Putting the two versions of the cover up because I absolutely adore them both.
Title: The Lost Girl of Astor Street
Author: Stephanie Morrill
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Synopsis: Lydia has vanished. Lydia, who’s never broken any rules, except falling in love with the wrong boy. Lydia, who’s been Piper’s best friend since they were children. Lydia, who never even said good-bye. Convinced the police are looking in all the wrong places, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail begins her own investigation to solve the mystery of Lydia’s disappearance. With the reluctant help of a handsome young detective, Piper goes searching for answers in the dark underbelly of 1924 Chicago, determined to find Lydia at any cost. When Piper discovers those answers might stem from the corruption strangling the city—and quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent neighbourhood—she must decide how deep she’s willing to dig, how much she should reveal, and if she’s willing to risk her life for the truth
Rating: Five stars
Review:
****This review is NOT spoiler free****
The Lost Girl of Astor Street is a mystery, so definitely right up my alley. I haven’t actually read much recently but I picked up this book and couldn’t put it down, finishing it in four hours.
The story itself was great, leaving enough tension and suspense to make me keep reading but giving me enough quiet moments that I wasn’t stressed. Stephanie gave us enough time at the beginning to let us know what a normal life for Piper was, which is a powerful story element. We don’t know what the character has lost if we never see them with it to begin with.
When reading I mostly focus on characters so I’m just going to jump into what I thought of a few them.
Piper was an amazing main character. There wasn’t any point in the story where she was too stupid or I wondered why it was her that was the main character and not someone more qualified. Her desire to find her friend and then later to find the murderer of her friend is the main thing that drives her throughout this story, forcing her to keep the plot moving until she can finally figure out what actually happened. She realizes that she can’t stay still and just let things be done around her, she has to go out and do it herself. Although, like any good hero, she does need help on the way which is why Mariano, the dashing detective, ends up being at her side for much of this story.
Mariano is sweet, protective, and really smart. I immediately loved the way that unlike everyone else in Piper’s life he doesn’t doubt her. He has some qualms about her investigation because it’s dangerous but not because he doesn’t think she can do it. Whenever he can he helps her along with her quest so that he can protect her. He sees the dark side of the world every day and he doesn’t want her to have to see it too and lose her innocence. I love when he was introduced for the first time with the other detective there wasn’t a big deal made about describing him, he was just there to ask her questions, it was only later when he came back that we got to know what he looked like. Also, the romance with Piper and him was adorable…
I was endeared to Lydia even though she was only in for a short time and became even more so through Piper’s thoughts. I loved how caring she was, how she wanted to be a proper lady but also didn’t care if she had nothing as long as she ended up with the person she loved. She reminded me a bit of Sybil from Downton Abbey, probably very much because of her love for the chauffeur, Matthew. Her disease added an interesting element to the story too, since I knew the whole time reading the story that there was a chance that she was going to die anyways, even if she was found. She was innocent and sick, and was pulled into it only as revenge, which hurts. She deserved much better.
Which leads me to Matthew. Despite his past and how closed off he was I never suspected him for even a minute. It was obvious that he loved Lydia even before he told Piper that he did. I felt his pain at her death and even more so when he was forced to flee. I’m also happy that we got to hear from him again before the story ended, it was the last strand of the story that needed to be tied to complete it.
I loved Emma too. She didn’t feel like a replacement of Lydia, but it felt right for her to be there, filling the role of a best friend that Piper needed. And her hiring Piper to investigate her boyfriend, Robbie, was hilarious. She was so innocent but at the same time knew a lot more than she let on and ended up being a completely different character than I thought she was going to be when she was first introduced.
Walter was an interesting character, because he’d been there all of Piper’s life so there was always those moments when they’d be able to share something from their past without saying it outright, which was a nice dynamic to read. I did find at times that he could get on my nerves because he was harsh and overprotective or Piper, treating her like she was still a child.
Maeve was a great villain. Right from the beginning she was there, slowly weasel-ing her way into the family and trying to get information on Matthew. I didn’t trust her for most of the time, but right before Jeremiah reveals that she lied about who she is, I was actually starting to believe that maybe she didn’t actually have ulterior motives for her presence. And her revelation of why she did what she didn’t didn’t feel like a fake cop-out like most revenge reveals do. She felt real and I could feel her anger and pain at what had happened to her husband and baby. Although I can never forgive her for what she did to Lydia I do hope that she can find some peace in her life, even if the rest of it will be spent in prison.
I won’t go into all the characters because that would take too long, but I didn’t find that even one of them wasn’t necessary to the story, they all added something, whether it was conflict, or just someone to fill a scene. There were side characters that I hated and ones that I loved, but none of them felt out of place or like the story could have been the same without them being involved.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery, romance, or just good fiction in general.
Also, Matthew’s cat deserved better.
*I purchased this book independently and was not required to write a review.
Of Swords and Quills 