Title: A Beautiful Poison

Author: Lydia Kang

Publisher: Lake Union 2017

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; Monthly Motif - Cover Love; Historical Fiction

Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

A promising idea for a book: focusing on poison as murder weapon during WWI and the Spanish Flu. I was intrigued and very excited to read this one. Unfortunately the book fell very flat for me. I didn’t like a single character. They were all vain and selfish. Just couldn’t get behind all of those… But the big problem I had was the twist ending. After finding out who the murder was, I was very confused. The motivations of the murderer just didn’t make any sense, at least how the author portrayed the character and the reasoning for the murders. Nope. I was really disappointed.

Next up on the TBR pile: