“Ah, there you are,” Daniel called, coming toward me. “I thought you’d run away from me already.” He put his arm around my waist. “They all seem to be having a good time, don’t they?”
I nodded. “Your mother has done a wonderful job. It’s magnificent, Daniel.”
“Let’s leave them to it. I think it’s time you and I slipped away together, don’t you?” he murmured.
He took my hand and led me back toward the house.
HISTORICAL NOTE
Everything I have written about Chinatown in 1903 is accurate, including Chuck Connors’s slumming tours, the overzealous missionaries, the opium dens, and the lack of Chinese women. Congress passed the Exclusion Act in 1884, hoping to drive those Chinese who had come for the Gold Rush and the building of the railways back to their homeland. The act decreed they could never become citizens, even if born here. They could not bring over their wives and families (certain rich merchants got around this). However, in the Census of 1900 there were over three thousand men living in Chinatown and only thirty women. Of course there could have been more women, including the small-foot wives hidden away, and there were definitely Chinese prostitutes in the brothels on the Bowery.
In spite of the Chinese being sober and hardworking, they were universally mistrusted and considered to be a threat. Misconceptions about their customs and lifestyle continued well into the century, which is why Chinatowns have endured for so long.
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Death of Riley
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Evan Blessed
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Evanly Choirs
Evan Help Us
Evans Above
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BLESS THE BRIDE. Copyright © 2011 by Rhys Bowen. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.www.minotaurbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataBowen, Rhys.Bless the bride / Rhys Bowen.—1st ed.p. cm.ISBN 978-0-312-62810-9 (alk. paper) 1. Murphy, Molly (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Women private investigators—Fiction. 3. Irish American women—Fiction. 4. Missing persons—Investigation—Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)—History—1898–1951—Fiction. I. Title.PR6052.O848B57 2011823'.914—dc222010040697First Edition: March 2011eISBN 978-1-4299-6739-6First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: March 2011
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Author’s Note
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Historical Note
Also by Rhys Bowen
Copyright