What The Dead Leave Behind

By Rosemary Simpson

Summary:

As the Great Blizzard of 1888 cripples the vast machinery that is New York City, heiress Prudence MacKenzie sits anxiously within her palatial Fifth Avenue home waiting for her fiancé’s safe return. But the fearsome storm rages through the night. With daylight, more than two hundred people are found to have perished in the icy winds and treacherous snowdrifts. Among them is Prudence’s fiancé—his body frozen, his head crushed by a heavy branch, his fingers clutching a single playing card, the ace of spades . . .

Close on the heels of her father’s untimely demise, Prudence is convinced Charles’s death was no accident. The ace of spades was a code he shared with his school friend, Geoffrey Hunter, a former Pinkerton agent and attorney from the South. Wary of sinister forces closing in on her, Prudence turns to Geoffrey as her only hope in solving a murder not all believe in—and to help protect her inheritance from a stepmother who seems more interested in the family fortune than Prudence’s wellbeing . . .[summary from Kensington Publishing https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/34917]

Group Reviews/Comments

Thumbs up: 13
Thumbs down/couldn’t finish: 5

Thumbs up comments—

Liked it as a light, easy read.
Liked sense of place, especially for those who grew up in NY.
Appreciated the historic accuracy, such as the blizzard. And the description of the blizzard was really well done.
Liked the lead character. She was smart.
Liked the story of the investigation of who the stepmother was, her background…the old South, etc.
Entertaining, very much like a movie.
Liked the exploration of laudanum and how it was used at the time to control women.
Main character believable.
Easy to follow, and every detour was interesting.
Kept focused on the main plot with no unnecessary tangents.
Loved the time and place.
Prudence had an internal struggle that made sense—this was her home she was fighting for. Liked that Prudence was persistent and a risk taker.
Liked humor between Senator and his secretary.
Liked the portrayal of the servants.

Thumbs down comments—

Poor girl, evil stepmother, hero shows up, etc. somewhat of a trope.
Liked characters, but wish Geoffrey was more fleshed out. A bit of a trope.
They gave Prudence a lot of agency but then still had male character jump in to save her.
Characters not developed at all
Not enough back story to Victoria and Donald.

Not accurate in regards to how the step-mother was regarded. Never would have been accepted in this social strata.
Prudence would have had a lot of friends looking after her, or another female relative in her life.
Also, Prudence was struggling with addiction, but if true-never would have been involved in this investigation.
Didn’t make sense that Prudence didn’t have a cadre of friends and relatives in her life.

Ending unsatisfying…”who-did-it” twist unsatisfying.
Ending too tidy.

Not a mystery, more a “mysterious story”
Not a “who did it” but “how to prove it”
More of a suspense than mystery

Way too drawn out in places.
Annoying and trite!
Too long!
Too many tangents!