This is the 4th book in this series & you do really need to read them in order so you can follow the story line of the characters which makes this a good series. While this story was good it wasn't as good as the first 3 books & having read the 5th now not as good as that but still a very good read especially if you are reading them in order You get to know about her & her assistant Billy Beale also their lives. I think these books would make a great TV detective & with it set in the late 1920s in to the 1930s you won't have the rushing around like you do in modern detectives. I am not a great one for reading detectives but this certainly have me hooked & will be getting all of the books as i go along