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Nellie Bly #2
The Illusion of Murder
History, mystery, murder and magic accompany Nellie Bly – Victorian Age detective, reporter, and feminist – as she takes up a challenge by Jules Verne to beat the eighty days it took his fictional hero Phileas Fogg to race around the world. Nellie tackles the journey--alone, with a single change of clothes--against the wishes of her publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, who felt it was “too dangerous for a woman to attempt."
In her official account of the journey, Seventy-Two Days Around the World, Nellie leaves out one riveting event: a mysterious death. In the bustling harbor city of Port Said, she witnesses an event that makes her a target for a killer and involves her in international intrigue with the fate of nations at stake.
On board the ships that take Nellie from the Land of the Pharaohs to the exotic Orient and across the Pacific are the most famous magicians in the world... but a killer also stalks the decks. As magicians conjure the fantasy and a spiritualist raises the dead, Nellie wonders if Mr. Pulitzer had underestimated the danger.
In her official account of the journey, Seventy-Two Days Around the World, Nellie leaves out one riveting event: a mysterious death. In the bustling harbor city of Port Said, she witnesses an event that makes her a target for a killer and involves her in international intrigue with the fate of nations at stake.
On board the ships that take Nellie from the Land of the Pharaohs to the exotic Orient and across the Pacific are the most famous magicians in the world... but a killer also stalks the decks. As magicians conjure the fantasy and a spiritualist raises the dead, Nellie wonders if Mr. Pulitzer had underestimated the danger.
437 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
13 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
Carol McCleary
12 books41 followersCarol McCleary was born in Seoul, Korea and lived in Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines before settling in the USA. She now lives on Cape Cod in an antique house that is haunted by ghosts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
May 6, 2011
Nellie Bly, who lived from 1864 to 1922 was a pioneering American woman journalist. And now she is a fictional character, appropriated by Carol McCleary, to play the leading role in two novels.
I’m often dubious about this kind of literary borrowing, but I have to say that Carol McClearly does it very, very cleverly. She takes the facts of Nellie’s life and weaves in crime, mystery, and scandal, that had to be suppressed from the reports that Nellie wrote. And she introduces prominent figures of the age who Nellie may well have met.
At the end of the first book of the series, The Alchemy of Murder, Jules Verne challenged Nellie to match the 80 days that it took his fictional hero, Phileas Fogg, to circumnavigate the globe. Nellie vowed to do better, to take a mere 75 days.
The Illusion of Murder is set on this journey, a journey documented by the real Nellie in the book “Around the World in 72 Days.”
But, of course, some facts had been suppressed:
How do I make a connection between a murder in an Egyptian marketplace, a holy war to drive the British from Egypt, a train car named Amelia, the world’s greatest actress and an American racehorse enthusiast rich as Midas?”
The story opens as Nellie’s journey reaches Egypt.
In a busy marketplace in Port Nellie sees a man stabbed. She rushes forward to try to help, and the dying man passes her a key and whispers the word ‘Amelia.’
Nellie is convinced that the man is European, and that he had been travelling on the same ship as her. Her companions deny it, insisting that what she saw was a dispute between natives, something that needn’t trouble them.
Nellie is unconvinced. She knew what she saw, She will not abandon her journey, but she will uncover the truth. But the truth is elusive as Nellie has to cope with fellow travellers who dismiss her as a troublesome, hysterical, attention-seeker, officials who are not prepared to acknowledge that something irregular may have happened, and quite a number of others who would like to silence her.
Nellie doesn’t know who to trust. She would like to trust Frederick Selous, the man who was the model for both Alan Quartermain and Indiana Jones, but she senses that he is keeping something from her. As is Sarah Bernhardt, the legendary French actress, whose reasons for making the journey are far from clear.
The balancing of a complex mystery and an exciting race around the world is very well done.
Which is not to say that there aren’t problems: the style and the characterisation are a little simple, the wonder of such an extraordinary journey is a little underplayed, and there are times when the plot slips for a while leaving characters rushing around for no particular reason.
In the end though I was swept away an eminently likeable and inspiring heroine, and by the wonderful colour and drama of her story.
The mystery was solved on the final leg of Nellie’s journey. She found answers, quite extraordinary answers, to her questions on a train from Chicago to New York.
It was such a clever conclusion. It was completely unguessable, and yet it brought everything together perfectly.
The story was ludicrous, but it was very, very, readable, and I couldn’t fault the logic.
And so I am wondering what Nellie’s next adventure might be.
I’m often dubious about this kind of literary borrowing, but I have to say that Carol McClearly does it very, very cleverly. She takes the facts of Nellie’s life and weaves in crime, mystery, and scandal, that had to be suppressed from the reports that Nellie wrote. And she introduces prominent figures of the age who Nellie may well have met.
At the end of the first book of the series, The Alchemy of Murder, Jules Verne challenged Nellie to match the 80 days that it took his fictional hero, Phileas Fogg, to circumnavigate the globe. Nellie vowed to do better, to take a mere 75 days.
The Illusion of Murder is set on this journey, a journey documented by the real Nellie in the book “Around the World in 72 Days.”
But, of course, some facts had been suppressed:
How do I make a connection between a murder in an Egyptian marketplace, a holy war to drive the British from Egypt, a train car named Amelia, the world’s greatest actress and an American racehorse enthusiast rich as Midas?”
The story opens as Nellie’s journey reaches Egypt.
In a busy marketplace in Port Nellie sees a man stabbed. She rushes forward to try to help, and the dying man passes her a key and whispers the word ‘Amelia.’
Nellie is convinced that the man is European, and that he had been travelling on the same ship as her. Her companions deny it, insisting that what she saw was a dispute between natives, something that needn’t trouble them.
Nellie is unconvinced. She knew what she saw, She will not abandon her journey, but she will uncover the truth. But the truth is elusive as Nellie has to cope with fellow travellers who dismiss her as a troublesome, hysterical, attention-seeker, officials who are not prepared to acknowledge that something irregular may have happened, and quite a number of others who would like to silence her.
Nellie doesn’t know who to trust. She would like to trust Frederick Selous, the man who was the model for both Alan Quartermain and Indiana Jones, but she senses that he is keeping something from her. As is Sarah Bernhardt, the legendary French actress, whose reasons for making the journey are far from clear.
The balancing of a complex mystery and an exciting race around the world is very well done.
Which is not to say that there aren’t problems: the style and the characterisation are a little simple, the wonder of such an extraordinary journey is a little underplayed, and there are times when the plot slips for a while leaving characters rushing around for no particular reason.
In the end though I was swept away an eminently likeable and inspiring heroine, and by the wonderful colour and drama of her story.
The mystery was solved on the final leg of Nellie’s journey. She found answers, quite extraordinary answers, to her questions on a train from Chicago to New York.
It was such a clever conclusion. It was completely unguessable, and yet it brought everything together perfectly.
The story was ludicrous, but it was very, very, readable, and I couldn’t fault the logic.
And so I am wondering what Nellie’s next adventure might be.
July 11, 2021
From the secret journals of journalist Nellie Bly comes a story of mystery and intrigue that begins in Egypt and ends on a train speeding across the American Midwest. Nellie is on awhirlwind trip around world--determined to beat the 80 days standard set by Phileas Fogg in the Jules Verne novel. When she visits a bazaar in the city of Port Said, just before going through the new Suez Canal, she witnesses the murder of a man--a man in local garb, but with telltale white skin beneath the enveloping robes and a British accent. The man, whom Nellie identifies as a fellow passenger by the name of Cleveland, whispers the name Amelia before dying in her arms. Unknown to Nellie at the time he also slips a scarab into her pocket.
Her fellow passengers, including a British lord who has served in the Foreign Office, insist that Nellie is mistaken and the ship sails without anyone being much concerned about Mr. Cleveland--who supposedly told Lord Warton that he was leaving the ship at Port Said. But Nellie smells a mystery and two attempts on her own life prove (at least to her) that she's right. As she continues to gather clues that point to an international intrigue, she wants to be able to confide in someone, but there doesn't seem to be anyone she can trust. The most likely confidante is Frederick Selous (the hunter who served as a model for H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quartermain) but he continually gives her reason to doubt him. Not to mention he and Warton keep discrediting her observations and experiences.
Despite making several wrong guesses along the way, Nellie manages to unravel the plot and do a great service to the British throne along the way....Oh, and she beats the 80 day travel record as well.
This a meticulously researched historical novel which blends the actual writings of Nellie Bly with fiction to produce an interesting mystery that is firmly grounded in history. Nellie is a vibrant character and McCleary brings her to life and surrounds her with interesting characters--both from actual history and fictional additions. The descriptions of the historical period and the locations along Nellie's journey are beautiful and capture the atmosphere well. An enjoyable historical mystery. ★★★ and 1/2.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before posting portions of review.
Her fellow passengers, including a British lord who has served in the Foreign Office, insist that Nellie is mistaken and the ship sails without anyone being much concerned about Mr. Cleveland--who supposedly told Lord Warton that he was leaving the ship at Port Said. But Nellie smells a mystery and two attempts on her own life prove (at least to her) that she's right. As she continues to gather clues that point to an international intrigue, she wants to be able to confide in someone, but there doesn't seem to be anyone she can trust. The most likely confidante is Frederick Selous (the hunter who served as a model for H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quartermain) but he continually gives her reason to doubt him. Not to mention he and Warton keep discrediting her observations and experiences.
Despite making several wrong guesses along the way, Nellie manages to unravel the plot and do a great service to the British throne along the way....Oh, and she beats the 80 day travel record as well.
This a meticulously researched historical novel which blends the actual writings of Nellie Bly with fiction to produce an interesting mystery that is firmly grounded in history. Nellie is a vibrant character and McCleary brings her to life and surrounds her with interesting characters--both from actual history and fictional additions. The descriptions of the historical period and the locations along Nellie's journey are beautiful and capture the atmosphere well. An enjoyable historical mystery. ★★★ and 1/2.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before posting portions of review.
July 16, 2013
I wanted to like this book, I really did. But I just couldn't. The writing style set my teeth on edge, the author actually made me dislike Nellie Bly, and the forced history lessons made the dialog unbelievable. Six words are used where two will do, and more than once I came across statements that simply made no sense.
For example:
"The two Bedouins riding as our escort to the rear had also watched the falcon and smiled when it captured its prey. With their head cloths around their faces, leaving only a narrow slit for vision, the men appear unfazed by the cloud of dust kicked up by the carriage."
How the heck did she know they were smiling at the falcon if their faces were almost completely covered? She could tell by the bit of their eyes that showed through that "narrow slit for vision" perhaps? Really.
I got to pg 116 (about 1/3 of the book) before I decided that because the reading was not becoming any more enjoyable, it was time for me to put it down. My summer is too short to spend part of it on this book.
For example:
"The two Bedouins riding as our escort to the rear had also watched the falcon and smiled when it captured its prey. With their head cloths around their faces, leaving only a narrow slit for vision, the men appear unfazed by the cloud of dust kicked up by the carriage."
How the heck did she know they were smiling at the falcon if their faces were almost completely covered? She could tell by the bit of their eyes that showed through that "narrow slit for vision" perhaps? Really.
I got to pg 116 (about 1/3 of the book) before I decided that because the reading was not becoming any more enjoyable, it was time for me to put it down. My summer is too short to spend part of it on this book.
November 9, 2017
Book Description:
History, mystery, murder and magic accompany Nellie Bly – Victorian Age detective, reporter, and feminist – as she takes up a challenge by Jules Verne to beat the eighty days it took his fictional hero Phileas Fogg to race around the world. Nellie tackles the journey--alone, with a single change of clothes--against the wishes of her publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, who felt it was “too dangerous for a woman to attempt.”
In her official account of the journey, Seventy-Two Days Around the World, Nellie leaves out one riveting event: a mysterious death. In the bustling harbor city of Port Said, she witnesses an event that makes her a target for a killer and involves her in international intrigue with the fate of nations at stake.
On board the ships that take Nellie from the Land of the Pharaohs to the exotic Orient and across the Pacific are the most famous magicians in the world... but a killer also stalks the decks. As magicians conjure the fantasy and a spiritualist raises the dead, Nellie wonders if Mr. Pulitzer had underestimated the danger.
My Review:
I enjoyed reading about Nellie Bly's trip around the world which she did in 72 days in 1889 to beat the record of Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg in the novel Around the World in 80 days. The book has lots of history, mystery, murder and magic which makes for a fun thrilling adventure. I found all the characters to be well-drawn and the murder plot kept the pages turning all the way to the surprise ending. I look forward to reading the 3rd book in the saeries and I highly recommend this series to those who like historical mysteries.
History, mystery, murder and magic accompany Nellie Bly – Victorian Age detective, reporter, and feminist – as she takes up a challenge by Jules Verne to beat the eighty days it took his fictional hero Phileas Fogg to race around the world. Nellie tackles the journey--alone, with a single change of clothes--against the wishes of her publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, who felt it was “too dangerous for a woman to attempt.”
In her official account of the journey, Seventy-Two Days Around the World, Nellie leaves out one riveting event: a mysterious death. In the bustling harbor city of Port Said, she witnesses an event that makes her a target for a killer and involves her in international intrigue with the fate of nations at stake.
On board the ships that take Nellie from the Land of the Pharaohs to the exotic Orient and across the Pacific are the most famous magicians in the world... but a killer also stalks the decks. As magicians conjure the fantasy and a spiritualist raises the dead, Nellie wonders if Mr. Pulitzer had underestimated the danger.
My Review:
I enjoyed reading about Nellie Bly's trip around the world which she did in 72 days in 1889 to beat the record of Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg in the novel Around the World in 80 days. The book has lots of history, mystery, murder and magic which makes for a fun thrilling adventure. I found all the characters to be well-drawn and the murder plot kept the pages turning all the way to the surprise ending. I look forward to reading the 3rd book in the saeries and I highly recommend this series to those who like historical mysteries.
September 15, 2011
I absolutely LOVED this book. I won it in a contest and am immediately going to buy the first in the series (this was the second). Ms. McCleary does such a skillful job of blending real adventures with imaginary ones, and merging fictional characters with historical ones that it's impossible to separate truth and fiction. I found myself researching differenct aspects of this delicious novel (and learning quite a lot!) just to find out for myself what is real and what isn't.
The novel purports to be based on the "secret" diary real life reporter Nellie Bly kept alongside her real diary on her attempt to circle the world in 80 days, as in the novel written by Jules Verne. This Victorian era feminist and model for "intrepid girl detective" really did make the journey, but Ms. McCleary skillfully adds in a mystery/thriller that amps up the excitement on an already exciting true story. Bravo, Ms. Cleary, and please, write faster!
The novel purports to be based on the "secret" diary real life reporter Nellie Bly kept alongside her real diary on her attempt to circle the world in 80 days, as in the novel written by Jules Verne. This Victorian era feminist and model for "intrepid girl detective" really did make the journey, but Ms. McCleary skillfully adds in a mystery/thriller that amps up the excitement on an already exciting true story. Bravo, Ms. Cleary, and please, write faster!
September 19, 2011
This is my first Carol McCleary, but I will read more. Basing her novel on Nelly Bly's own account of her trip around the world in 72 days and filling it with people living at the time (1889-90), Ms. McCleary has brought an exciting time to life. Now I need to read some of the real Nelly Bly's work. She was truly an interesting character and advocate for women and children.
December 12, 2013
I like the way McCleary uses Bly's real life and adds to it to create a crime novel.
There's travel to far flung places as our heroine tries to travel around the world in under 80 days. Once in Egypt however things take a sinister turn as Nellie witnesses a murder. However once out of Egypt the plotting continues and Nellie isn't sure who to trust.
There's travel to far flung places as our heroine tries to travel around the world in under 80 days. Once in Egypt however things take a sinister turn as Nellie witnesses a murder. However once out of Egypt the plotting continues and Nellie isn't sure who to trust.
June 5, 2012
Liked this book by McCleary even better than the first and looking forward to the next. I like when history is woven into fiction.
April 17, 2023
I'm rather conflicted about this book. On the one hand, the author did a great deal of research about the time period and the characters she was portraying. I went ahead and gave it three stars based on that. Based on the mystery plot alone, I would give it two stars. Had she just written an historical fiction novel, I think my rating would have been higher. However, she felt the need to make it a murder mystery which turned it into "a series of fortuitous coincidences".
Nellie Bly, the main character, is on a trip around the world in less than 80 days to prove it can be done. She was a real person and did indeed do this very thing. She happens to witness a murder while on the voyage. The dying man slips her an item and tells her, "Amelia". After that, she seems to spend a great deal of time hatching schemes to try to solve the mystery, which always seem to go wrong. Eventually, after a random amount of time passes, a bit of information is dropped into her lap. The final chapters where we learn the solution to the murder were wildly implausible, IMO, and I was left feeling let down.
Nellie Bly, the main character, is on a trip around the world in less than 80 days to prove it can be done. She was a real person and did indeed do this very thing. She happens to witness a murder while on the voyage. The dying man slips her an item and tells her, "Amelia". After that, she seems to spend a great deal of time hatching schemes to try to solve the mystery, which always seem to go wrong. Eventually, after a random amount of time passes, a bit of information is dropped into her lap. The final chapters where we learn the solution to the murder were wildly implausible, IMO, and I was left feeling let down.
July 9, 2018
The real Nellie Bly is the central character of this mystery. She persuades her editor to let her try to beat Jules Verne's character's record in Around the World in 80 Days. She sets out to do this and ends up involved in trying to solve a mystery and a murder.
December 26, 2020
There's a little too much historical description for its own sake and ghastly re-creation of Victorian racist tropes especially about China. The mystery is not bad and Nellie Bly's adventurous determination to make it around the world in less than 80 days is the most fun.
August 23, 2017
Plucky protagonist....grand adventure...historical settings...interesting cast of characters...lots of action. Solid read.
January 3, 2021
I like historical fiction so that is a plus. Nellie does get a bit tiresome in the way she behaves.
May 4, 2012
I read the first book The Alchemy of Murder last year and enjoyed it enough to pick up this second book when I happened to spot it at my library. This one focus on Nellie's famous journey around the world trying to best the record set by Jules Verne's characters in Around the World in 80 Days. So many people thought a woman couldn't handle it but that only fuels Nellie's determination to see it through. No matter the difficulties, Nellie will make it around the world and write a story about it.
This is challenged when Nellie witnesses what she is convinced is a murder in Egypt. Her companions try to convince her otherwise and ask for discretion as they are British citizens worried about the powder keg that is Egypt during that time. As they continue on their journey, Nellie pushes her theory, putting herself into danger and learning more about the larger plot.
I do like Nellie, a brave and daring woman who bristles at the suggestion that she might not be able to do something simply because she is a woman. But I really had trouble sympathizing with her quest to prove that a murder had occurred and to prod the people around her to do something about it. The situation seemed like Nellie was grasping at straws and using her imagination to provide conflict for the book; I didn't believe Nellie either although I knew that she had to be right about a murder or else the novel would be pointless. I just felt like she made some big leaps in her deductions that were not supportable.
Also I found most of the novel really slow. Even though Nellie travels eastward from Egypt to New York over the course of the book, I didn't really think it picked up until she was back in the States and racing an unknown competitor along with getting to the heart of the mystery. When everyone is together on a train for the conclusion, I could not turn the pages fast enough! The denouement was a bit muddled for me but I was also reading really fast.
On a historical note, it seems so bizarre to me that a journey around the world could take months; now you could take a plane over the course of a day. Just goes to show how much things can change in just about a century! And like the previous novel, we have some visits from famous personages although I cannot reveal their identity as it was a nice surprise for me to see them in the book.
Overall: Slow beginning with improbable leaps in logic by the main character was my main impression but the ending did tie everything together. This is a lighter mystery with lots of character and historical details for the careful reader to savor.
This is challenged when Nellie witnesses what she is convinced is a murder in Egypt. Her companions try to convince her otherwise and ask for discretion as they are British citizens worried about the powder keg that is Egypt during that time. As they continue on their journey, Nellie pushes her theory, putting herself into danger and learning more about the larger plot.
I do like Nellie, a brave and daring woman who bristles at the suggestion that she might not be able to do something simply because she is a woman. But I really had trouble sympathizing with her quest to prove that a murder had occurred and to prod the people around her to do something about it. The situation seemed like Nellie was grasping at straws and using her imagination to provide conflict for the book; I didn't believe Nellie either although I knew that she had to be right about a murder or else the novel would be pointless. I just felt like she made some big leaps in her deductions that were not supportable.
Also I found most of the novel really slow. Even though Nellie travels eastward from Egypt to New York over the course of the book, I didn't really think it picked up until she was back in the States and racing an unknown competitor along with getting to the heart of the mystery. When everyone is together on a train for the conclusion, I could not turn the pages fast enough! The denouement was a bit muddled for me but I was also reading really fast.
On a historical note, it seems so bizarre to me that a journey around the world could take months; now you could take a plane over the course of a day. Just goes to show how much things can change in just about a century! And like the previous novel, we have some visits from famous personages although I cannot reveal their identity as it was a nice surprise for me to see them in the book.
Overall: Slow beginning with improbable leaps in logic by the main character was my main impression but the ending did tie everything together. This is a lighter mystery with lots of character and historical details for the careful reader to savor.
July 31, 2013
Three stars is actually a bit misleading, but two stars [I didn't like it] wouldn't be quite correct either. Overall this was a disappointment, but it did have some good aspects.
When I read the first book in the series, The Alchemy of Murder, I quite enjoyed it, and liked how the author took the real Nellie Bly and made her the protagonist and sleuth in a fictionalized story. The Nellie in that book was fun, fierce and spunky. But this time around, I found Nellie to be self-absorbed, whiny and completely incapable of considering anyone's wants or needs but her own, even when she was putting herself, and sometimes others in danger. I really wanted to slap her throughout most of this book.
But that aside, I actually liked the majority of the other characters in the book - Sarah Bernhardt particularly was a delightful character and much like what I know of the real Sarah's personality seems to be used in the character. I thought this Sarah had some of the best lines in the entire book.
The plot itself was a little overblown, but still there was mystery and intrigue and some clever twists on the way to the solution being unmasked for the reader.
The other thing that drove me nuts throughout the entire book was the complete lack of decent editing of the book, which is chock-a-block with grammar, tense and syntax errors. I know most people wouldn't necessarily notice or even care about that, but as a writer myself, I hate that kind of careless disregard for the reader. Every time I come across a mistake, it yanks me out of the story and stops me dead with a grimace. That always takes away from my enjoyment of a book.
While this had some good things, I will not be reading future books in this series. It isn't good enough writing or character development to take up space on my to be read list.
When I read the first book in the series, The Alchemy of Murder, I quite enjoyed it, and liked how the author took the real Nellie Bly and made her the protagonist and sleuth in a fictionalized story. The Nellie in that book was fun, fierce and spunky. But this time around, I found Nellie to be self-absorbed, whiny and completely incapable of considering anyone's wants or needs but her own, even when she was putting herself, and sometimes others in danger. I really wanted to slap her throughout most of this book.
But that aside, I actually liked the majority of the other characters in the book - Sarah Bernhardt particularly was a delightful character and much like what I know of the real Sarah's personality seems to be used in the character. I thought this Sarah had some of the best lines in the entire book.
The plot itself was a little overblown, but still there was mystery and intrigue and some clever twists on the way to the solution being unmasked for the reader.
The other thing that drove me nuts throughout the entire book was the complete lack of decent editing of the book, which is chock-a-block with grammar, tense and syntax errors. I know most people wouldn't necessarily notice or even care about that, but as a writer myself, I hate that kind of careless disregard for the reader. Every time I come across a mistake, it yanks me out of the story and stops me dead with a grimace. That always takes away from my enjoyment of a book.
While this had some good things, I will not be reading future books in this series. It isn't good enough writing or character development to take up space on my to be read list.
November 19, 2023
Good blend of real life Nellie Bly and a mystery along her route.
July 3, 2013
In the second mystery featuring Nellie Bly, author McCleary gives us the inside scoop on Nellie's trip around the world and her attempts to determine the truth behind the death of a fellow passenger.
When we last left the fictional Nellie, Jules Verne had challenged Nellie to beat his fictional characters' trip around the world in 80 days. Never one to back down from a challenge, Nellie convinces her boss, Joseph Pulitzer, to allow her to attempt the feat. The story opens with Nellie in Egypt, where she sees a man murdered in the marketplace and hears his last words – Amelia.. Nellie believes the man to be a passenger on her ship, but others in her party insist that she is mistaken. As fellow passengers, particularly Lord and Lady Warton push the opinion that Nellie is hysterical and weakened by her strenuous trip, she becomes ever more determined to find out the truth.
This second mystery is again populated by notables of the time (Frederick Selous, Sarah Bernhardt) but the overall tone is much smoother than the first novel. The author does a good job of balancing Nellie's trip around the world with the ongoing mystery, and brings a few ports of call to life. The mystery itself is solved in a rather hurried and contrived fashion on the last leg of the trip.
The character of Nellie is much more likeable in this outing, and the author does a better job of creating the atmosphere of the late Victorian period without overwhelming one's credibility as in the first novel. I'll be sure to check back in on Nellie's next adventure.
When we last left the fictional Nellie, Jules Verne had challenged Nellie to beat his fictional characters' trip around the world in 80 days. Never one to back down from a challenge, Nellie convinces her boss, Joseph Pulitzer, to allow her to attempt the feat. The story opens with Nellie in Egypt, where she sees a man murdered in the marketplace and hears his last words – Amelia.. Nellie believes the man to be a passenger on her ship, but others in her party insist that she is mistaken. As fellow passengers, particularly Lord and Lady Warton push the opinion that Nellie is hysterical and weakened by her strenuous trip, she becomes ever more determined to find out the truth.
This second mystery is again populated by notables of the time (Frederick Selous, Sarah Bernhardt) but the overall tone is much smoother than the first novel. The author does a good job of balancing Nellie's trip around the world with the ongoing mystery, and brings a few ports of call to life. The mystery itself is solved in a rather hurried and contrived fashion on the last leg of the trip.
The character of Nellie is much more likeable in this outing, and the author does a better job of creating the atmosphere of the late Victorian period without overwhelming one's credibility as in the first novel. I'll be sure to check back in on Nellie's next adventure.
June 23, 2015
I'm about a third-way into the book right now, but I absolutely love it so far! I have never really been a fan of reading but have been trying to get into it for a while now. This is the second book that made its way into my thoughts during the day, and getting back home to read it is a highlight most times.
I love the fact that the chapters are only a few pages long (5-7 pages on average). Each chapter has its own beginning and end, so to speak. But Carol still manages to make the chapters flow into each other quite well. For me as someone who gets bored a few pages into a new read, I find this to be a great attribute as it helps to keep me interested page after page after page. :D
And I love Nellie! Her bravery, confidence, wit and humour are rather admirable. I like how they add history facts into every other page, but I can't remember half of what they say anyway. It's just nice to know in that moment. So far, great read! Would have waited until I finished it to give my review, but I just couldn't wait that long. Will try come back and add a final review of it once I'm done. :)
I love the fact that the chapters are only a few pages long (5-7 pages on average). Each chapter has its own beginning and end, so to speak. But Carol still manages to make the chapters flow into each other quite well. For me as someone who gets bored a few pages into a new read, I find this to be a great attribute as it helps to keep me interested page after page after page. :D
And I love Nellie! Her bravery, confidence, wit and humour are rather admirable. I like how they add history facts into every other page, but I can't remember half of what they say anyway. It's just nice to know in that moment. So far, great read! Would have waited until I finished it to give my review, but I just couldn't wait that long. Will try come back and add a final review of it once I'm done. :)
July 7, 2011
Nellie Bly set out to beat the fiction character Phileas Fogg( Around the world in Eighty Days)time of 80 days around the world in 1889.
During the course of her trip she shes a man murdered in an Egyptian market place. She runs to his rescue and just before he dies, he whispers the name "Amelia" and slips a Egyptian scarab into her pocket. She discovers the scarab later in her room.
After the incident in the marketplace Nellie is sure that the man killed is a spy and that she must find out who Amelia is and return the contents of the scarab to her. All the while trying to win the race and beat Phineous Fogg's time around the world.
Nellie Bly sounds like an interesting person and I would love to do further research on her. She was a very daring woman to undertake this race alone. I wouldn't have the courage to do what she did.
I gave this book two stars because the plot was a slow. I do not recommend this book to young readers.
During the course of her trip she shes a man murdered in an Egyptian market place. She runs to his rescue and just before he dies, he whispers the name "Amelia" and slips a Egyptian scarab into her pocket. She discovers the scarab later in her room.
After the incident in the marketplace Nellie is sure that the man killed is a spy and that she must find out who Amelia is and return the contents of the scarab to her. All the while trying to win the race and beat Phineous Fogg's time around the world.
Nellie Bly sounds like an interesting person and I would love to do further research on her. She was a very daring woman to undertake this race alone. I wouldn't have the courage to do what she did.
I gave this book two stars because the plot was a slow. I do not recommend this book to young readers.
February 10, 2012
I would give this 2.5 stars, but that is not an option. I got this out of the library- interested in the time period- 1889, the charaacter- the famous Nellie Bly-female newspaper reporter- gutsy role model--the setting- trip around the world in 72 days after the book had come out by Jules Verne: Around the World in 80 Days (I have an old illustrated Golden Book version of this that I got for Christmas one year- and I loved it)--
the story is tightly woven, settings fascinating, character gutsy- the style though, was harder to follow than I had expected. I think it could have been shortened slightly for better effect. however, I think the writer intentionally wrote in a certain style to reflect the time period. stilly not a bad read. I guess I had expected to like it more. But I will definitely at some point pick up the other book Ms. McLeary has written featuring Nelly, The Alchemy of Murder- because I love Nelly and the time period.
the story is tightly woven, settings fascinating, character gutsy- the style though, was harder to follow than I had expected. I think it could have been shortened slightly for better effect. however, I think the writer intentionally wrote in a certain style to reflect the time period. stilly not a bad read. I guess I had expected to like it more. But I will definitely at some point pick up the other book Ms. McLeary has written featuring Nelly, The Alchemy of Murder- because I love Nelly and the time period.
January 27, 2013
This Nellie Bly adventure was just pure enjoyment. During Bly's attempt to beat fictional Phileas Fogg's trip around the world, Bly also finds herself immersed in a murder mystery which threatens the possession of the Suez Canal as well as world peace. Full of spies, magicians, spiritualists, and one intrepid reporter, this novel moves ahead at full speed with surprise and fun around every corner. My only complaint is that the book brings Bly's real-life challenger to the race, Elizabeth Bisland, into the storyline only to leave her out of the conclusion of the story. For a woman who posed a constant threat to Bly's race around the world, you think the writer would have included at least a post script as to what happened to Bisland. All-in-all a really fun book which leaves me hoping the next book in the series is out soon!
September 5, 2014
My first read of Carol McCleary and I enjoyed her writing. "The Illusion of Murder" had just a enough descriptions to set the scene, murder that occurred quickly in the beginning to allow for a ride through countries with interesting characters. Spunky Nellie Bly, the protagonist (a real life journalist in the late 1890's) is just as I would think a young woman reporter of that time would be - spunky, curious as a cat, determined to get her story against many and all odds - gender, society, and journalist (especially being a woman) In foreign countries, Egypt, the Orient, she a foreigner, met with much prejudices and resistance to her outspoken ways. After the book was down I researched Nellie Bly and she's every bit as ilnteresting as this somewhat fictional story that McCleary wrote. I'll read another of M. McClearly's novels.
April 20, 2011
Pioneering American woman journalist Nellie Bly, on her race to beat fictional Phileas Fogg's record of around the world travel, encounters murder and intrigue in Egypt that follows her through Asia, across the Pacific, and then on her trip on the Transcontinental railroad. She sees a man, seeminngly a "native," killed in Port Said, but for a variety of reasons is convinced that he was really an Englishman, in fact the man who had recently vacated the cabin next to her on her steamer. Her secret diaries tell of her worries about getting back to New York in 72 days. That must be her first priority. But she's determined, too, to crack the case. Is there anyone she can trust and confide in?
July 29, 2013
I had a hard time getting into this book, but I liked it once I did. The heroine is a fictionalization of real-life Victorian era journalist, Nellie Bly. I was mostly interested to learn about her true story. She began as a factory girl who wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper (after the newspaper had written that a woman's place is in the home). She wrote eloquently of how many women have no choice but to work and she ended up with a career as the world's first female investigative journalist. She really did attempt to travel around the world like Jules Verne's hero of "Around the World in 80 Days". The mystery here takes place during that trip. The mystery itself is otherwise kind of cliched, but I loved learning about Nellie.
September 10, 2013
Mivel nagy sikert aratott nálam az írónő előző könyve, így nem volt kérdéses, hogy a folytatásra is nagyon kíváncsi voltam. Míg az előző részben voltak olyan fejezetek, amiket kissé unalmasnak éreztem, addig ennél a könyvnél nem találkoztam ilyennel. A történet végig fenntartotta az érdeklődésemet és a történetvezetés is sokkal egyenletesebb volt, mint az előző részben. Nem mondom, kicsit frusztráló volt, hogy végig nem tudtam eldönteni, hogy Nellie helyében én kiben is bízhatnék meg a szereplők közül, de mire ez a bizonytalanság végleg felőrölte volna az idegeimet megoldódott a nagy rejtély. Örülök, hogy Carol McCleary így kisajátította magának Nellie Bly karakterét és kíváncsian várom e nem mindennapi hölgyemény kalandjainak a folytatását. Bővebben: http://goo.gl/UWDYbk
January 9, 2017
The inclusion of Jules Verne in the first book makes sense now as the set-up for this one, but did he have to play so big a role there? I'm still smarting a bit over that choice.
McCleary is between a rock and a hard place with this tale. The real Nellie Bly's real race around the world is, itself, a fantastic story. McCleary adds so much detail here to reflect the actual journey that her own tale ends up feeling disjointed. But then, if she had omitted too many of these details, she might have been criticized for taking too many liberties with Nellie's adventure.
In all, I enjoyed it--more so than the first one, definitely--but I think it would have been even better had it been more ruthlessly edited.
McCleary is between a rock and a hard place with this tale. The real Nellie Bly's real race around the world is, itself, a fantastic story. McCleary adds so much detail here to reflect the actual journey that her own tale ends up feeling disjointed. But then, if she had omitted too many of these details, she might have been criticized for taking too many liberties with Nellie's adventure.
In all, I enjoyed it--more so than the first one, definitely--but I think it would have been even better had it been more ruthlessly edited.
July 20, 2011
I enjoyed this book very much - its pace accelerated towards the end and there was quite a satisfying final twist. The heroine was likeable and the characters were varied and interesting. There was just enough background detail and historical information to explain what was going on and not enough for me to want to skim over it.
One thing I thought would trip me up but it didn't, was that the story is told in the present tense - I don't usually like this, but in this case it worked very well. The book falls somewhere between a mystery and a thriller, though this is quite an arbitrary distinction anyway, since almost all mysteries contain some suspense elements.
One thing I thought would trip me up but it didn't, was that the story is told in the present tense - I don't usually like this, but in this case it worked very well. The book falls somewhere between a mystery and a thriller, though this is quite an arbitrary distinction anyway, since almost all mysteries contain some suspense elements.
June 16, 2011
I love the real Nellie Bly- she was the first female journalist to be taken seriously in this country. She exposed the insane asylums, child labor and unfair workplaces everywhere. She also took on a race around the world to beat Jules Verne's famous time of 80 days. The book is a novel set around her world race which is interesting enough but there is also a murder and other things going on to distract her.
Wonderful characters and interesting historical tidbits about Egypt and Chinese torture keep the story moving quickly and will captivate the reader. Teens will enjoy this as well!
Wonderful characters and interesting historical tidbits about Egypt and Chinese torture keep the story moving quickly and will captivate the reader. Teens will enjoy this as well!
June 27, 2015
What a weird story. I read the first book and found the storyline much more intriguing. I found the characters hard to follow and oftentimes would confuse them. Her travels, while they were true, were extremely difficult to follow and keep track of where she was while trying to remember the various characters and whom had been murdered by whom. Let alone why.
I will say however I couldn't put the book down and really was invested in the story right to the very end.
I will probably read her third book just even to finish the series.
I will say however I couldn't put the book down and really was invested in the story right to the very end.
I will probably read her third book just even to finish the series.
September 25, 2012
This was a really fun read. While on her challenge to beat Jules Vern's record around the world, Nellie Bly encounters a murder mystery. Her nosiness gets her in all sorts of trouble but she perseveres onward all across the world. Descriptions of Victorian lifestyle, society, and the countries encountered are fascinating and entertaining. I am not going to use this book as one of my UN Country Challenges because Nellie is in countries that no longer exist.
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