Why I listen to Last Call at the Nightingale?
Last Call at the Nightingale caught my attention due to it being set during the 1920s. I imagined a beautifully written story filled with colorful atmospheres and characters. I imagined there would be flappers, business men, and from the synopsis a bit of mystery. So, I was excited to enter the world of The Nightingale.
What’s the story here?
Vivian is a seamstress by day and a dancing girl at night. She becomes a dancing girl when she goes to The Nightingale which is a local speak easy. Going there is kind of an escape for Vivian as her day life is rather unpleasant. She lives with her older sister in an apartment where they barely make ends meet from working as seamstresses. Everything is upended when Vivian and her friend Bea find a body in the alleyway behind the speak easy. From them onward, there is a mystery of who the man was, who murdered him, why he was murdered, and how it will affect The Nightingale.
How did I like Last Call at the Nightingale?
Last Call at the Nightingale was exactly what I pictured in terms of characters and settings. There are flappers and business men, and most of the time they are interacting at the club. They come from different worlds but the booze and the music have a way of bringing people together. The Nightingale is a safe haven for people like Vivian. She is accepted there and would be devastated if anything happened to the sultry speak easy. I felt like I was in the club dancing out on the floor by all the descriptions of the smoky dance hall.
When the body is discovered in the alleyway, it turns things upside down. It turns out that it is the body of a seedy business man who may have had many enemies. The night after the murder, The Nightingale is raided by the police, and Vivian is caught up and arrested. When the owner of the speak easy bails her out, she winds up in her debt, and finds herself right in the middle of the mystery. The mystery is well-written and kept me guessing.
There is a touch of romance within the story but it is never the focus of the story. In fact, there are times that it honestly may have taken away from it a bit. It didn’t feel like it was needed at certain points and like it may have taken away from the mystery. I wanted to focus simply on the mystery and characters! I actually felt like this story could do without romance.
How was the narration?
Last Call at the Nightingale is narrated by Sara Youngs and is approximately 9 hours in length. I listened to it at 1.50x speed which I felt was a comfortable pacing. The narrator did a nice job with the characters and I liked the way she told the story. It was very soothing.
Rating: 4 Stars
**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
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