Upon submitting the manuscript for The Sceptred Isle Club, I sent an e-mail to my editor saying I hoped it did half as well as The Jekyl Island Club because I had an idea for a third novel in the series, which would take place in New York City and reincorporate the curmudgeonly J. P. Morgan and the wicked-tongued, irascible Joseph Pulitzer. Not only was I given a contract within that same week, but I was also told I had to have to full plot ready within six weeks. It was a very nerve-wracking period, but I ironed out the wrinkles, and it turned out very satisfying. One reader who personally contacted me thought it is “one of the most elegantly plotted murder mysteries I ever read.”

LeBrun falls in love with a Southern chatelaine of an NYC mansion, which adds a racy element to the tale. Among the true events falling within the story is the spectacular murder of architect Stanford White by millionaire playboy Harry Thaw over White’s dalliances with Thaw’s gorgeous model/chorine wife Evelyn Nesbit.
The clubs covered in this novel are the Metropolitan Club, the Manhattan Club, and the Players Club. The staff of the Players Club were very gracious to me (unlike the still-snooty Metropolitan Club). The artwork shows LeBrun standing in front of the façade of The Players Club, which was before that Edwin Booth’s residence (and still has his rooms preserved). If you walk through chic-chic Gramercy Park, you will recognize that it still looks the same.

Some quotes:
“Monahan stokes the story with authentic period detail… and pulls everything together in spectacular fashion. An enthralling peek at mayhem among Manhattan’s ruling class.” Publisher’s Weekly
“Facts, artifacts, and personalities…are written into vivid life by Monahan’s measured yet colorful prose.” San Antonio Express-News
“A locked room mystery is always fun to read especially when it is constructed as well as it is in THE MANHATTAN ISLAND CLUBS using places and people who actually lived during the time and setting of this book. Brent Monahan takes his audience behind the scenes of the so-called Gilded Age and shows that the period was corrupt and narcissistic. Readers will adore the brilliant hero who gets heart broken by a damsel in distress.” Allreaders.com