I’m enjoying this series. A new friend of Elizabeth’s has discovered that she’s been left penniless upon the death of her husband. Elizabeth volunteers to go through Priscilla’s husband’s papers to help her and discovers that he was being blackmailed. She involves Gideon, her fiancé, and eventually her father and brother to recover the swindled property and money. Of course, there’s the miscommunication between the engaged that causes heartache before they apologize and admit how much they love each other. ( )

This authors books are always great and this one was wonderful. Elizabeth and Gideon learn whether they should get married even though they are very different. I loved the con and how they helped Pricilla. ( )

Love the characters, enjoy the settings,
. Elizabeth is trying to go straight but there are some people who just cry out for retribution. Gideon is learning to bend with the wind. ( )

This book has it all - murder, mayhem and a healthy dose of subterfuge.

It's early 1918 in the city of New York. US troops have been recently sent off to the trenches of Europe. Regarding the candlestick telephone of 1904, the jury is still out on whether it's a helpful or annoying communication instrument. Only time will tell. Then of course, there's The Woman Suffrage Movement where recently many women marched on the White House and found themselves thrown in jail

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Miles, (our main protagonist in this story and the daughter of a grifter and well schooled in the arts of sleight of hand, although now a reformed grifter), was attending church services which had just concluded. While chatting with her friend Priscilla, she hears that this dear friend, recently widowed twice in quick succession, has just discovered that she and her young daughters are penniless and destitute. How could this be? Her first husband had left a sizable sum for her and her second husband came from money. Priscilla is beside herself and Elizabeth is angry that men have so much power over the conditions in which women find themselves. She is hopeful that President Wilson will take the Suffragist movement to heart and get legislation passed to help the many women in need.

Elizabeth offers to help Priscilla sort through her husband's papers hoping to find evidence that the funds were merely transferred to a different institution. Not finding such documents but rather a delicate photograph of the deceased husband, Elizabeth seeks the assistance of honest trust attorney (and soon to be fiancé), Gideon Bates to see whether anything can be done. From there the tale takes off and the "game is afoot". There's tension, action, mysteries leading to other mysteries and a great con. This book was a delightful and rather humorous diversion for a dark wintry afternoon.

I am grateful to author Victoria Thompson, publisher Penguin Random House, LLC, and Netgalley for having provided a free uncorrected e-book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone. ( )

I really enjoyed City of Secrets. I read the first book in the Counterfeit Lady series, [b:City of Lies|34286537|City of Lies (Counterfeit Lady, #1)|Victoria Thompson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490859459s/34286537.jpg|55342514], also via First to Read, and this book begins pretty much where that first book left off. The mystery surrounding Priscilla was interesting, and though you have a clue as to who the villains are right from the start, how everything came together in the end was not overly predictable. I like the characters, and I think the relationship between Elizabeth and Gideon is really sweet (though they can both be annoyingly stubborn at times). It's also interesting to see Elizabeth's efforts to fit into "polite society" while still maintaining who she is as a person. Gideon's very black-and-white view of the world starts to change a bit in this installment, and I'm looking forward to seeing whether that continues. All in all, this was a really great addition to the series, and I'll definitely be looking out for the next Counterfeit Lady book. Thanks to First to Read for the advance copy. ( )