In Like Flynn: A Molly Murphy Mystery by Rhys Bowen

                 What is with the men in the books I have been reading?  In this series the men keep saying they love Molly for who she is.  Then they tell her to not be who she is.  In addition, they hide the relationship they have with her.  And they wonder why Molly gets mad.

                Private Investigator Molly Murphy thinks she’s doing the right thing when she reports a purse snatcher to the police.  Unfortunately, the snatcher is part of a dangerous gang.  Now that she has reported one of them, Molly’s previous boyfriend, Captain Daniel Sullivan, is worried about her safety.  To keep her away from the gang, he finds an opportunity for Molly to go undercover.  It will also get her away from the typhoid that is going through the city.

                Of course, things do not go the way Daniel expected.  His intent was for Molly to unmask two spiritualists who have been invited to a prominent family’s country home.  That is all she is supposed to do.  He does not want Molly to start looking into a years old kidnapping case.  Which is exactly what Molly does once she is asked.

                When Senator Barney Flynn’s son was kidnapped, the chauffeur and the nanny were blamed.  The chauffeur was killed, and the nanny, Annie Lomax, is selling flowers on the New York City streets.  When she hears Molly and Daniel talking about the Flynn family, she asks Molly to clear her name.  Molly does not know if this is something she will be able to do, but she will certainly give it a try.

                Molly will do this at the same time she is trying to prove the spiritualists, the Sorensen Sisters, are not who they say they are.  They have been invited to the country home by Senator Flynn’s wife, Theresa, who desperately wants to hear from her kidnapped son.  While there, Molly finds very little opportunity to figure out the Sisters’ tricks, so she turns to looking into the kidnapping.

                Things become more complicated when Theresa, someone Molly has come to care for, dies suddenly.  Despite appearances, Molly does not believe Theresa killed herself.  Now Molly has a kidnapping and a murder to solve.

                As I said earlier, the men in Molly’s life are completely aggravating.  Now there is a third man to add to the list.  The difference is, unlike Jacob and Daniel, this third man is not a love interest.  He is Justin Hartley, the man Molly thought she killed back in Ireland.  He’s in America and has recognized Molly.  She may not have killed Hartley, but she did cause permanent damage.  Now he’s out to get Molly, ignoring the fact that he attacked her first.  For the moment she has managed to put Hartley off, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.