Fortune Favors the Dead (2020) is the first book in the Pentecost and Parker series. Imagine Nero Wolfe transformed into an elderly woman with multiple sclerosis and imagine Archie Goodwin morphed into a 20-something woman who ran away to the circus and is now the assistant to the best private investigator in New York City. Set in the 1940s, Pentecost and Parker are hired to solve the murder of Abigail Collins, a wealthy woman who inherited a multi-million dollar company after her husband, Alistair, committed suicide.
There are plenty of suspects in the Abigail Collins murder. Ariel Balustrade, a medium and spiritual advisor, conducted a séance the night of the murder in the Collins mansion. Olivia Waterhouse, a college professor who writes books like Speaking with the Dead: Spiritualists in the Twentieth Century was also present the night of the murder. Abigail Collins’s children, Rebecca and Randolph, had “issues” with their mother. Harrison Wallace, godfather to Rebecca and Randolph, and acting CEO of Collins Steelworks and Manufacturing, hires Pentecost and Parker to find the murderer.
Stephen Spotswood presents a locked room mystery that has tentacles that reach into the Past where hidden facts reveal a series of mysterious incidents. If you’re in the mood for a classical mystery with a Rex Stout flavor mixed with some gender bending, give Fortune Favors the Dead a try. I’m looking forward more of Pentecost and Parker. GRADE: A
Hmm, it may have merit! You know I’m a big Wolfe fan!
Bob, I’ve read a couple of different mystery series and even a fantasy series that use the Wolfe-Goodwin model…with alterations. I finished the second book in the Pentecost/Parker series and enjoyed that, too. Three more mysteries to go!
Based on that cover, I thought this book was going to be an homage to the lesbian pulp novels of the 1950s.
Deb, you’re right about the lesbian vibe of the cover on FORTUNE FAVORS THE DEAD. Readers will learn that Willowjean Parker swings both ways.
Good series. I love the ’40s atmosphere, as well as the traveling circus and pulp publishing backgrounds in a couple of the books.
Deb, Willowjean (Will) Parker is a lesbian, and that (ahem) comes up in the series.
Jeff, Willowjean sleeps with a male suspect in MURDER UNDER HER SKIN. She’s a very approachable woman…
Yes, but, I think she is basically attracted to women. Jackie doesn’t believe most people are really bisexual.
Jeff, I think you’re right about Willowjean being attracted to women. But she’s willing to give guys a chance, too! DEAD IN THE FRAME, the new PENTECOST/PARKER book has been shipped!
I like this series a lot.
Will is more bisexual and I don’t think sex plays a huge part in the stories.
Murder Under Her Skin (the 2nd in the series) is a favorite – lots of fascinating stuff about circus life.
Beth, I just finished reading MURDER UNDER HER SKIN and loved it! I have the new Pentecost/Parker mystery, DEAD IN THE FRAME, on order.