Murder Knocks Twice: A Speakeasy Novel

Set in 1929 Chicago, this uneven series launch from Calkins (the Lucy Campion mysteries) introduces Gina Ricci, a former restaurant worker, who takes a job as a cigarette girl at the Third Door, one of the city’s most lavish speakeasies. There she replaces Dorrie Edwards, who was stabbed to death the month before. On her break one night, Gina stumbles on the club’s photographer, Marty Doyle, being assaulted in the alley beside the premises. Marty begs her to hide his camera before dying of stab wounds. After Gina smuggles the camera away, she feels compelled to discover if his photographs link to his death, as well as Dorrie’s similar demise. A handsome club habitué she knows only as Roark offers assistance, but when the apartment Gina shares with her widowed father is burgled and Gina is attacked in the street, she’s not sure if anyone connected to the speakeasy is trustworthy. Calkins captures the era’s contrasts and gives Gina an intriguing backstory, but the novel’s slow start and heavy-handed use of period slang weaken its appeal. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management. (Apr.)