Katharine Schellman's vivid look at the atmosphere and culture of the Prohibition Era continues in The Last Drop of Hemlock, her second engrossing Jazz Age mystery set in a popular Manhattan speakeasy during the mid-1920s. For its regular customers, the Nightingale isn't just a place to dance the night away, where bootleg booze flows; it's a kind of home in which all are welcomed and treated equally, regardless of race, sexuality, or social status. The Nightingale certainly is Vivian Kelly's home: she's there nightly, waiting tables, dancing, and soaking up the thrill of the bar. For a few hours, she's free, away from her day job making deliveries for the high-end dress shop where Florence, her straitlaced sister, works.
Vivian's best friend, Bea Henry, is grieving the death of her much-loved Uncle Pearlie. Although the local doctor rules his death a suicide, Bea thinks someone murdered him; Pearlie was too involved with the family to end his life. Vivian believes her friend, after the coroner rules that Pearlie died from arsenic poisoning. Bea then discovers Pearlie's stash of cash is missing. During her investigation, Vivian learns that both Pearlie and his neighbors received threatening letters.
Schellman (Last Call at the Nightingale) allows her characters to flourish in The Last Drop of Hemlock, which--despite featuring an amateur sleuth--veers toward a harder-edge story. Showing growth since the first book, Vivian is more confident in her investigative skills and her place in the Nightingale's society, especially in her relationship with the androgynous owner Honor Huxley. Accurate historical details about the era elevate this superb mystery. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer