The tone of the book was unexpected. I went into an advance review copy a little late and without really checking up on the blurb. It was a pleasant surprise.
The narrative tone throughout the book can only be referred to as gritty. We have in our lead character of Will, a woman who does not conform to the expected lifestyle choices for people like her. At one of her odd jobs, her luck turns, and she meets a woman who will change her entire future.
A little jump in the timeline notwithstanding, a linear narrative with flashbacks gives us a better picture of Will and her ways of thinking.
The author does a pretty great job of setting the atmosphere in 1940s New York for the classic locked-room mystery setup, just much more emotionally charged.
Lillian Pentecost is an established female detective with fingers in many pies, and Will is her assistant. Willowjean Parker sees more than she lets on and struggles under the limitations of being an assistant/younger partner. She is young, in spite of the hard knocks life has dealt her. Her youth leads her to make a few mistakes here, but she figures it out in the end.
The staging of the narrative, the cast of the characters and the tone were just right, making me feel more involved the deeper that we delved into the case. The strength definitely lies more in the people, their quirks and insecurities than in the mystery itself (even though I could never have guessed the way things happened). The mystery involves a dysfunctional family, a murky history and a locked room after a seance.
I look forward to reading the next in the series and would recommend it for fans of classic mysteries with more queer characters in them.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is based on my own reading experience.

This is the first in a new detective series starring Pentecost and Parker, a pair of 1940s New York detectives, investigating the spooky murder of socialite Abigail Collins during a seance. The police are stumped and so the detectives are called in, The setting was interesting and I can see it being made into a film or TV drama; the plot was tight without too many clues, leaving me guessing until the end. I would definitely be interested in reading more about the duo's adventures and investigations in the future

It's 1945 and Lillian Pentecost is the most successful private detective in New York City, but she needs help. Enter Willowjean Parker, a circus runaway - and the perfect assistant. Quick-witted and street-smart, she's a jack-of-all-trades with a unique skill-set. She can pick locks blindfolded, wrestle men twice her size, and throw knives with deadly precision - all of which come in handy working for Ms P.

When wealthy young widow Abigail Collins is murdered Pentecost and Parker are hired by the family to track down the culprit. On Halloween night, there was a costume party at the Collins' mansion, where a fortune teller performed a séance which greatly disturbed Abigail. Several hours later her body was discovered bludgeoned to death in her late husband's office. Problem is, the door to the office was locked from the inside. There was no-one else in the room, and the murder weapon was beside the victim; the fortune teller's crystal ball.

It looks like an impossible crime, but Pentecost and Parker know there is no such thing...What a ride this book was to read. I sailed thru the pages and had a great time reading it.

Fortune Favours the Dead is an excellent, fun, cosy locked room mystery set in the 1940s. On Halloween night, at a costume party, there was a seance that disturbed the soon to be murder victim. Then she was found bludgeoned to death in an office that was locked from the inside. Who did it? The characters are well-developed and fun to read about. The story keeps you guessing. Highly recommended!

I’d seen this book popping up over time on social media and was granted a Netgalley copy to read as the book approached paperback publication, it then as happens sometimes sat on my kindle for a little while awaiting its turn to be read.

I thought the concept of the narrative worked really well – Will looking back over past cases and writing up an interesting one for us, the reader. It does mean of course that you know Will at least will come out of the adventures unscathed enough to still be telling the tale but that didn’t detract from the story.
The tale is set in America in the later half of the 1940’s after the end of the second world war. This fits the hard-boiled PI style perfectly. We start the story with Will leaving circus life to go and work for Ms Pentecost after their paths cross on one of Ms Pentecost’s earlier cases. Will’s skills learned form the different disciplines at the circus are well suited to detective work, and she isn’t afraid to put them to use, nor of standing out in a crowd, either in her personal life, which sees her comfortable dating women or her professional one where she confidently handles herself in a male dominated world. Will is an immensely likeable character and a trustworthy narrator for the book.

Lillian Pentecost is harder to get a grip on, perhaps because we only see her through Will’s eyes. She is clearly great at her job and cares greatly for Will and her housekeeper. We also get a glimmer into Pentecost’s possible background with Will introducing us to the free assistance Ms Pentecost offers to women in need. We don’t however know what she is feeling most of the time or the full impact of her illness (MS) on her.
Will and Lillian made a good detective paring and it was nice to see a detective pair where there is no potential romance involved as well.

I did enjoy the story and will likely pick up the next in the series when it publishes but it didn’t quite capture me in the way I hoped it would from other reviews I had seen. Still, overall and enjoyable read.
With thanks to and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for honest review.
Fortune Favours the Dead is available now.

I loved this book. Pentecost and Parker are a team unlike any other. Stephen Spotswood has created 2 completely original and quirky characters who are very human and very believable. The historical setting was appealing, you felt as if you were living in 1940s New York. Oh yes, and the mystery was satisfyingly solved. Looking forward to reading many more tales about the detective agency. Thanks to Netgalley, Headline and the author for such an enjoyable read.

Fortune Favours the Dead is an exciting hard boiled murder mystery set in 1940s New York, featuring two interesting sleuths: older-and-wiser famous detective Lillian Pentecost and young hot-headed circus-girl sidekick Willowjean “Will” Parker. Pentecost and Parker are both enjoyable characters, reminding me a little of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin - they even live in a brownstone like Wolfe!

Brilliant, five stars. I can’t wait for book 2 which is planned for December 2021.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I loved this, this was a fun, fabulous read. The setting, the characters, everything about this novel was cosy mystery heaven and I was sold from page one. I'm super excited to read more from Pentecost and Parker, they make quite the detective duo!

New York, 1945. Because of her failing health, renowned detective Lillian Pentecost hires a circus runaway Willowjean Parker as her assistant. With many skills she becomes irreplaceable in Pentecost's detective agency.

Wealthy young widow is murdered. All doors were locked from inside, the murder weapon - fortune teller's crystal ball. It looks like an impossible crime.

Full of period details, charming characters and interesting crime, narrative reminded me of Agatha Christie's novels.

Engaging and entertaining novel.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for a review copy of Fortune Favours the Dead, the first novel to feature famous New York private investigator Lillian Pentecost and her assistant Willowjean Parker, set in 1945.

When socialite Abigail Collins is bludgeoned to death in a locked room her children ask Ms Pentecost to take the case. Nothing is straightforward, however, and they have their work cut out to find the perpetrator.

I enjoyed Fortune Favours the Dead which is a quirky take on the old fashioned detective novel. It is told from Willowjean or as she prefers Will’s point of view in the first person. She has a rather cynical take on life so her voice livens up proceedings when things get quiet on the action front, not that that happens too often as there always seems to be something going on with her in the thick of it.

The novel is well structured, gradually building the investigation to a conclusion. Given the setting the investigation involves interviews and conversations, photographs and gossip to find anomalies and build a picture of events and to find a motive, in other words, the old fashioned way. I think the author has this spot on. The motive is a child of its times, but rather unconvincing to the modern mind. In fact, while I liked most of the novel I didn’t like the way it was resolved with the ladies not divulging all they knew to the reader and meting out their own justice. The final twist is a spot of genius but, again, the inconclusive resolution is unsatisfying.

Because the novel is told from Will’s point of view her character is well developed, cynical and yet caring and optimistic. She has plenty of skills and an adventurous nature. In comparison Lillian Pentecost is little more than a cypher, a middle aged woman with MS and a mind like a steel trap.

Fortune Favours the Dead is a good debut that I can recommend.

This series has the potential to become a favorite as I loved the characters, the atmosphere and the solid mystery.
It's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

If you're looking for your next detective series, and you want it to be smart, set in 1940s New York, to feature two women who'll take no nonsense from anyone and who are brilliantly realised and just, well, themselves - then this might be the book for you.

Fortune Favours the Dead introduces Lilian Pentecost, detective extraordinary and Willowjean Parker, her new protégé, lately of a travelling circus (where she picked up many useful skills including knife throwing, lock picking and escapology). Told in Will's voice, it ranges over three periods: the two women's first meeting late at night during the War, the notable case, a couple of years later, that is at the centre of the story, and a later perspective, the time from which Will is telling the story, allowing her to be somewhat self-critical, freighting the account with some hard-won knowledge about life, detective work and herself.

The setting Spotswood creates here is strong. Moving from the exciting world of the circus (Will acknowledges its drawbacks including both a gropy mentor and having to shovel out the tigers' cages) to Pentecost's HQ, a three storey townhouse with an archive, basement for combat practice, resident Scottish cook and a consulting room, taking in the world of the industrial elite and the clubs of queer New York where Will likes to spend her time, it has a great sense of place. The central mystery is fun - it involves both a locked room murder and a fashionable medium - but a Pentecost and Parker investigation will not allow itself to get distracted by flashy mechanics. The focus of the two women is very much on the "who" and the "why", with the "how" expected to follow so we don't get endless discussion of ingenious, but wrong, solutions to that puzzle.

Pursuing that "who" and "why" is what leads Lilian and Will into moneyed society which - no surprise - proves to be afflicted with the same human problems as everyone else.

I really enjoyed seeing Ms Pentecost and Ms Parker set about their case here. They are very unlike physically - Lilian has MS, which tends to frustrate and then she suffers after pushing herself; Will is strong and somewhat overconfident - but Spotswood catches, or presents, the ways in which they spark off and complement each other, showing what dear friends they are without ever quite coming out and saying it. There's a vulnerability here, hinted at by others in the book, both women are outsiders in different ways and in New York the pendulum is swinging back again from a degree of tolerance required during the war to - something else. I felt both that Lilian's imposing headquarters was a refuge, ands that it was threatened.

Overall, this book was great fun, showing how a humble "cirky girl" finds herself a new career, a home, even perhaps a family. The focus is on deepening relationships, rather than the details of crime, casting a bit of light on an era and place often seen through Hollywood and Broadway stereotypes. This will hopefully be the beginning of a fine series - I look forward to reading more!

Set during the final years of WW2 in New York, Stephen Spotswood writes the first of a delightful historical murder mystery series featuring the famous female PI, Lillian Pentecost, with her detective agency and narrated by her assistant, the street smart Willowjean 'Will' Parker, an ex-cirky girl with an unusual skill set acquired after becoming a jack of all trades at the circus, after running away from home. It was her knife throwing skills that saved Lillian on their first meeting that led to Will's new career direction, Lillian is suffering from the progressive disease of MS and badly needed help, training Will in the vital skills required in the profession. A wealthy woman, Lillian, feels the strong need to put back into the community, her well paying clients allow her to run the packed Open Saturdays, where those who cannot afford her services receive the requisite support, and Will runs her self defense classes for women often facing abuse and domestic violence, as a consequence the detectives have a wide network of informants to draw on for their cases.

The agency is called in when the wealthy Abigail Collins, wife of a steel magnate, Alistair, who switched to production of military weapons for the American war effort, is discovered murdered, a locked room mystery, at the annual Halloween Party celebrations that boasted the presence of fortune teller and spiritualist, Ariel Belestrade. Strangely, a year previously, Al Collins had committed suicide in the same room and rumours are rife that it was the dead man who was responsible for killing his wife with a crystal ball. It is a complex investigation, with a wide range of suspects that include the beautiful Collins twins, Randolph and Becca, and their beloved godfather, Harry Wallace, a good friend of their father. Will struggles to adhere to Lillian's order that she stay away from Ariel, only to find herself regretting not following her instructions. And why can't they find any information on Abigail before she arrived in New York?

Spotswood new series oozes charm and atmosphere, with its wonderful offbeat protagonists that immediately caught my interest, their relationship with each other is a joy to observe as they are always there for each other when required. I particularly liked Will, dressing like a man, unafraid of taking on men twice her size, with her sexual attraction to Becca, hardworking and determined, but a woman with her flaws. There are faint echoes of the Sherlock Holmes and John Watson dynamic, but Will is more of her own woman, and with Lillian's MS set to worsen, no doubt Will is going to have to increasingly step up in the future. This is such a promising beginning to the new series, so engaging and entertaining, that I cannot wait for the next in the series! Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.