Title:

Fortune Favors the Dead

Author:

Stephen Spotswood

Category:

Mystery / Thriller

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

March 7, 2025

ortune Favors the Dead is the first book in the Parker and Pentecost series. At the time of this review, the series has grown to five titles. It is set in New York City immediately after World War II has ended. The story is told in first person from the point of view of Willowjean "Will" Parker, the twenty-ish year old sidekick of Lillian Pentecost, the most famous private detective in New York City. Will left a dysfunctional family setting to literally run away and join the circus; she spent several years with the Hart and Halloway Traveling Circus and Sideshow. She became the gopher for the circus, the jack-of-all-trades, an understudy for the different sideshow acts while also learning skills such as lock picking, knife throwing, and tricks of deception - all of which also come in handy when solving crimes.

As a female in the 1940s, Pentecost is viewed negatively by the police and many clients. But she has a sterling track record, having solved crimes that baffled the police detectives. Pentecost is approached by Harrison Wallace, the CEO of Collins Steelworks. The founder of the company, Alistair Wallace, committed suicide three years ago. At a boozy Halloween party held at the Collins mansion two weeks prior, the widow of Alistair, Abigail Collins was bludgeoned to death by a crystal ball. The crystal ball was there because the party had featured a séance, and the medium, a mysterious woman named Ariel Belestrade, had brought the crystal ball as part of her act. However, when the murder occurred, Abigail was alone in a locked room. Could the ghost of Alistair, which was eerily summoned during the séance, have materialized to kill his former wife?

Harrison Wallace is frustrated by the lack of progress by the police. Without a resolution to Abigail's murder, the wild rumors about vengeful ghosts will damage the Collins reputation. The Collins left behind two adult offspring, the twins Rebecca "Becca" and Randolph. Naturally, the heirs are possible suspects, though they seem to genuinely grieve the murder of their mother. Pentecost decides to take the case - Wallace can afford a huge fee, and Pentecost needs money to keep her practice going. (Pentecost takes on a lot of jobs for poorer clientele, especially women, who cannot afford to pay much.)

Pentecost suffers from multiple sclerosis, it requires her to walk with a cane and limits the amount of activity she can do. Some days she simply must spend in bed, too exhausted to struggle through a normal day. This means that Will gets sent out on solitary missions to gather clues and interview suspects. Sometimes Will takes her own initiative, not always with successful results. Will carries a gun, and sometimes she pulls it out in a tight scrape.

Will's narrative has a snarky voice, sort of a tough-talking New Yorker way of phrasing things. For example:

Whenever someone bends over backwards to tell me so-and-so was a saint, I always wonder what sins they are trying to sweep away.

I'd never encountered the words "de facto" and "egregious" in casual conversation, but I managed to translate.

A waiter who looked like he could still remember when the Brooklyn Bridge was still a pipe dream took our order.

This isn't the sort of mystery where the reader is given enough clues to solve the case on their own. Crucial information is not discovered until the end, when perpetrator and motive are revealed. It was entertaining enough that I might pick up the second book in the series.