Mary Handley is an unconventional young woman in 1888. She has wished to become a police detective ever since she was 12 and saw a mysterious man leave a train compartment where a man hung and it was deemed a suicide despite evidence she provided. At 24 a man dies again appearing to be suicide but Mary sees discrepancies that indicate murder. She is supported by the coroner's report. In a twist of fate due to pressure from the women's movement the police commissioners put her in charge of the case under Chief Campbell, hoping that her failure will bode ill for her and Campbell. What follows is a gritty story of a smart woman facing opposition at every turn but staying true to her principles. This is based on a true story of the first female police detective. I look forward to reading more in this series. ( )

Mary Handley is quite an attractive girl. I felt sorry for her because her wit and her unusual interests for that time often made her the subject of mockery, even in her own family. And I was happy that she got the chance to show herself.

I liked the historical background a lot. After reading this book, I learned a lot about Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, the invention of Coca-Cola (not all from the book, but it made me look up the information in Google).

The person of a murderer turned out to be rather unexpected for me. But this only added to my liking of the book. ( )

Mary Hadley is hired by the Brooklyn police department to solve a murder, but they are expecting her to fail, but she is determined to prove them wrong. Charles Goodrich, the man that was killed used to work for Thomas Edison. Could Edison be involved with this murder or someone else as famous as him like J. P. Morgan or and Nikola Tesla? And, why would anyone murder Charles Goodrich. Did he know something about Edison that could damage the man's reputation?

This book was a pleasant surprise. I started to read it last night and finished it this morning. I like reading historical fiction with real people in it and it was interesting to read a murder mystery that involved Edison and Tesla.

Mary Hadley has always been the odd one out in her family so becoming a policewoman seems perfect for her, especially since she wanted to be a detective when she was little and witnessed a murder. It was sometimes I bit frustrating to read how good she was and special and there are several times in this book that everything is so bloody convenient for her, her knowledge of jujitsu for instance or that she had a piece of glass on her to defend herself. And, every time she happened to be at the right place at the right time. Like the murder, she witnessed as a child or when the parents of a friend she knew were killed or when she happens to stop by the police station and saves a man's life, etc. I mean come one. Is it something I'm really having a problem with when it comes to in a story is when everything is convenient for the main character throughout the book. It takes away a bit of the fun of reading.

But, despite that was the book enjoyable, the ending surprising, I did like Mary and I wouldn't mind reading the next book in the series.

I received the book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I only gave this 1 star, because there is no way to give it a negative.

Although I certainly like historical mysteries with intrepid female protagonists, I hated this book for its violence.

No matter I liked Mary Handley & her boss... the rest put me off completely. I've known most of my adult life that Thomas Edison was a jerk and this book showed it off.

At age 12, Mary, was at the scene of a crime that took place in railroad car. As a most precocious & intelligent child, Mary knew that the man had been murdered as opposed to committing suicide as was declared.

As an adult, Mary worked in a hat factory cum sweatshop, for a most odious woman... Until she was fired for refusing to kowtow.

She then happens upon the scene of a murder and although the police once again prefer to label the death a suicide, the coroner agrees with Mary's assessment and corroborates her conclusions; which prompts the powers that be into hiring her, with the motive that she'll make a fool of herself & her boss.

This book was very similar to the Anna Blanc mysteries that take place in Victorian Los Angeles, but not as entertaining and certainly extremely more violent.

Due to the gratuitous violence, I will not be reading the rest of the series. ( )

I could not get past the first chapter. I love mysteries, but this felt like a caricature of characters. I don't like a lot of lighter mystery treatments, however, so if you enjoyed Lord Peter Wimsey and that type of narrative, you may enjoy this book. ( )