The Great Molasses Flood was a horrible event that took place in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1919. On January 15 of that year, a storage tank collapsed and sent over two millions of gallons of sweet, sticky molasses flowing out of the burst tank. Chaos as well as molasses flooded the streets. What a perfect time to commit a murder.
At this time in history, World War I had only been over for a couple of months. Prohibition was just around the corner, and the suffragette movement was in full swing.
In Molasses Murder in a Nutshell, Fanny, a divorced woman, has moved to Boston. She runs a home for men returning from the Great War (World War I). Fanny’s housekeeper discovers her sister’s dead body just before the flood of sticky molasses hits. Her sister was married to Detective McKenna, who abused her, and was living on her own in a tenement in a run-down section of Boston. She hung out with wops (Italian immigrants) and worked for the company that owned the molasses tank.
Those in charge where the tank of molasses exploded said that it must have been a bomb that caused it to release all of its molasses onto the unsuspecting town. “The immigrants must have done it!” they said. But the evidence proved otherwise.
Frances Glessner Lee, called Fanny by her friends, has a hobby. She is being strongly encouraged to attend tea parties and join sewing circles, but that really isn’t her style. In addition to running the shelter for war veterans, she likes to make dioramas. What is a diorama? It is a scene reproduced in a three-dimensional miniature by placing objects, figures, etc., in front of a painted background. It would take incredible patience to create just one of these. In all of the confusion surrounding the death of her housekeeper’s sister, will Fanny be able to prove with her “nutshell” of the crime scene how the woman died? Will she be able to prove that it wasn’t suicide?
I received an advance review copy of this book from BookSirens and wrote this review voluntarily. If you would like your own copy of this book, I’ve provided an Amazon link for it below.
Amazon Link: Molasses Murder in a Nutshell
Favorite Sentences:
Frances Glessner Lee envied Jake Magrath his profession, even if it required cutting into dead bodies with a scalpel.
Like a wrangler known for laying hands on nervous thoroughbreds, Jake Magrath was known for being able to gain the trust of hysterical souls even at the scenes of the most atrocious crimes.
Social life in Boston would creep out and entrap her like the ivy vines gripping the walls of all these brick townhouses.
Was there something evil about reproducing the crime?
She was as out of place as a peacock in a farmyard on this street.
New Words Learned:
antipathy – a deep-seated feeling of dislike; aversion
egalitarian – of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities
Eyeties –an offensive term for Italians
frieze – a broad horizontal band of sculpted or painted decoration, especially on a wall near the ceiling
fulsome – abundant or copious
guttered – (of a candle or flame) flickered and burned unsteadily
sangfroid – composure or coolness, sometimes excessive, as shown in danger or under trying circumstances
Sisyphean – (of a task) such that it can never be completed
snug – a small, comfortable public room in a pub or inn
solicitous – characterized by showing interest or concern
wops – an offensive term for an Italian or other southern European
About the Author:
Frances McNamara grew up in Boston, where her father served as police commissioner for ten years. She has degrees from Mount Holyoke and Simmons Colleges and retired from the University of Chicago. She now divides her time between Boston and Cape Cod. She is the author of the Emily Cabot Mystery series in addition to the Nutshell Murders series.
