Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Published: July 27, 2021
Source: Publisher
Summary:
Ellis Island, 1920. New York Harbor’s immigration and public health authorities are slowly recovering from the war years when a young, pregnant Irish woman disappears from the Isolation Hospital on Ellis Island.
Stephen Robbins, a specialist in finding missing persons, is assigned the case. Yet when he arrives at the isolation hospital, he discovers an inexplicable string of deaths and disappearances among immigrant patients…and a staff that seems to be hiding a chilling secret. Stephen finds an ally in Lucy Paul, an undercover nurse who is also investigating the mysterious incidents. Together, they begin to unearth a horrifying conspiracy masked beneath the hospital’s charitable exterior. As Stephen and Lucy get closer to the truth and each other, they are swept directly into the danger haunting Ellis Island and become the next targets themselves.
Amidst growing racial tensions in the wake of World War I, My Mistress’ Eyes are Raven Black explores the disturbing lengths to which people will go to protect racial purity and condemn those they fear.
My thoughts:
This is the first book I’ve read by Terry Roberts, but it definitely won’t be the last, especially since I just learned that the main protagonist is featured in an earlier book. That definitely did not alter my enjoyment of this book – though it does make me want to go back and read the other book.
This was such a haunting mystery and I was immediately captivated. Set on Ellis Island, Stephen Robbins arrives to find that not only is the woman he has been assigned to find missing, but there have been multiple deaths and disappearances at the hospital. Clearly something is going on and he is determined to get to the bottom of it.
I loved that he found an ally in Nurse Paul. It seems she has been working on her own to try to figure out what has been happening and is more than happy to work with Robbins. They have great chemistry and so it’s only natural that a romance develops between them, but it never feels forced. It just seems to grow organically after all the time they end up spending together.
This is such a great historical mystery, a subgenre that I am really coming to love. It starts off a bit slow but then picks up, especially towards the end, and the tension and suspense really crank up. It touches on some very timely topics that are unfortunately still relevant today. I definitely recommend picking this one up.
