even taking lives. Wilde, a successful crime solver in the recently formed NYPD, faces his fears in what appears to be the final entry in the Wilde series (after The Gods of Gotham, 2012, and Seven for a Secret, 2013). As Wilde searches for the fire starter, he becomes embroiled in local politics when his older brother and sole relative, Valentine, a police and fire captain and rough-hewn man-about-town, runs for alderman against incumbent Robert Symmes, who is even more cruel than he is corrupt. Timothy's personal life also becomes complicated when Mercy Underhill, whom he has loved since childhood, unexpectedly turns up where he lodges and where he shares a comfortable sexual relationship with his landlady, widow Elena Boehm. Faye masterfully evokes the turbulence of mid-nineteenth-century New York, with its Tammany Hall politics, burgeoning conflict over abolition, and rising wave of feminism, as Irish girls, fleeing famine, are forced into prostitution or poorly paid labor as seamstresses. A great choice for followers of Rhys Bowens' Molly Murphy series, set a couple of decades later in New York. Also recommend Ellen Horan's 31 Bond Street, set during the Tammany era.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2014

In this final "Gods of Gotham" adventure from Edgar nominee Faye, set in 1840s New York, Timothy Wilde must contend with an arsonist who's threatening corrupt Tammany Hall high-up Robert Symmes, brother Valentine's determination to run against Symmes in the next election, and beloved Mercy Underhill's determination to help an orphaned girl--who may be key to all those fires.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2015

In 1840s New York, star copper (aka police detective) Timothy Wilde investigates a string of suspicious fires. He is a bit leery, given that his parents were killed in a fire, and he has the burn scars to prove it. He is also thrown by the sudden reappearance of the love of his life, Mercy Underhill. Add to the mix some corporate greed and a hotly contested election for city alderman, and it's no wonder Tim's investigation, and maybe his life, is in jeopardy. VERDICT While this is the third entry in Faye's trilogy (after The Gods of Gotham and Seven for a Secret), it could easily stand alone. Her use of period language effectively conveys the grit and flavor of the times, but can be a barrier to the reader's understanding, even with a handy glossary of flash terminology (criminals' slang). For the patient reader fond of historical mysteries, this is a rewarding tale of loyalty and courage. [See Prepub Alert, 11/25/14.]--Laurel Bliss, San Diego State Univ. Lib.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.