I love a good mystery, especially from past eras. This story takes place in the Edwardian Era, pre-war, early 1900's. When women were starting to really get out and advocate for their independence and fight for the freedoms we have access to now. This is book one in the series.
Ruby Redlick is a 15 year old girl who dreams of more than just getting married and having a lot of kids, something that is she is expected to do during the period of time. She is resolved to get out and become a real actress on the London Stage. A large majority of women use the profession of actress to get the attention of a lord or a king in the hopes of marriage.
She runs away from home and ends up in a little coffee shop in the West End of London where she makes quick friends with an actress by the name of Ivy. Ivy offers her a place to stay and tells her that the place she works at is hiring soon and she should try out. Ruby is only there a short time before one of the other actresses is murdered and some jewels are stolen. Ruby often talks about how she loves to read Sherlock Holmes or the penny dreadful stories and decides she will set out to find the murderer/thief.
A side story of this mystery is Ruby meeting a guy who is a waiter and hangs out in a restaurant in Soho that is full of anarchists and also takes up with a woman who is involved in a militant suffragettes group. We also see the seedy underworld of the elite, who partake in sexual debauchery and drugs. As Rubys fame increases on the stage, she puts herself in danger to discover the secrets and stop a murderer.
I could have really liked this story, however, I really thought it was a bit too long. This would have been better as a cozy mystery size book. Around 220-250 pages would have been perfect. I felt there was too much filler. I also had a hard time believing that a 15 year old child was able to focus in on things such as the types of cigarettes the killer smoked and little bits of fabric found on the body that end up matching a tunic worn by another body found later. Maybe it was the time, maybe 15 year olds were more mature then but Rubys background for me just didnt line up. After running away from home there is only one mention of the family she left. They didn't come looking for her and I felt like her falling into Ivy's company was super convenient. It seems like everything goes her way and there's little strife.
Overall the story wasn't bad, its just not for me. I found myself skimming chapters for the important stuff and ignoring what I considered to be filler. The author loves history and did a lot of research into the era and while that was obvious, I thing the love of history is why there was so much filler. I received this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.
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