The Harvey Girl
Best-selling writer Dana Stabenow (of the beloved Kate Shugak mysteries) introduces a brand new detective series set in the 19th century of America’s Gilded Age with a plucky female Pinkerton agent with a mysterious past in The Harvey Girl.
In 1890, Clare Wright has successfully wrapped up her latest case for the Pinkerton agency when a new case of murder and robbery in New Mexico requires her to go undercover. The client is Fred Harvey, founder of the famous chain of Harvey House hotels that cater to railroad travelers throughout the West. Train cars loaded with supplies bound for Harvey Houses have been robbed over several months, with the last robbery leaving behind a conductor with his throat slashed along the rails. The location is Montaña Roja, Harvey’s latest enterprise, and Clare becomes Clare Wadsworth, the newest “Harvey Girl”—the renowned hospitality hostesses who serve food and drinks, clean, and otherwise make themselves indispensable to the running of the company.
Stabenow has a winning recipe with The Harvey Girl: Clare is a fiery wit with a nose for nosing around, and she mixes with some of the Old West’s famous gunslingers, like Bat Masterson and Tom Horn. As she gets closer to solving Harvey’s hamstrung case, the tendrils from her past are revealed in a delightful twist that promise readers a fun ride with this and future installments.
The Harvey Girl is a delightful and fast-paced story that checks all the boxes…and even leaves a mint on the pillow.
