It’s mid-September 1893 and Eloisa Carstairs is the reigning debutant of Gilded Age Chicago society. To outsiders she appears to have it all. But Eloisa is living with a dark secret. Several months ago, she endured a horrible assault at the hands of Douglass Sloane, heir to one of Chicago’s wealthiest families. Fearing the loss of her reputation, Eloisa confided in only one friend. That is, until she meets Detective Sean Ryan at a high-society ball. Sean is on the fringes of the Chicago elite. Born into a poor Irish family, becoming a policeman was his best chance to ensure security. Despite social boundaries, he is enamored with Eloisa Carstairs. Sean will do anything to keep her safe—even if he can never earn her affections. Eloisa longs to feel normal again, but a killer is on the loose. In the last month, three debutants have been accosted by an assailant wielding a knife, and Eloisa fears for her safety at every event she attends. As the danger in the city increases, and as the romance between Eloisa and Sean blossoms, they both realize they want to be seen as more than how the world views them. But will they catch the killer before all their hopes come crashing down?
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Having had her story introduced in the first book of this series, Secrets of Sloane House, readers are re-acquainted with the character Eloise Carstairs. If you've read the first book, you might remember Eloise's traumatizing run-in with Douglas Sloane. Now, in this second installment, readers see the long-term effects that painful night had on Eloise. Fearing the damage it would do to her social status, considering herself "damaged goods" for prospective suitors now, Eloise keeps the story of her ordeal secret from everyone, including her parents. Nearly every night, she suffers night terrors that leave her awakened by terror and soaking, full body sweats. Additionally, she finds she is incapable of being left alone with ANY man without having a full blown panic attack. That is, until she meets Detective Sean Ryan. Something about him almost immediately instills trust, leading her to reveal to him what she'd previously been unable to speak aloud.
Detective Ryan is brought in one night to do double duty as undercover observer / bodyguard during a society ball. As if Eloise's own trauma wasn't enough of a personal hell, matters are complicated with the arrival of a mystery madman dubbed the Society Slasher -- an unidentified assailant targeting society debutante ladies, slashing them with a knife until they are either dead or permanently scarred. So now on top of everything Eloise must fear for her very life.
I wasn't quite as pulled into this installment as I was with the first book. First off, though this series is called "Chicago World's Fair Mysteries", very little of the fair itself seemed to have been worked into this book. It does serve as a setting in parts, but barely gets even a mention until page 151 (of 322, paperback edition). The majority of the plot seems to go down in either the police station or private residences of primary characters. That was disappointing, as I really do like the idea of mystery and drama amidst the liveliness of a fair. That was one of the main draws for me wanting to try out this series!
The plot in this book was also a bit slower that I liked. The whole investigation regarding the Society Slasher seems to take a backseat to Det. Ryan and his partner having boring, bland flirtations with their respective lady crushes. There is some commotion in the plot as the reader inches nears the end of the story, but to get there you need to wade through 22 previous chapters of pretty tame plot. They only seem to get truly serious about their police work after one of the primary characters ends up being one of the people the Slasher victimizes. But by that point there's less than 50 pages til the end of the book!
That being said, what I DID like about this second book was its look into the unfair prejudices that came with the economical class divisions of the era and how those prejudices could go both ways, between the working and upper classes. That aspect, I thought Gray addressed pretty well and definitely provided me with historical material to ponder on.
There's one more book in the series, so here's hoping this one was simply a sophmore slump!
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