Lilly Long starts this fascinating 1880s adventure in the Chicago Opera House, but is robbed after she leaves. Cruelly, she has been taken in by a seductive scoundrel who only wed her for her money. AN UNTIMELY FROST shows how the theatre girl, free from many of the conventions of her day, pulls herself together and comes back stronger. I really approve of this message as we can all be swindled, emotionally or financially, and we don't have to let it define us as long as we can learn and move forward.
Actresses are not respected by decent people; yet Lilly possesses a classy demeanor which stands her in good stead, while she considers bar-room women quite scandalous by contrast. The acting profession is tight, and Lilly has staunch friends. They support her and are duly astounded when she spots a poster and decides to apply for a job as a Pinkerton detective. In this job, she might be able to help other women who have been swindled. Mrs. Kate Warne was the first lady to have been a Pinkerton agent, but not everyone remains convinced. Lilly is determined that she would do a good job, and as a married woman she can go where she pleases without an escort.
Our introduction to William Pinkerton, son of the founder, is not managed so well. We see him sitting in his office, where he spends two pages thinking about what the reader needs to know about his family. Couldn't a conversation with a staff member have been employed to convey these details? Lilly's method of getting hired, I have to say, is cheeky and hilarious. We also see something of rebuilt Chicago, cleaner and more impressive after the great fire. Then we're swiftly out of town on Lilly's first case.
I believe that this book AN UNTIMELY FROST by Penny Richards and the Lilly Long series could become addictive. In this first installment Lilly learns her trade, and since she is on the road, pries into her own background as well. The detail of the day is easy to read, not overdone but convincing. Lilly encounters ghosts, memories, railways and fairground boxers. Women's lives are to the fore which is appropriate for Lilly as an investigator. The next book will be called 'Though This Be Madness' and will be available in 2017. I'm looking forward to reading Lilly's next case.
In 1881 Chicago, the idea of a female detective is virtually unheard of. But when famed crime buster Allan Pinkerton opens his agency's doors to a handful of women, one intrepid actress with her own troubled past is driven to defy convention and take on a new and dangerous role. . . Since the age of eleven, when her mother was murdered, the life of the theater is all Lilly Long has known. Now twenty-two, she has blossomed into an accomplished Shakespearean actress. But after her innocence--and her savings--are taken from her by a seductive scoundrel, Lilly vows to leave the stage, enter the real world, and save others from a similar fate. Following in the footsteps of the country's first female detective, Lilly persuades Allan Pinkerton to take her on. Lilly's acting skills are a perfect fit for her real-life role as a Pinkerton operative. But her first case is a baptism by fire as she is sent to the small town of Vandalia to solve the mystery of a pastor who disappeared with his family--and the church's funds. When Lilly arrives, she finds the mere mention of the reverend's name provokes enmity or suspicious silence. Shadowed by a second Pinkerton agent with an agenda of his own, Lilly begins to uncover Vandalia's sordid secrets. But she'll have to deliver the performance of a lifetime to survive the final act of this drama.
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