3.5 stars
A twisty mystery, a strong FMC sleuth and 1920s Chicago make this a strong read. But I didn’t realise this was the second book and haven’t read the first so I couldn’t fully appreciate it. Still, it’s a great mystery and I’m now intrigued to read book 1!

If you're looking for a 1920s Chicago mystery with an amateur sleuth, look no further than Piper Sail!

The mystery will keep you wondering, while Morril skillfully leaves the clues you need all along the way.

I appreciated how Morril tactfullly and purposefully wove in Piper's hurt, trauma, and healing from Lydia's death throughout the book and even tied it into the plot. It added an extra level of believability.

While it made sense for Mariano to feature less in the story with the coming-of-age and indepence character arc for Piper, I did wish that he'd been involved more beyond the romance subplot.

Fans of The Lost Girl of Astor Street will enjoy getting to tag along with Piper for another case.

Cautions: moderate romance; several kisses; one blasphemy; the case Piper investigates is initially believed to have been suicide, and the topic comes up several times; brief, non-graphic moderate violence

These should be read in order. There's a lot of people so it can get confusing at times. It's a decent historical mystery in Chicago, when the mob pretty much ran the city. I would read the next in the series.

I will not be sharing a review of this online until closer to the release date, but I just decided to not finish the book. I got about 25 pages in (10% or 3 chapters) and I'm frustrated and overwhelmed. I'm getting the gist that this is at least the second book in the series and in 3 chapters I've been introduced to 9 characters. And the problem is being introduced to them. I still don't have any idea who any of them are which is a big problem, especially for the protagonist. I don't know who she is and I don't care about her, which kills this story before it starts. On top of that, in chapter 3 we get this weird resistance to solving a case when she literally in chapter 1 is pursuing a case and has stated multiple times she wants to be a detective but can't cause she is a woman. This just was the final straw for me. It felt like the logic of the book betrayed itself before we really got started. I'm sending this review in now with a star rating from the CAWPILE system in hopes that something can be done to help this book. It feels like it has potential but I need to understand the characters I'm dealing with and care about any of them. So far my favorite character is Hannah because she feels the most fleshed out. That is a problem when it feels like she might drop out of the story at any minute. I need to care about Piper the way I do Hannah.

After an 8 year gap from when the first in the series was published, I was so happy to see this 2nd Piper Sails book. The story picks up seemlessly after the first one, and the growth of the characters flows smoothly. Piper is still grieving the loss of her best friend and is floundering, trying to figure out what direction her life should take. Because Piper deliberately sets out the investigate this mystery, the plot proceeded in a more step-by-step manner, with a bit less of a thriller feel. But it is still a many-layered mystery with well-developed characters. A good choice even for younger teen readers. There are hints that there could be a book three. I, for one, certainly hope so!

I really enjoyed the first one, and this surpassed that. The mystery was more intriguing, and had more twists and turns than the first one. The characters relationships continued developing well, and I really enjoyed the author acknowledging how people would have actually treated Piper in the 1920s, rather than just pretending that her working as a private detective would have been fine. I also thought Piper’s own thoughts on being a private detective played out really nicely, from ‘oh no I can’t’ to ‘I work for a private detective’ to ‘I am a private detective’. Overall really enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Move over Nancy Drew, a new young female detective is in town.

I really enjoyed this story. The mystery was a much stronger one than the first book and its clear that the author has gotten more confident with her characters and her setting. Piper is introduced to a girl whose brother committed suicide - a fact the sister refuses to accept. Eager to prove herself and find her own way in the world, she takes on the case but it quickly proves to be one full of many twists and turns. The case was fun, Piper deserved to solve it.

Just as good as Piper's investigation was the way in which the author explored the aftermath of a tragedy. Grief litters the pages, different people dealing with different issues in different ways. Each person's grief feels very real and honest, sometimes raw.

Mariano, Piper's boyfriend, is as adorable as ever, albeit with his own issues. My only compliant was there wasn't nearly enough of him, but I love how comforting and supportive he was, as well as proud of who she was.

~Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~

There is a touch of Nancy Drew in Piper Sail, the new mystery investigator.
Set in the 1920’s, Piper has finished school and is at a loss of what to do with herself. Previously, as a student, her best friend was kidnapped and murdered. Piper was the one who discovered the truth and it set her life course on a different path.
A job offer to be secretary at her old school allows her time to work and also to investigate a new crime. Louisa, a student, approaches Piper with a case. Her older brother committed suicide a few months previously and Louisa is convinced it was murder. Piper takes the case and begins investigating and it leads her to some unsavoury and seedy places- this is 1920’s Chicago with mobsters, prohibition and speak easy’s. As the truth begins to emerge, Piper really needs to consider several key questions and characters in order to get to the facts.
This is a well written and intriguing mystery- I wish I had read the first one but I will find it and read about the first mystery Piper solves. I believe there is another one already published so will be hunting that down as well.