Review - To Slip the Bonds of Earth

 Amanda Flower is the author of "An Amish Candy Shop" mysteries, "An Amish Matchmaker" mysteries, "Farm to Table" mysteries, "Emily Dickinson" mysteries, and "Magical Bookshop" plus "Magic Garden" mysteries which I've reviewed.  She is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, Hallmark Publishing, Crooked Lane Books, and Sourcebooks.  

Of course using an actual historical figure is a high wire act but practically nobody remembers the sister of the Wright Brothers and that is what appealed to me about this book.

Author: Amanda Flower

Copyright: Mar 2024 (Kensington Books) 282 pgs

Series: 1st in Katharine Wright Mysteries

Sensuality: mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Historical Cozy Mystery

Main Character: Katharine Wright, sister to the Wright brothers and school teacher 

Setting: 1903, Dayton Ohio

Obtained Through: Publisher via Netgalley for honest review

Book Blurb:  "December 1903: While Wilbur and Orville Wright’s flying machine is quite literally taking off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with its historic fifty-seven second flight, their sister Katharine is back home in Dayton, Ohio, running the bicycle shop, teaching Latin, and looking after the family. A Latin teacher and suffragette, Katharine is fiercely independent, intellectual, and the only Wright sibling to finish college. But at twenty-nine, she’s frustrated by the gender inequality in academia and is looking for a new challenge. She never suspects it will be sleuthing…

Returning home to Dayton, Orville accepts an invitation to accompany Katherine to a friend’s party. Nervous about leaving their as-yet-unpatented flyer plans unattended, Wilbur decides to bring them to the festivities . . . where they are stolen right out from under his nose. As always, it’s Katharine’s job to problem solve—and in this case, crime-solve.

As she sets out to uncover the thief among their circle of friends, Katharine soon gets more than she bargained for: She finds her number one suspect dead with a [screwdriver] lodged in his chest. It seems the patent is the least of her brothers’ worries. They have a far more earthbound concern—prison. Now Katharine will have to keep her feet on the ground and put all her skills to work to make sure Wilbur and Orville are free to fly another day."

MY Thoughts:

Katharine is a mixed bag for me: she is smart and determined, but she also tends to be bossy, impulsive, and managing everybody which rubbed me the wrong way a few times.  The historical Katharine was said to be very charming and the character could have used a dose of charm to help me warm up a bit to her.  This story was a slow burn and it wasn't until around half way that I felt the story actually took off. There were a few instances where Katharine would ignore what she just learned that was a motive for murder and focus on a completely different motive. 

The plot was initially about finding the missing airplane plans filled with notes, but somehow Katharine decides that the murder and the missing plans must be connected so if she solves the murder, she will then find the plans.  That was illogical to me since there was no evidence to suggest they were related. I would have been satisfied with her just investigating the murder to clear her student without the plans being thrown in the mix.  Perhaps that is just me, though.

The climax wasn't my favorite, but the culprit reveals themself.  The wrapup was satisfactory and unusual. The writing style served the story well. 

I did appreciate the confronting of a few social problems of the era found in the town.  I also appreciated shining a spotlight on the Katharine Wright who was a tremendous celebrity in her time alongside her brothers, and perhaps eclipsed them.  The story seemed to force its way in a few instances and it made those parts awkward.

Rating: Good - A fun read. It was good -- it wasn't great. It wasn't for me, but I would recommend based on certain tastes. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

Here is a short video on Katharine Wright, it's fascinating.

Thank you for reading this blog and please recommend to friends and family who will enjoy it.