A Deadly Entanglement (publication day September 15, 2026) by Cathy Pegau is a satisfying next installment in the Harriman & Mancini series set around 1912-1913 in New York City, following A Murderous Business published (and reviewed) in 2025.
Margot Harriman runs the family business–a canning operation–that was the subject of the first book. A Deadly Entanglement follows more of her personal life and business/friendship with private detective Loretta “Rett” Mancini and her partner, CeeCee, who is a nurse at the Charity Hospital where Margot is on the ladies auxiliary board.
While Margot is visiting the hospital to plan an upcoming benefit, another nurse and friend of CeeCee, Stella Novak, falls from the rooftop to her death below. It’s ruled a suicide, but CeeCee can’t believe that, as Stella was optimistic about the future and had plans. And there have been an unusual number of mysterious deaths at the hospital. So Margot and Rett decide to investigate. Rett goes undercover at the hospital as a housekeeping assistant newly arrived from Italy.
Meanwhile, Margot learns that a college friend has admitted herself to a swanky resort/hospital on Long Island, the Caspian, for “exhaustion”. It turns out that the Caspian shares a couple of doctors with the Charity Hospital, in particular, handsome, charming Scottish doctor Ewan Beales. After Margot’s friend dies in an accident at the Caspian, Margot agrees to Beales’s suggestion that Margot spend a week there, in an attempt to relieve the stress Beales insists she must feel from running a business.
Both Margot and Rett observe strange things, including patients at the Caspian who can’t wait to get the next dose of their “vitamin” pills, and more patients at the Charity Hospital who die when they didn’t seem that ill. And Margot continues to see Shiloh, Rett’s friend, but it’s uncertain how their class differences are going to be resolved.
I very much enjoyed it! As in the first book in this series, A Deadly Entanglement was weight-neutral. I especially loved the representation of queer relationships in the early 1900s.
Reading While Fat 