Anyone who finds themselves lost in movies like “The Thin Man” series will fall in love with Rachel McMillan’s “Murder at the Flamingo,” set in 1937.
Fresh out of law school, Hamish DeLuca suffers from severe anxiety. When an intense attack causes him to flee from a Toronto courtroom, he travels to Boston to stay with his cousin, Luca Valari, who is set to open a new nightclub, the Flamingo.
After her boyfriend announces a non-existing engagement, debutante Regina “Reggie” VanBuren runs away from her home, setting out to “make it on her own” in the city of Boston. She secures a secretarial position with Luca, fielding mysterious and angry phone calls at his off-site office.
When the paths between Hamish and Reggie cross, they quickly become close friends. And when a woman mysteriously dies at the Flamingo, they come together to find out what’s really going on with Luca and his popular club. They must overcome their fears and doubts to solve the mystery.
“Murder at the Flamingo” is a fun novel with a film noir vibe. It is a book filled with a little bit of mystery and suspense, a little bit of tension, a little bit of romance, and a little bit of whodunnit. McMillan manages to create very fun and lovable yet relatable characters with very real flaws. Hamish suffers from what we today would consider anxiety and panic disorders. As the author reveals at the end of the book, she herself has suffered from these conditions, so she was very realistically able to portray his condition. Hamish also has a deep love for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and relates much in life to scenarios from the book — even down to the “Spira Spera” sentiment from the book, which means “Breathe, Hope.”
And with Reggie’s constant comparisons to everything happening in life to her favorite movies, including William Powell and Myrna Loy in “The Thin Man,” she is a delightful character, filled with naiveté at times, but also with real moxie.
Luca is a deeply mysterious and complex character, and readers will enjoy the residents of the old town where Reggie’s office is located, including Mrs. Leoni and her yummy cannolis, and Nate, a local housing and development officer.
Besides being a fun story, “Murder at the Flamingo” does offer up some good lessons too, like overcoming humiliation; hiding or running away from problems and fears; finding sanctuary; we all are able to make miracles happen; and finding home.
A major theme in this novel is becoming who we are meant to be. We see this both with Hamish, as he overcomes his fears and anxieties to stand on his own two feet and assert himself, and Reggie, as she overcomes the pampered debutante image to find her own strength and independence.
Occasionally, and only in extremely rare instances, I found the writing to drag a little, but overall this is a great novel and I look forward to more in the series!
Fans of the old classic whodunnit films, murder mystery novels and even historical fiction will love “Murder at the Flamingo.”
Four and a half stars out of five.
Thomas Nelson provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.
“Murder at the Flamingo” (a Van Buren and DeLuca Mystery) by Rachel McMilla