THE DEAD CRY JUSTICE (A Gilded Age Mystery #6) by Rosemary Simpson will be published on November 30th 2021 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
The future of Hunter and MacKenzie Investigative Law may be in jeopardy—Geoffrey Hunter is slowly recovering from a near-fatal shooting and Prudence MacKenzie has been invited to be one of the first women to be welcomed into New York University's Law School. While debating her next step, Prudence gets caught up in a new investigation as she tries to help two badly mistreated children. The sexually abused teenage girl has been permanently made up to look like a fancy, porcelain doll and her younger brother is determined to protect her from further abuse. Despite multiple people trying to help them, the two children flee into the teeming slums of New York City. While searching for the children, Prudence, Geoffrey, and their associates search the city from the elite private clubs to the brothels. They are trying to stay one step ahead of the person hunting the children, but their investigation leads Prudence straight into the fiend's clutches and puts her at risk of becoming the next human doll in one of New York's most elite and depraved secret clubs.
As usual, Rosemary Simpson brings to life the gilded era of New York City through her detailed descriptions. She also incorporates some real-life/well-known people into Prudence's and Geoffrey's investigation—including Jay Gould, Jacob Riis, and Nellie Bly. The subject matter (sex-trafficking and child abuse) will be disturbing for some readers, and it makes this novel darker/heavier than the previous novels. Overall, it was an interesting story, and the plot kept moving at a steady pace. I appreciate the various points of view and how they give the reader a fuller perspective of what is going on overall. Prudence is evolving into a very strong character, but she still has her flaws. Geoffrey is also allowing her more headway into conducing her own investigations. That being said, he is still very protective of her as she is still naïve and has a tendency to accidentally get herself into serious trouble. Their personal relationship also seems to have moved on to a new level, and I'm excited to see what happens with them in the next novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.