An Orphan of Hell’s Kitchen by Liz Freeland – Rachel Book Review

Full disclosure, I requested this book based on its description and did not realize it was the third book in a series! It’s a testament to the author that I didn’t feel out of sorts reading this novel out of order as she did a good job ensuring any plot points from the first books were subtly explained or inconsequential.

Louise, our main character, is a policewoman in New York City right before the United States enters World War I. Louise has German immigrant parents and is a little confused by all of the anti-German rhetoric flying around the city. While she is a policewoman, her role is little more than caretaker of women who are brought in to the jail.

One night she is asked to accompany officers to a prostitute’s apartment, where a gruesome double murder is discovered. The plot of the book centers around Louise’s hidden efforts to find the murderer and she is ultimately sucked into a much larger conspiracy than she ever expected.

I gave this book 4 stars, but once again I wish these platforms would allow for half stars as this was more of a 3.5-star book in my eyes. The book was rather short but it took me more than a week to read, which demonstrates that it took me quite a while to get into it. I am willing to blame that on the fact that this truly is part of the series, and I might have cared more about the characters if I had read the other books. I enjoyed the historical time period, and I do love a plucky heroine who doesn’t listen to authority in her attempt to find the truth.

I plan to go back and read the first book in the Louise Falk series to see if I truly want more of the young lady police officer!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher who provided me with an advance copy of this book and the opportunity to give my honest feedback.

Some stats, as I like stats: