Katja Labonté's Reviews > Silver Sandals

**Featured on the historic fiction podcast The Gibson Girl Review! Listen as my cohost Amy Drown & I discuss this novel at https://www.gibsongirlreview.com/seas...

5+ stars (6/10 hearts). Silver Sandals is the story of Thornley Colton, a blind amateur detective in NYC. It opens in a crowded hotel restaurant, where a man and a woman walk in and request a table. The woman leaves soon after, and then it is discovered the man has been dead for hours… and so begins a very complex tale.

This novel was apparently written after a bunch of short stories that are referenced throughout the book and which I really want to read. It also starts with a prologue defending the author’s choice to have a blind detective, citing all sorts of evidence including a blind surgeon who was very active in NYC. Apparently Stagg also interviewed and researched with Helen Keller and the Association for the Blind for this novel. Absolutely fascinating information.

I really enjoyed the writing style here—unique and strong and vivid, and setting the atmosphere so well. There were times when it was a bit weak—the mystery was super complex, even a bit too much at times, and it was so hard to piece together all the clues, even if they were given, because they didn’t make sense or fit together. And the action scenes were a bit muddy sometimes—so much going on you have trouble keeping up. But those quibbles aside, I thoroughly appreciated the mystery and it definitely kept me hooked. As a Sherlock Holmes nerd, I definitely had strong Sherlock feels from this, especially in how Colton found his clues, got information, and kept everything to himself.

And speaking of the characters, as a huge fan of vintage mysteries, the first thing that stood out to me is how they’re old tropes stood on their heads. You’ve got the brilliant detective in the prime of health–who’s blind. You’ve got the devoted assistant… who ends up not being able to help much in the end. You have the beautiful girl… who’s not a love interest. You’ve got the wild young man who turns out to be not as as he seems. Every time I thought I knew a character and what they’d do and be, they surprised me. Over and over again! That’s what made it so hard to pick out the suspect, because everything kept twisting and changing radically. I think the girl actually surprised me the most, because her story is just SO complex and interesting. And as for REVLIS SLADNAS, the victim… he just kept pulling punches until you didn’t know if he was dead or alive, good or bad… a most unusual victim. The only character who stayed the same throughout was McMann, the bulldog policeman… and even he surprised me at the end when I had to grudgingly admire him. And finally, the actual bad guy/killer–I still have to wrap my head around that, because it is SO unexpected.

I know I stated above that the story was a bit too complex at times, but for the most part it was well done, and I loved the complexity. The victim was an archaeologist who was obsessed with Ancient Egypt and his death is steeped in Egyptian mythology, but the story takes place in bustling, modern New York. There are just so many layers and so many DIFFERENT layers going on at the same time. The author really builds his mystery into a full novel–it’s not just a mystery, it’s a real story. And another fascinating thing about this book is how much primary source info it holds about the early 1900s, from things like unaccompanied women not being allowed into restaurants, to the Egyptomania common at the time (long before King Tutu’s tomb was unveiled).

All in all, it’s a fascinating mystery, a fascinating bit of historic fiction, and a fascinating glimpse into the world of the blind in the 1900s. I look forwards to reading this again and reading more by the author!