Murder, She Reads

I am a huge fan of the Gaslight mysteries but I feel a bit like City of Lies lied to me as it's not a mystery at all but a historical romance.

Elizabeth Miles is  a grifter who was working a con with her brother when it goes horrible wrong. They conned the wrong man as Oscar Thornton is not a nice person, he is very ruthless. He has already caught her brother and his two goons are beating up on him and since there is no hope of her helping him she runs but Thornton sees her and sends his goons after her instead and she sees her only hope of escape in a group of women who are protesting for women's right to vote.

While in jail she meets a young woman named Anna and a older woman named Mrs. Bates who take to her rather quickly. Anna thinks Elizabeth is so bold and different and you can quickly see she wants to be like her and likes her more than Elizabeth realizes. Mrs. Bates son is a lawyer and when he finds out from David (Anna's brother) that things are not going well for the ladies he works with the ladies lawyer to try and figure things out.

The women were suppose to be sent to the jail in town but they didn't have room for them and they are sent to a workhouse where things are very nasty and it's very trying for them. Probably about half of the book has to do with Gabriel and the other lawyer trying to figure out where the ladies are and the ladies going on a hunger strike and making the government look bad if they don't get the ladies eating, so lots of women's movement stuff.

After they get out though Elizabeth finds out that she is not safe and has to come up with an elaborate plan to bring down Thorton that has to do with those she just met, mainly David. Gabriel is fascinated with Elizabeth and can't see why she wants to hang around with David and this is where the romance part falls in.

I liked Elizabeth and Mrs. Bates but I was not a fan of Anna. Elizabeth is a strong character and though she is a lot like her father there is a part of her that would like to be a real lady. I really liked Gabriel as he might not have been a huge fan of the movement but he never stood in the way of his mother or even made Elizabeth feel bad about anything. David is kind of wimpy but I think he was suppose to be. :)

It was all rather interested though I could do without some things as that is my preference in reading but I can't say that I was wowed by it and a bit disappointed as my expectation was higher and I wanted a mystery.