Innocence Lost Blog Tour and Review

Innocence Lost by Sherilyn Decter

Publication Date: February 21, 2019

eBook & Paperback; 339 Pages

Series: Bootleggers’ Chronicles Series, Book One

Genre: Historical Fiction/Crime/Women's Fiction

In a city of bootleggers and crime, one woman must rely on a long-dead lawman to hunt down justice…

Philadelphia, 1924. Maggie Barnes doesn’t have much left. After the death of her husband, she finds herself all alone to care for her young son and look after their rundown house. As if that weren’t bad enough, Prohibition has turned her neighborhood into a bootlegger’s playground. To keep the shoddy roof over their heads, she has no choice but to take on boarders with questionable ties…

When her son’s friend disappears, Maggie suspects the worst. And local politicians and police don’t seem to have any interest in an investigation. With a child’s life on the line, Maggie takes the case and risks angering the enemy living right under her nose…

Maggie’s one advantage may be her new found friend: the ghost of a Victorian-era cop. With his help, can she find justice in a lawless city?

Innocence Lost is the first novel in the Bootleggers’ Chronicles, a series of historical fiction tales. If you like headstrong heroines, Prohibition-era criminal underworlds, and just a touch of the paranormal, then you’ll love Sherilyn Decter’s gripping tale.

Available on Amazon

My Take:

The premise of Innocence Lost is an interesting one - if a bit unusual. Maggie Barnes is a young widow trying to raise her young son on her own in 1920's Philadelphia amidst the violent results of Prohibition - gangsters and bootleggers run the city. Maggie's family does not approve of her choices and she must work to overcome her own rigid and snobbish tendencies which are the result of her upbringing. Her aloofness towards her mostly immigrant neighbors at the beginning of the book makes it hard to really like her very much. But as Maggie gets to know the families who live around her, she soon warms to them and begins to make friends.

In the midst of her struggles to make ends meet and keep her son safe, she encounters an older gentleman who claims to be a former police officer. Strangely, no one else is able to see or hear him. This is Maggie's first encounter with a ghost. While I was not completely sold on the whole ghost aspect of the story, I was able to get beyond it because I was so interested in the other aspects that really drew my interest. I enjoyed that the author paid a lot of attention to the details of the bootlegging industry - the cars, the precautions taken with accounting, bribes, etc -- the kinds of details so often neglected in this kind of novel.

I also appreciated the history that was given to help explain why so many men were willing to work in such a dangerous and illegal situation. The corruption within the Philadelphia police force factors into the history and the story. The reader is introduced to lots of interesting characters, both real and fiction. 

Maggie grows as a person and as an investigator. She learns how dangerous and complicated investigation work can be in the gangster-run city.  I found Innocence Lost to be a fast and entertaining read.  The series, Bootleggers' Chronicles promises to be filled with danger and excitement.

About the Author

Sherilyn Decter is a writer, researcher, and lover of historical fiction. Her work is set in the Roaring Twenties and if you like feisty and determined heroines, complex cover-ups, Prohibition stories about criminal underworlds, police and political corruption, then you’re going to love Sherilyn’s grand gangster tales.

For more information, please visit Sherilyn Decter's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads and Pinterest.

Blog Tour Schedule

Friday, February 15
Review at Passages to the Past
Excerpt at Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen

Saturday, February 16
Review at Pursuing Stacie
Excerpt at Bookish Rantings
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Sunday, February 17
Excerpt at Maiden of the Pages
Guest Post at Jennifer Silverwood's Blog

Monday, February 18
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Excerpt at Old Timey Books
Feature at What Is That Book About

Tuesday, February 19
Review at Peppermint Ph.D.
Review at Reader then Blogger

Wednesday, February 20
Interview at The Old Shelter
Guest Post at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, February 21
Review at Macsbooks
Review at The Old Shelter
Interview at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots

Friday, February 22
Review at A Book Geek
Review at Coffee and Ink
Review at CelticLady's Reviews
Excerpt at Spellbound by History

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away two prize packs of a copy of the book, a set of Paper Dolls, and a Jazz Age Fashion Coloring Book! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

 – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on February 22nd. You must be 18 or older to enter.
 – Giveaway is open internationally.
– Only one entry per household.
 – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen. Innocence Lost