“These Shallow Graves” Had Me Hooked From Beginning to End

“An uneasiness had descended on her, as cold and ominous as a winter night.”

Let’s get this part out of the way: The mystery was good. I had no problems with it. It was a mixture of frighteningly atmospheric, brainiac detective sleuthing, and a good dosage of humor like the kind in Jackaby. I especially loved Jo’s first visit to the morgue, where she met the wonderful Oscar Rubin and was appalled by his offer of a pleased-to-meet-you bloody handshake.

But then the romance was introduced, and it blew the mystery out the door.

This was the swoony kind of stuff that I’m even going to compare to The Wrath & the Dawn. Yes, it was that level of intensity. There was such amazing, powerful chemistry between Jo and Eddie. I loved their smart-mouth bantering, and my goodness, the simple scene where they were looking into each other’s eyes alone had my heart pounding like a twelve year old girl.

“Eddie didn’t spare her. He made her work. He made her think. It was not what she was used to from a man, and she liked it.” 

There’s more to this book, though. The author addresses the way women were treated like livestock at the time, either sold off to rich husbands they didn’t love or to poor men for a dollar for the night.

Jo is a high society girl with a burning desire to know things, which of course warrants her family’s disapproval. Girls of her class aren’t expected to know about finances or trade, let alone be running around behind their mother’s back solving a murder mystery. They are expected to snag the richest man possible and live out the rest of their lives wealthy and comfortable.

“The moment a girl learned how to talk, she was told not to.” 

But Jo is considering trading all her money and comfort if it means she can fulfill her dream of becoming a reporter, solve her father’s mysterious death, and be with Eddie, the poor, blue-eyed newsboy.

These Shallow Graves is a fast-paced, thrilling mystery and a luscious romance between two characters that made my heart ache. I loved this gorgeously written gem of a book.