A Front Page Affair (Kitty Weeks Mystery #1)Author: Radha Vasal
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Pages: 336
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: New York City, 1915
The Lusitania has just been sunk, and headlines about a shooting at J.P. Morgan's mansion and the Great War are splashed across the front page of every newspaper. Capability "Kitty" Weeks would love nothing more than to report on the news of the day, but she's stuck writing about fashion and society gossip over on the Ladies' Page—until a man is murdered at a high society picnic on her beat.
Determined to prove her worth as a journalist, Kitty finds herself plunged into the midst of a wartime conspiracy that threatens to derail the United States' attempt to remain neutral—and to disrupt the privileged life she has always known.
Radha Vatsal's A Front Page Affair is the first book in highly anticipated series featuring rising journalism star Kitty Weeks.
My Review: Kitty is a journalist for the “Ladies’ Page” for The Sentinel newspaper. However, she wishes that she could write about other topics other than writing about ladies topics. One day, when she finds a man is murdered at a high society picnic, she realizes that this may be her opportunity to make her dreams come true. Because she has attended the event, the editor of The Sentinel wishes that she provides background information regarding the murder. As she investigates, she realizes that this murder mystery may be connected to a wartime conspiracy that may threaten the U.S’s attempt to stay neutral.
The thing that I really like about Kitty is how she has grown and matured in this book. At first, she is naive and idealistic. She is ambitious and she wants to impress the editor of The Sentinel with her talents. However, she realizes that as a woman that she must exclusively stick to women’s topics, for it is unseemly for a woman to write about current events. As she investigates the case, she is very observant and inquisitive. She is also a very tough character. She has a temper, but she is determined, bold, and can stand up for herself. As she progresses in the novel, she finds that she must make hard choices. She realizes that there is a limit to her ambitions and has to ponder how far she will go to pursue her dreams. As she continues her investigation, she learns about women’s accomplishments and appreciates their achievements.
Overall, this book is about family, loyalty, dreams, and choices. It is about a woman who wants to rise above her role in an era that limits the opportunities of women. This book is also about how far a person who go to fulfill their dreams. The message of this book is that even though a door closes, another opens. I found the characters to be very likable, and I loved that it is set during WWI. While it is easy to figure out who the killer is early on in the novel, I found the motive more hard to figure out. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this novel, and I am looking forward to her next novel in this series. I recommend this book to anyone who loves female sleuths or mysteries from the early 20th century.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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