The Unknown Beloved
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Average rating4.7
From the bestselling author of Where the Lost Wander and What the Wind Knows comes the evocative story of two people whose paths collide against the backdrop of mystery, murder, and the Great Depression. Chicago, 1923: Ten-year-old Dani Flanagan returns home to find police swarming the house, her parents dead. Michael Malone, the young patrolman assigned to the case, discovers there's more to the situation--and to Dani Flanagan herself--than the authorities care to explore. Malone is told to shut his mouth, and Dani is sent away to live with her spinster aunts in Cleveland. Fifteen years later, Michael Malone is summoned to Cleveland to investigate a series of murders that have everyone stumped, including his friend and famed Prohibition agent Eliot Ness, now Cleveland's director of safety. There, in a city caught in the grip of a serial killer, Dani and Malone cross paths once again. Malone is drawn to Dani and her affinity for the dead and compassion for the destitute. It doesn't take long for him to realize that she could help him solve his case. As terror descends on the city and Malone and Dani confront the dark secrets that draw them together, it's a race to find the killer or risk becoming his next victims.
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I am always blown away by Amy Harmon's ability to tell a captivating story, regardless of genre. She has not disappointed me yet. The Unknown Beloved really hooked me from the first chapter and didn't let go until I finished it. There is something for everyone in this story. Murder, mystery, history, romance, and even some supernatural bits thrown in.
What I am most impressed with is that this book is loosely based on true events. The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run was a real serial killer in 1930s Cleveland. A lot of the characters in this story were real people. You can tell that extensive research went into this book and Amy wove the fictional love story into the true pieces so wonderfully.
The story begins in 1923 Chicago. Ten year-old Dani Flanagan sneaks out of her home to check on a litter of kittens. When she returns, she finds her parents dead and her home an active crime scene. Officer Michael Malone is tasked with transporting Dani to her only remaining family in Cleveland.
Fast forward 15 years and Cleveland has a serial killer running rampant that no one can seem to catch. Having been involved in the takedown of Al Capone and believed to be one of the best in the business, Michael Malone is assigned to the case to try to uncover any information about the murders.
While in Cleveland, Michael's close friend and colleague Eliot Ness books him a room at the home of a family of seamstresses. Upon his arrival, he meets Daniela Kos who just so happens to be the same Dani that he helped 15 years before. He is instantly transfixed by her and she, him. Over the course of the story, Malone finds that Dani has skills that may be useful in his search for the Butcher. As they try to solve the mystery of the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, their romance blooms and it's slow and sweet and torturous all at the same time.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for honest review.
This is 3 stars for me, but amy harmon 3 stars which is still pretty good. The characters, well, if you read the author's note she took great care in making them historically accurate while also giving them the resolution an author may decide fits.
So the characters were good. Well crafted, and real for their time. Dani was good, a little too obsessed with putting things to right, but sure of herself and who she was. Malone was... More pessimistic than he should, and self sabotaging. Their love story was slow burn/insta love combined... Hard to explain, but i stand by it.
The mystery was a little slow for me, not too thrilling, although the character of eliot was very layered. The rest of the side characters felt a bit one note.
The resolution was good, hopeful, satisfying.
Overall? Not my favorite Amy Harmon, but then the bar is set very high there. 3 stars for me.
