City of Schemes by Victoria Thompson

City of Schemes by Victoria Thompson ISBN-13: 9780593197509 Hardback: 320 pages Publisher: Berkley Books Released: January 5th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The Great War is over, and Elizabeth and Gideon are busily planning their wedding and welcoming home old friends now discharged from the army. One of them, Captain Archie Carstens, the son and heir of a wealthy Knickerbocker family, seems less happy to be home than Gideon had expected. While Archie was in France, he fell in love with a beautiful French woman named Noelle. He desperately wanted to propose, but he was already engaged to a girl he had known all his life back in America.

When Archie receives a letter supposedly from Noelle begging for money to help her flee the terrible conditions in France and come to America, Elizabeth is suspicious. There's no way to verify the letter is actually from Noelle, and she fears that a conman or woman might be trying to take advantage of Archie in his vulnerable state. But that's not all Elizabeth has to worry about. Vicious thug Oscar Thornton has gotten wind of her wedding announcement and realizes the woman who conned him is still alive and well. Gideon and Elizabeth have to figure out a way to help their friend while making sure their worst enemy doesn't destroy their future.


My Review:
City of Schemes is a historical suspense/mystery set in early 1919 in New York City. This is the fourth book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the previous novels. The historical details were woven into the story to create a sense of the specific time and place as well as bring the story alive.

Elizabeth is a reformed con artist engaged to marry Gideon, an honorable lawyer who refuses to lie. A man she helped con in the past tries to blackmail Elizabeth to get his money back. Gideon realizes that someone might be conning a good friend, so he asks for Elizabeth's advice. And Elizabeth wants to do something about the manipulative, self-centered woman responsible for endangering Elizabeth and making Gideon's friend miserable. So we have three cons going on, and it was very entertaining and humorous to see each of the cons being pulled off. And when things go wrong, just how will they pull everything off? Well-written, funny, wonderful story.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this entertaining historical novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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