Vividly alive characters in a setting so clearly portrayed that one could step right into it. With its rich sense of place and time and a crisp, intelligent plot, readers will speed through this tale and be clamoring for more.” -Bestselling author Earlene Fowler “Utterly absorbing. Nell Sweeney is a winning heroine gifted with common sense, grit, and an underlying poignancy.

“Still Life with Murder is a skillfully written story of intrigue and murder set during Boston’s famous Gilded Age. I look forward to seeing her in action again.” -New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen The atmosphere is that of The Alienist, but feisty Irish nursemaid Nell Sweeney is a more likable protagonist. Ryan captures an authentic flavor of post-Civil War Boston. I can’t wait for the next installment.” -Bestselling author Victoria Thompson Ryan makes a stunning debut with Still Life with Murder, bringing Nineteenth Century Boston alive, from its teeming slums to the mansions on Boston Common, and populating it with a vivid and memorable cast of characters. Still Life with Murder is a #1 national bestseller originally published by Berkley Prime Crime.

Nell finds that she must delve into the kind of dark and treacherous underworld she thought she’d left far behind if she is to unearth the truth before the hangman’s noose tightens around William Hewitt’s throat. Infuriated by his son’s deception and convinced of his guilt, August Hewitt forbids his wife from coming to Will’s aid, so she begs Nell to help exonerate him. But one snowy February afternoon, his parents learn that he is, in fact, still alive-and in jail for having murdered a man while on opium. The Hewitts’ eldest son, William, a former Union Army battle surgeon and the black sheep of the family, was reported to have died years before in a notorious Confederate prison. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world. Born into poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts.

“What a thoroughly charming book! A beautiful combination of entertaining characters, minute historical research, and a powerful evocation of time and place.” -NYT bestselling author Barbara Hamblyīoston, 1868: The dawn of the Gilded Age, an era of burgeoning commerce and invention, of unimaginable new fortunes and lavish excess-for some.

Still life with murder by pb ryan