Review: A Front Page Affair by Radha Vatsal

Title: A Front Page Affair
Author: Radha Vatsal
Format: ARC
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publish Date: May 3, 2016
Source: Publisher

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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 Two Cents:

"A Front Page Affair" is the kickoff to a new mystery series set against the background of World War I. The world is changing and Kitty Weeks, our heroine, realizes that there is room for her to change as well. She wants to do more than her fluffy reporting job and when a man is murdered, she may get her chance. This is an exciting start to a new series that I will be watching.

I can't help to make references to the Maisie Dobbs books, which I love. Like in those books, we have a really great heroine that I loved getting to know through this book. Capability "Kitty" Weeks is a woman before her time. I loved seeing how she figured out the clues to solve the mystery at the center of the book. I really liked how sharp she was. I wanted to know a little bit more about her in the book but am hopeful that more light will be shed in future books in the series.

I am always a little apprehensive about reading mysteries because I don't like spoiling endings for myself by figuring things out before the protagonist does but this book had enough twists to keep me on my toes.

I really appreciated all of the historical detail that the author packed into the book. The author creates a really good sense of time that I thoroughly enjoyed! I will definitely be looking forward to the other books in this series!