An Alyssa Chalmers Historical Mystery: Book 3
Publication Date: February 27, 2026
A sharp tongue. An even sharper mind. A Victorian sleuth criminals overlook at their peril.
1862. A new home in a prospectors’ town, a new life, and two steadfast Alyssa Chalmers’ future is secure among her friends.
But when Captain Moore sends a message, begging for her help, she can’t say no.
With the doctor and the First Officer by her side, she travels to Portland, Oregon. She finds a situation worse than she feared. Two of the captain’s crew have gone missing and the local marshal is adamant they simply jumped ship. Even the discovery of a body is unable to change his mind.
Captain Moore knows better. He is convinced that something sinister is going on, and he needs sharp-witted Alyssa and her sleuthing partners to figure it out.
But dark secrets and vices are lurking everywhere. Alyssa needs all her wits to figure out who to trust – and how to save the missing men before there’s another murder.
Death at the Dock is the third mystery in this captivating series that transports readers back to the 1860s, with a heroine determined to make her own way in a society made for men. Perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy and Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody.
1862 Portland, Oregon. Captain Moore sends a message to Miss Chalmers, pleading for her assistance, thus setting in motion a mystery involving two missing crew members in author Carmen Radtke’s Death at the Docks, the third book in the An Alyssa Chalmers Historical Mystery series.
Though I hadn’t read any of the previous books in the series, the author included plenty of backstory, so I was able to follow along nicely.
Alyssa, the main protagonist, is smart and educated, and she keeps her head in a crisis. She is also educated enough in medicine to help other women who need medical advice.
Reading books set in Victorian times reminds me how far women have come in terms of culture and freedoms, and the author does an incredible job of pointing out those dichotomies by simply spelling out the strictures Victorian women were forced to live under.
The book flowed nicely, and the mystery was well-plotted and executed. Ms. Radtke has a wonderful grasp of the English language and of story. I truly enjoyed every aspect of her writing.
Death at the Docks sends readers on an historical mystery to find two missing crew members.
 
Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side.
She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.
The shaken but stirring novel made it to the longlist of the Mslexia competition, and her next book and first mystery, The Case Of The Missing Bride, was a finalist in the Malice Domestic competition in a year without a winner. Since then she has penned several more cozy mysteries, including the Jack and Frances series set in the 1930s and the Genie and Adriana Darling series.
Carmen now lives in Italy with her human and her four-legged family.
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