Review – City of Lies by Victoria Thompson

Posted July 28, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 9 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – City of Lies by Victoria ThompsonCity of Lies by Victoria Thompson
Narrator: Kate Forbes
Series: Counterfeit Lady #1
Published by Berkley Publishing Group, Recorded Books on November 7, 2017
Genres: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Historical
Length: 11 hours 11 minutes
Format: ARC, Audiobook, eBook
Source: Library, Publisher
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four-stars

From the national bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries comes the first Counterfeit Lady novel--the intriguing start of a historical mystery series featuring woman-on-the-run Elizabeth Miles.

Like most women, Elizabeth Miles assumes many roles; unlike most, hers have made her a woman on the run. Living on the edge of society, Elizabeth uses her guile to relieve so-called respectable men of their ill-gotten gains. But brutal and greedy entrepreneur Oscar Thornton is out for blood. He's lost a great deal of money and is not going to forgive a woman for outwitting him. With his thugs hot on her trail, Elizabeth seizes the moment to blend in with a group of women who have an agenda of their own.

She never expects to like or understand these privileged women, but she soon comes to respect their intentions, forming an unlikely bond with the wealthy matriarch of the group whose son, Gideon, is the rarest of species--an honest man in a dishonest world. Elizabeth knows she's playing a risky game, and her deception could be revealed at any moment, possibly even by sharp-eyed Gideon. Nor has she been forgotten by Thornton, who's biding his time, waiting to strike. Elizabeth must draw on her wits and every last ounce of courage she possesses to keep her new life from being cut short by this vicious shadow from her past.

I thought that this was very good! I have had this book in my queue for years but never seemed to be able to work it into my reading schedule. When I noticed that my local library had a copy of the audiobook available to borrow, I decided that it was finally time to see what this book was about. I found it be quite entertaining so I am glad that I finally gave it a chance.

Elizabeth isn’t like most women in her time since she works with a team of grifters. To escape capture, she joins a group of women fighting for the right to vote and ends up going to jail with them. I loved the group of women that she was with while in jail. She became a vital member of the group and I really enjoyed the way that they supported and encouraged each other. When they are released, she goes home with one of the women she became close to in jail and has the opportunity to get to know Gideon a lot better.

I thought that this book was rather exciting at times. It was really amazing that this book is only set 100 years ago since this world looked so different from the one we live in today. I liked the chemistry between Elizabeth and Gideon and thought that they worked well together despite having very different views. I enjoyed the fact that the suffrage movement played such a vital role in the story and I liked that LGBTQ issues were also addressed.

Kate Forbes did a very nice job with the narration. I liked the various voices she used for the character dialogue. I felt like she was able to add a lot of emotion and excitement to the story and her pacing was well done. I believe that her performance added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would recommend this book to others. Elizabeth was a great character and I loved the fact that she often operates in a morally grey area. I do plan to read more of this series soon.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.

9 responses to “Review – City of Lies by Victoria Thompson

  1. That’s great you were able to find time to finally read this one. I have not heard of it, but it sounds really good. I love the comradery among the ladies in prison.

    -Lauren

  2. Historical mysteries aren’t something that I gravitate to but it sounds like this one was done really well. And I like the sound of Eliza and the fact that she doesn’t necessary play by the rules.

  3. I really loved this one and how Thompson made the setting come alive. Definitely exciting. I wasn’t as big of a fan of the other books though. I really like her other series too. So glad you enjoyed this one!