Thanks to Netgally for an ARC copy in return for an honest review. We meet up with Daniel and Genevieve immediately where the first book left off. But this time a death happens on the very ship that Rupert and Esmie are taking on their honeymoon. Daniel and Genevieve are watching the two leave on the ship when they hear Esmie’s scream, thrusting them into a mystery that must be solved. The book leads the two through a wild goose chase, between the murders that occur along with a kidnapping of a wealthy girl. The question is asked - is everything connected and if so, how? This book was a delight to read and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Brilliant follow up to the author’s debut novel. ( )

Betrayal On The Bowery is the second book in the A Gilded Gotham Mystery series by Kate Belli.

Esmie and Rupert have exchanged their marriage vow and are now ready to leave on their honeymoon to Europe. Genevieve and Daniel are at the docks to see the newlyweds off. Shortly after, Esmie and Rupert head for their stateroom; there is an ear-shattering scream that Genevieve is sure it’s coming from Esmie. She and Daniel take off at a run to find the source of the screaming. They soon find their friend’s stateroom and see them standing over the body of a young man who was highly intoxicated and had entered the stateroom shouting about ghosts and demons. Daniel inspects the body and finds a medallion in the victim’s hand from Boyle’s Suicide Tavern. Daniel will share that the medallions are given to those that stay until the next morning in the supposedly haunted tavern.

The following day, unbeknownst to the other, Genevieve and Daniel find themselves outside the home of Frank Westwood. Westwoods wants to hire them to find his 18-year-old daughter, Nora. Westwood is concerned that his daughter has run off with a young man and doesn’t want the police involved. When another death, similar to the first young man, they will center their investigations on the seedy, Five Point area. Their quest will also take them to the Garcia mansion that has been uninhabited for many years and is in a state of disrepair. The mansion is supposedly haunted and reputed to have a dungeon.

The series is well-written, historically accurate, and quite enjoyable. The characters are well defined, engaging, and believable. There’s no romance for Genevieve and Daniel yet, but it looks like there is some interest from both.

I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in this wonderful series. ( )

This second Gilded Gotham mystery begins while Society Girl/Reporter Genevieve Stewart and millionaire Daniel McCaffrey are seeing their friends Esmie and Rupert off on their honeymoon to Italy. Things go wrong immediately when a man who had previously proposed to Esmie breaks into their cabin raving about demons and then dies on their rug.

Detective Aloysius Longstreet is the man who draws the case. All four of them have run into him before in the first book. He has a tendency to rush to judgment and not look at other options. In this case, he is sure the Rupert must have something to do with this death. Stuck in New York, the four of them must find out what happened because they can be sure that Longstreet isn't looking.

Genevieve and Daniel's search takes them into the Bowery and a saloon where gentlemen earn a coin if they manage to survive the night. Such a coin was found in the victim's pocket. It is also a saloon where young women often go to commit suicide which fits in with the second investigation Genevieve and Daniel are conducting.

Frank Westwood has invited them to his Fifth Avenue mansion and asked them to try to locate his eighteen-year-old daughter Nora who has supposedly run off with her unsuitable beau. Looking for Nora has quite a bit of overlap with their first investigation and the overlap grows when a second young man from high society also kills himself in their presence after raving about demons.

Besides the visit to the Bowery which almost results in their deaths, Genevieve and Daniel also find themselves searching an old, abandoned mansion and its secret tunnels and confronting on old enemy of Daniel's who was also a villain in the first mystery.

The story was fast-paced and intriguing. It was filled with danger for both Genevieve and Daniel. I liked the relationship between Genevieve and Daniel who were rebuilding their friendship after Genevieve's refusal of his proposal in the first book although I didn't really understand why she refused. Admittedly, society's expectations for married women would seem stifling to a woman who craved independence and adventure, but Genevieve didn't seem like someone who would let society's expectations rule her life.

The ending leads right into another mystery and I can't wait to read it. ( )

cozy-mystery, historical-places-events, historical-novel, historical-research, historical-setting, suspense, thriller, investigation, murder, amateur-sleuth, class-consciousness, NYC*****

I had not read the earlier book, but that did not matter at all. The publisher's blurb is a good hook so there is no need for recap and spoilers are just wrong. Fascinating characters, twisty plot, more red herrings than a fish monger, and a really riveting story. Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. ( )