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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
James Snyder’s The Brothers Shaughnessy is set in 1880s New Orleans. Detective brothers Dawson and Michael Shaughnessy are pulled into a series of crimes that begin when Melissa Singleton disappears after Sunday Mass, and her severed hand is delivered to her husband’s law office. As more prominent women vanish across the city, political reformers accuse the ruling Ring machine of using terror to silence opponents before a major election. While gang violence spreads through the waterfront districts, the brothers uncover connections between kidnappings, corrupt officials, child trafficking operations, and a respected physician named Dr. Fredrik Aubert. Their investigation carries them from gambling halls to hidden warehouses beside the Mississippi River while the city moves toward open warfare between political factions, criminal gangs, and police officers struggling to keep order before another victim disappears.
James Snyder’s The Brothers Shaughnessy treats 1880s New Orleans and the Gilded Age with exactly the style of period details that readers of the genre genuinely hope for but are rarely given. Snyder is spectacular here, leaning into 19th-century life with elements like the secret purchasing of penny dreadful detective magazines, while telegrams from Rome pressure officials investigating crimes tied to foreign aristocratic families. I love Dawson Shaughnessy and his anger toward corrupt judges releasing violent offenders. The biggest surprise and most fascinating character is Tophat, leader of the abandoned Steampunks surviving inside a ruined steam factory. The humanity the author gives to the most unlikely character is amplified through his protection of younger children, and his encouragement of delivery boy Little Red after repeated public humiliation. With smart writing and a solid first installment of a duology, readers who enjoy the likes of Caleb Carr will adore this book. Hopefully, there will not be a long wait for the finale! Very highly recommended.
