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Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite
The Body on the Bricks by Leonard Krishtalka is a historical crime mystery that will have readers guessing throughout the narrative. When the small town of Lawrence, Kansas, experiences three murders in one day, local reporter and amateur sleuth Mary Fanning is pressed into service to discover what has befallen their usually sleepy town. A female reporter for a newspaper in 1873 was unusual enough, but Mary has experience in unravelling murder mysteries and is quickly on the case. The three deaths were as disparate as they were shocking; an elderly seamstress bludgeoned to death as she lay in her bed; a young, local lawyer shot in the main street by a distraught father who believed he had been messing with his daughter; and a baby girl axed to death by her own mother. As Mary investigates, she uncovers a complicated web of lies, deceit, and vengeance, but she also discovers the beginnings of love.
The Body on the Bricks is a wonderfully constructed web of intrigue that twists and turns in surprisingly unexpected directions. Readers will constantly be considering and then discarding theories as new information comes to hand. Leonard Krishtalka has created a delightful, strong, independent, modern woman who does seem somewhat out of place in nineteenth-century Kansas, but is determined to push for the emancipation of both African-Americans and women. She is fearless and principled. I particularly appreciated her relationship with Amalia, scandalous for the time, but one that gave even more character depth to Mary and expanded our understanding of her emotions and thoughts. Told in the first person, readers will be astounded by Mary’s methodical, Holmes-like, analytical deductive abilities that allowed her to grasp the nuances of these three horrific acts and understand that everything is not as it always appears on the surface. By the end, readers will fully understand and empathize with Mary and her beliefs and will definitely be rooting for her. This is a fun, interesting, and enjoyable read that I highly recommend.
