From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: City of Liars and Thieves by Eve Karlin

Monday, January 19, 2015

Blog Tour: City of Liars and Thieves by Eve Karlin

Author: Eve Karlin

Publisher: Alibi (Random House)

Date of publication: January 2015

A crime that rocked a city. A case that stunned a nation. Based on the United States’ first recorded murder trial, Eve Karlin’s spellbinding debut novel re-creates early nineteenth-century New York City, where a love affair ends in a brutal murder and a conspiracy involving Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr erupts in shattering violence.

It is high time to tell the truth. Time for justice. . . . How she was murdered and why she haunts me. It is not only Elma’s story, it’s mine.

On the bustling docks of the Hudson River, Catherine Ring waits with her husband and children for the ship carrying her cousin, Elma Sands. Their Greenwich Street boardinghouse becomes a haven for Elma, who has at last escaped the stifling confines of her small hometown and the shameful circumstances of her birth. But in the summer of 1799, Manhattan remains a teeming cesspool of stagnant swamps and polluted rivers. The city is desperate for clean water as fires wreak devastation and the death toll from yellow fever surges.

Political tensions are rising, too. It’s an election year, and Alexander Hamilton is hungry for power. So is his rival, Aaron Burr, who has announced the formation of the Manhattan Water Company. But their private struggle becomes very public when the body of Elma Sands is found at the bottom of a city well built by Burr’s company.

Resolved to see justice done, Catherine becomes both witness and avenger. She soon finds, however, that the shocking truth behind this trial has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.

I'll start off by saying, I didn't read the synopsis well enough to realize this was a historical fiction based on a real murder. You all know I'm not a real fan of this type of book. Yet, when I started the story, I was enjoying it. I thought the author did a great job of describing life in 1799 New York City. I can tell you that I am so glad we have modern conveniences like sewers and water pipelines today! I don't even want o know what the odor was like back then. After reading this, I can guess it wasn't pleasant.

Unfortunately, I lost interest about 30% of the way in. I got lost in all of the political mess about the Manhattan Water Company and the run for President. It was just not interesting to me. What I did find interesting was the afterword from the author. That section laid out the real history of what was going on at the time, not only with the politics, but with the trial and its aftermath.

I think lovers of this type of book will really enjoy it. So, I think you should give it a try. It just wasn't for me.

About Eve Karlin

Eve Karlin was born and raised in New York City. She is a graduate of Colgate University, where she studied literature and creative writing with Frederick Busch. Karlin worked in publishing for more than a decade in marketing, at Random House, Newsweek, and, later, as a foreign book scout with clients in the United Kingdom, Italy, Holland, Brazil, and Japan. She has had several short stories published in The East Hampton Star and has been a contributing writer for Patch.com. She lives in East Hampton, New York, with her husband and their sixteen-year-old triplets. City of Liars and Thieves is her first book.

Eve Karlin’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, January 6th: Mystery Playground

Wednesday, January 7th: Bibliophilia, Please

Friday, January 9th: Fiction Zeal

Monday, January 12th: Omnimystery News – author guest post

Tuesday, January 13th: Dwell in Possibility

Tuessday, January 13th: Kritter’s Ramblings