The Cosgrove Report Review

http://www.amazon.com/Cosgrove-Report-Pinkerton-Detective-President-ebook/dp/B005BCVBU0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1415757343&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cosgrove+report
From the book description on Amazon: The Cosgrove Report is both a gripping historical thriller and a new and entirely plausible solution to that still unanswered question: Why was Abraham Lincoln murdered? Republished to coincide with the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, this is a novel of immense power and imagination, based on meticulous research into the government’s official records of the assassination and the forgotten memoirs of many eyewitnesses. The novel opens when a recently discovered nineteenth-century manuscript falls into the hands of modern-day private investigator Michael Croft. His assignment is to verify the historical accuracy of the papers, which reveal the shocking cover-up of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the alleged capture and death of John Wilkes Booth. The manuscript itself, written by Pinkerton detective Nicholas Cosgrove, plunges both Croft and the reader back into post-Civil War Washington, where Cosgrove is hired by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to investigate rumors that Booth is still alive. His search brings him face-to-face with some of the most illustrious people of the period, and exposes a trail of lies and evasions equal to any modern day political scandal.

My review:

I struggled with this book. It started off slowly. It did pick up the pace in a few places. The storyline Cosgrove follows is beyond belief a time or two. It put me to mind of Sherlock Holmes in a few places. But then it went too far and too much belief had to be suspended.

I was put off by the language. The language was I’m sure authentic for the time period, but it made for slower reading. And since this was nearly a 500 page book already, it took a long time to wade through it, especially those sections that were slower.

I gave this book three out of five stars. It was written well, but the storyline and I just couldn’t seem to mesh.

Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival by Jennifer Chiaverini

http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Lincolns-Rival-Jennifer-Chiaverini-ebook/dp/B00FFFSXIG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390271633&sr=8-2&keywords=mrs.+lincoln%27s+rival

After having read Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker and absolutely loving it, I was anxious to read another book from the exact same time. The author has such a command of descriptions and the history and portrayed Kate Chase as a powerful political and social young woman. I would like to have gotten more of the rivalry between Miss Chase and Mrs. Lincoln though. The story follows Miss Chase and her father over several years.

I felt the book ended rather abruptly however. While it was a fairly long book, it could have had a more complete ending. This book wasn’t as good as Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, but not from want of an interesting subject. It seemed to drag in a few spots, but only for a few pages. And, like I said, the ending was too abrupt for my liking.

Still, this was a good book with some very interesting passages. I do recommend the book.