I really enjoyed Schellman’s Lily Adler series, and was hoping this would be a good follow-up. I feel pretty neutral about Last Call at the Nightingale. To be fair, this is the first book and a series can take a bit to find its footing. 

The setting is interesting and the mystery itself was more complicated than it first appears. However, the complicated elements weren’t introduced until the very last part of the book, which felt a little contrived. This led to a bit is a pacing issue where the majority of the middle of the book drags but the end feels too fast. The cast of characters is diverse and complicated. None of them are strictly lovable. 

The FMC, Vivian, is younger than the FMC in the Lily Adler series, which may contribute to why I find her harder to connect with. I think she’s supposed to be spunky and charming in her willfulness, but she comes across as being a bit self-important and foolish. She’s repeatedly told she’s getting in beyond her depth, but she’s repeatedly insistent that she HAS to know things, so it becomes exasperating when the people warning her are shown to be right over and over. Will still probably read the next one to see if pacing improves and if there’s better character development.