Westside: A Novel

It’s 1921, and a thirteen-mile fence running the length of Broadway splits the island of Manhattan, separating the prosperous Eastside from the Westside – an overgrown wasteland to modern technology gives it the flavor of old New York. It is a hellish landscape, and Gilda Carr proudly calls it home. Gilda solves simple mysteries, impossible puzzles keeping us up at night, questions that spoil relationships and curdle joy. However, tiny mysteries can end in blood – such as a case involving a missing white leather glove.

Almost instantly, Westside grabbed my attention – from the amazing dialogue to the smallest bits of world-building, mixed in with a dash of the real world hidden within its core, I was dragged feet first within the world of Gilda Carr; and in all honesty, I cannot help but deny that I felt as if I was solving all Gilda’s small mysteries with her. But I cannot help but say that there were some parts within Westside that did not sit well with me – the huge cast of characters and the plentiful side plots going on. While I can understand that those may be essential for the novel itself, I just found it way too difficult to keep myself up to date on who was up to what and so forth.