Author: Michelle Cox
Publisher: She Writes Press
ISBN: 978-1631528361

A historical mystery with a lot of emotional depth. This is one of those rare books in a series that doesn't make you feel like you're starting midway into the story or that you need to go back and read the first books to make sense of anything. 

Michelle Cox creates a world in this series that we all recognize and tells you everything that you need to know about it gradually as the novel goes along.

Here are the key facts: 

• This series is based around a married couple, Henrietta and Clive. Clive is a private detective who meets Henrietta in the first book when she is working as a what was called a ' 26 girl.' 26 was a dice game for gambling.  She then became a taxi dancer and then went uncover for the Chicago police for a short time.

• Henrietta proved herself to be adept at crime solving, which was part of what made Clive fall in love with her. She is also incredibly beautiful and fun to be around.

• The two married, but at the beginning of this book they have unfortunately recently suffered a miscarriage of their first child. 

The romance is well written but does not detract from the mystery like some other historical mysteries can. This installment in the series focuses on two mysteries, one involving a spiritualist who may or may not be stealing from her clients and another that is a missing person’s case given to them by Henrietta's sister, Elsie. 

Both mysteries are gripping, puzzling and fascinating and both reach conclusions that are impossible to guess from the start. I found myself really satisfied with the outcomes of the mysteries in this book and with the story overall. A good caper is hard to write and Michelle Cox adds in an atmospheric historical setting that is simply gorgeous and hard to beat. 

This novel was fast-paced and clever, and still fun despite some of the heavier emotions that the characters were dealing with. This was the first book I have read in this series and it made me want to read the others.

About Michelle Cox

Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as Novel Notes of Local Lore, a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there. (Her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and many others, so she might be on to something.)

Unbeknownst to most, Cox hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also, marmalade. You can read more about 1930’s Chicago at https://michellecoxauthor.com/blog/