Robin L

This harrowing story of a serial rapist/murderer on the loose definitely succeeded in capturing my attention. Not normally a mystery reader, this book was multi-layered and interposed so many different themes (such as some history of the Manhattan islands, the legal side of an ongoing investigation, and police procedure) that it instantly bewitched me. It was a very quick read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the mood for an all-consuming, think-about-nothing-else afternoon!

The seventh installment in a historical mystery series, Seven For A Secret was definitely readable without having read the six previous novels. However, some additional details into the characters of this seventh book would have been nice in a "Prologue" of sorts. The plot was very twisty and hard to predict at times (like any good mystery should be). At times the storyline felt far removed and reading got very slow, but it picked up towards the end of the book. Everything was tidied up nicely at the end, but much of it seemed to be coincidental. This book would be great for fans of the previous 6 books of this series, but it dragged a little for someone who isn't familiar with the time and storyline.

First off, I loved the way this book was presented. The report-style format was very inventive (pun intended) and creative - not many publishers put that much thought into Advanced Reader's Copies- kudos for that. As for the content of the book, I wasn't overly impressed. I was attracted to the historical fiction category it was described as, but generally I found the book lacked a strong plot. I did enjoy learning more about Tesla, but without much of a plot, I felt like it plodded along.