Book Beginnings & Friday56 : M.J. Trow's The Circle

I'm SO happy that the follow-up to M.J. Trow's The Blue and The Grey is on its way and even happier that NetGalley has it available to request! I loved the first one and rambled about it last February here. So far this one is just as wonderful. Of course, since I'm reading a digital ARC the quotes above may differ in the final.

The Amazon description:

July, 1868. On receiving a commission from Matthew’s cousin Luther to look into the suspicious death of Lafayette Baker, Head of the US National Detective Police, private investigators Matthew Grand and his business partner James Batchelor leave London for Washington DC. They find a country still scarred by the bitter legacy of the Civil War and even in death Lafayette Baker remains one of the most hated men north or south of the Potomac.
The newly-created Ku Klux Klan wanted him dead. So did the Washington brothel-keepers, bar-owners and gamblers whom Baker had closed down. What does beautiful former spy Miss Belle Boyd know that she’s not telling them? And could the President himself be involved?
Matthew Grand finds he has come home to a mixed reception, while Batchelor struggles as an Englishman abroad. Will either of them survive long enough to uncover the truth?

As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader