Starred review from March 1, 2016
Henrietta Von Harmon makes ends meet as a "26 girl," keeping scores on dice games in a dive bar in 1935 Chicago. Desperate to support her mother and siblings, she takes another job as a paid dance partner. When the dance hall's floor matron is murdered. Henrietta finds herself working for the aloof Insp. Clive Howard, going undercover at a notorious burlesque theater where the killer is believed to be hiding in plain sight. Despite the distractions of their growing attraction, Henrietta and the inspector must cooperate to take down a crime boss and bring a murderer to justice. VERDICT Flavored with 1930s slang and fashion, this first volume in what one hopes will be a long series is absorbing. Henrietta and Clive are a sexy, endearing, and downright fun pair of sleuths. Readers will not see the final twist coming.--Kristen Droesch, formerly with Library Journal
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from March 15, 2016
Fans of spunky, historical heroines will love Henrietta Von Harmon. Taking bets and serving drinks as a 26 girl (operator of a dice game) at a local tavern in her 1935 North Side Chicago neighborhood, Henrietta helps support her mother and seven siblings. Needing more money, she takes a job as a dance-hall girl and meets roguish Inspector Clive Howard of the Chicago PD. He asks Henrietta to go undercover at a burlesque house, where girls have gone missing. Up for an adventure, and eager to have a reason to keep seeing the copper, Henrietta lies to her mother about how she's spending her evenings and dons a skimpy usherette outfit. She gains the confidence of her new coworkers and talks her way into being a girl who gets called behind the green door. But does Henrietta really know what she's getting herself into? And can Inspector Howard save her virtue in time? Henrietta is irrepressible, and fans of post-Prohibition moxie will anxiously await a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)