Beloved author Louisa May Alcott turns to amateur sleuthing in the cozy mystery novel, LOUISA AND THE MISSING HEIRESS: A Louisa May Alcott Mystery by Anna Maclean, the first in an ongoing series that features Alcott as a premier mystery solver.

Maclean's premise for this series is that long before she wrote her children's book, Little Women, Louisa was writing what she deemed "blood and thunder" fictional stories to sell to newspapers. She, and her beloved friend Sophie, would wander the streets of Boston looking for inspiration for her tales, and Louisa would, more often than not, find herself involved in trying to crack a mystery or two along the way.

In this story, Louisa's dear friend Dorothy Wortham, is finally home after a year long honeymoon in Europe. Dot is noticeably upset when Louisa encounters her at a tea party, but brushes it off as one of her friend's eccentric ways. The next day Louisa learns that her friend has been found dead in the Charles River. Bruises around her throat and injuries to her head lead the police to believe she was murdered and her husband Preston, who everyone thinks married her for her money, is the prime suspect. Louisa is more familiar to the strange behaviors of the families of Dot and Preston and thinks the killer is still at large. Intrigued and wanting justice to be served, she starts her own investigation and almost ends up as the killer's next victim.

Anna Maclean presents a lively, fast paced novel that mixes a little historical fact, with a thrilling mystery to create a story that cozy mystery fans will immensely enjoy. Two more "Louisa" mysteries are planned for release in the near future.