Murphy's Law

Rhys Bowen

While she was growing up, Molly Murphy's mother warned her that her temper would get her in trouble. Now she has run away from her father's home in the Irish countryside because she killed a man. He was trying to rape her, but that wouldn't matter to the Law. He was the Englsh landowner's son and she was a poor Irish girl whose father worked for his father. The son decided she was his property. Molly disagreed and in pushing him away he hit his head and died. Now she's running from a murder charge.

By sheer luck Molly meets a woman who needs someone to take her two children to America to their father. Molly assumes another woman's name and becomes the young boy and girl's "mother". When the ship is docked in New York and the immigrants are waiting at Ellis Island, another passenger is murdered. Although Daniel Sullivan, the New York City policeman investigating the crime, doesn't believe she actually killed the man, Molly is suspecting and aiding and abetting.

Molly is finally able to get the children to their father. Then, rather than job hunting immediately, she starts investigating the murder of the man on the ship. She is determined to clear herself. She also finds an attraction to Daniel Sullivan. But he believes she is a married woman. She can't let him know otherwise because she doesn't want to be sent back to Ireland.

Murphy's Law is the first mystery in this series. Rhys Bowen crafts a good mystery that keeps the reader guessing. She has done well describing Molly's flight from home, then turning her into a believable character. Molly is headstrong and outspoken for her time (1901). New York City has its layers stripped as Bowen describes the city Molly encounters. It's not so much a united city as a group of cultures mashed against each other. For example, Molly tries to get a job as a seamstress, but it's an Italian shop that only accepts Italian women.

The mystery itself is well done and keeps the reader guessing. Molly follows the people she thinks are involved. She learns that she has a lot to learn about New York City, its people, and its politics. Murphy's Law is an excellent, quiet who done it that keeps the reader pulled in.

Notice:  Non-graphic violence, Suggestive dialogue or situations

Molly Murphy series :

Murphy's Law
Death of Riley
For the Love of Mike
In Like Flynn
Oh Danny Boy
In Dublin's Fair City
Tell Me, Pretty Maiden
In a Gilded Cage
The Last Illusion