Starred review from September 12, 2022
Pulitzer Prize winner Smiley (Perestroika in Paris) spins a remarkable story of the California gold rush and a pair of sex worker sleuths who track down the culprit behind a series of disappearances. After 21-year-old Eliza Cargill Ripple’s husband is killed in a bar brawl, she goes to work in the efficiently run and well-guarded brothel of beneficent madam Mrs. Parks. It’s Mrs. Parks who says the “risky business” of prostitution is a “dangerous” one, but so is, for these characters, simply being a woman. Eliza’s customers are a mix of the young and old, wandering sailors, adulterous husbands, judges, and lawyers. One day, Eliza establishes what she terms her life’s “ first true friendship” with Jean MacPherson, a colleague who services “reticent” women and often dresses as a man. Most of the characters are transplants from back east who’ve landed in town with new names and new identities, and when several of them—all women—disappear, Eliza and Jean become a formidable duo of amateur sleuths whose deductive skills were gained by reading Edgar Allan Poe (especially “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”). Harnessing’s Poe’s character Dupin’s “train of logic,” the women suss out the most likely culprit and hatch a cleverly devised trap. The vivid historical details and vibrant characters bring Smiley’s setting to glorious life. This seductive entertainment is not to be missed.
June 10, 2024
Smiley's (Perestroika in Paris) feminist Western explores women's friendships and bodily autonomy, with a light mystery woven throughout. During the Gold Rush in Monterey, CA, Eliza is relieved when her abusive husband is killed in a bar fight. She takes charge of her life by finding work at a brothel to support herself financially and befriends Jean, another sex worker who serves women instead of men. When young women are found murdered around town--all sex workers like Eliza and Jean--the townspeople and the sheriff seem unconcerned. Eliza and Jean are determined to prevent other women from meeting this unfortunate fate. Using Edgar Allan Poe's detective Dupin as inspiration, the two start their own investigation, intent on tracking down the murderer. Th�r�se Plummer provides strong narration with masterful characterizations, capturing the friends' quick banter in this dialogue-heavy book. VERDICT Will appeal to historical fiction readers who like a little mystery mixed in, and readers who enjoy women-led Westerns such as Anna North's Outlawed.--Meghan Bouffard
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