It was a bit of struggle getting into this book. The beginning was slow but it did manage to pick up its pace after a few chapters. It's the late 19th century and Rose Dugan is a young 19 year old girl who has a strong passion about keeping the water in Philadelphia clean. Out of the blue, she starts receiving messages, warning her about her husband and that there will be consequences if she doesn't do something. Rose automatically becomes afraid shows Patrick the messages but he passes them off as a joke.

During one visit to the Fairmount Water Works, Rose's best friend is killed right before her eyes. Although she witnessed the fall, she only caught a glimpse of the killer. Now Rose seems to be the next target. At the same time, the city has a horrible outbreak of Typhoid. Different subplots occur throughout the book that are brought and resolved in the end.Contagion had a good balance of history and mystery but I don't believe that this was my type of book. The writing wasn't terrible nor was the plot, in fact, I found the plot/idea of the story rather refreshing.

Another possible factor as to why I didn't enjoy the book is because of Rose. Now I know that during this period of time, most girls knew how to behave towards their husbands. Rose was definitely a good wife to Patrick but she was too gullible. Patrick comes off as this shady character from the moment you start reading the book and Rose can only see him as this innocent man. Although there were moments where she would question him, she easily fell for his quick replies.

I believe this would make for an interesting read to other readers or fans of historical/mystery fiction. ( )

What really got me spurring about this book was the dirty little secrets Patrick carried around with him. All the time as I was reading, I was angry at him. But he did entertain me and kept me well on my toes.

After losing her best friend, Rose is troubled by her husband's misgivings. Things are not the same with him. Threatening letters are being sent to her and she has begged her husband to do something about it but all he does if ignore her suspicions. All of the sudden, he's mean, contradicting, smells like perfume, and is planning something that she just can't quite get her fingers on. Will Rose figure out what her husband is up to?

My goodness this book was just exciting! I love Rose. Her character is strong and did not give up the fight even when her life was hanging in the balance. Rose did everything she could to figure out what her dirty sneaky husband was up to. That rat bleep. I couldn't believe the crap he was pulling. I serioulsy wanted to go into the book and chop his freaking bleep off. Rose kept me steady and secure while reading this.

There were so many suspicions in here I was astounded as to how many people were actually involve in this whole charade. I had my suspicions but man! I was just taken back by the amount of secrets that were spilled.

While I despised her husband, Sean was a great refreshment. He was one that was truly a keeper. He cared for Rose and knew exactly where to find her when danger was lurking around. The fight scene was a plus. I was glad that he gave Patrick a good punch or two.

The whole plot, drama was well played out and kept me entertained. I love how everything was tied and how it ended. It was all good and work out great. If you like historicals with a good mystery read this book. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. I think this was one book that I found myself actually yelling at the book! ( )

A murder, a contamination, and a mystery all in one nicely wrapped package. The premise of the storyline with the contamination of the city’s water supply is original and something that has happened time and time again, yet this one is with a twist and it’s personal. Dahme’s attention to detail is shown through her knowledge of the water supply system and also through the detail of the clothing and mannerisms of the characters. At times the details of all of the different jackets Rose wore became overkill and took away from the real story.

There is a love story twisted into the book as well and we see most of it from Sean’s view as every other chapter is written from his perspective of things. The book is listed in the young adult genre which I found odd. Yes, the main character is younger, but it’s set back in the 19th century where girls were married off when they were young. For a young adult novel I would have preferred more about the relationships of the characters and less about the politics that were surrounding each situation. However, the conclusion of the book is reached with such precision that the flaws are quickly forgiven. ( )