The Fall of White City

Revised 2020 Edition (Gilded Age Chicago Mysteries, Book 1)

By: N.S. Wikarski

Narrated by: Lucinda Gainey

A city of wealth, grime, and secrets where corruption lurks behind gaslight and gold.

GILDED AGE CHICAGO MYSTERIES
The Gilded Age Chicago Mysteries plunge listeners into a richly detailed world of historical suspense where truth is never simple. Society elites guard their reputations. Immigrants struggle to survive, and justice always comes at a price.

Perfect for fans of Gilded Age and Victorian-era crime novels with a dark edge. If you love immersive historical mysteries with vivid settings and smart storytelling, this series will keep you listening late into the night.

Volume One - The Fall of White City
A socialite and her admirer stalk a murderer against the backdrop of the 1893 World’s Fair, with suspects ranging from a captain of industry to a denizen of the slums, a shady doctor who mixes his own drugs, and a teenage prostitute in the Levee District.

©2020 N. S. Wikarski (P)2025 N. S. Wikarski

Nice historical mystery

Really enjoyed the characters in this story. The time period the story takes place in is very interesting. Great narration.

Vintage Chicago charm and grit

A thoroughly fun period mystery, with lively, smart characters. Fun, understated, full of good twists and turns!

Chicago 1893: Hull House " White City" Murder

Having been a mystery buff for over fifty years but a historical fiction buff for less time, I never read the Gilded Age Chicago Mysteries. I'm delighted that this was reissued and that I chose to listen to it recently. Evangeline (Engie), a wealthy single woman of marriageable age, teaches at Hull House and has become immersed in Jane Addams' and Helen Gates Starr's mission, when a very promising student is found dead in an upscale hotel. Elsa, a smart, curious and beautiful German immigrant is dead and her twin, Franz arrested for her murder. Engie ropes in her childhood friend Freddie, an aspiring journalist stuck in a law career he hates to investigate. She is fairly sure the police are more focused on Franz's political leanings, which are anarchistic, than what really happened. This is a well plotted, though given away too early, mystery about class, women's roles, Hull House, the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, full of temporary buildings that cost a fortune to build and human beings. Children still earn a living in factories instead of going to school. The murder of a poor young woman is solved quickly, her death unimportant. Engie moves between all of these worlds, enjoying her wealth and privilege but also committed to raising others up. This is a fun, engaging novel with great characters. As to the narrator of this audible book, she was GREAT, five stars EXCEPT for Freddy's voice. He's a major character and the voice she chose for him grated. So one star lost but overall not a deal breaker.

Entertaining

I enjoyed the story and the performance was very good. I look forward to the next book in the series. Well done.