Eliza is a young women alone in Monteray, California in 1851. Eliza came to California from Michigan from an especially religious family, particularly her mother who is cold and rigid. She was pressured to marry a man who turned out to be cruel and abusive. Her husband left Michigan to follow the gold rush. She describes her married life as his servant or slave, subject to fulfilling his insensitive sexual need at his whim. He was foolish in his pursuit of riches, and was killed in a bar room incident. Eliza did not grieve his death and was relieved to be free from his oppression. She determined to not return to Michigan and her domineering mother. Not having any way to support herself, she became a prostitute in Mrs. Park's brothel. Mrs. Parks was kindly and protective to her women, shielding them from dangerous patrons.

Eliza meets Jean, also a prostitute in another brothel, who specializes in female married patrons. Eliza and Jean on an outing discover the body of a murdered woman. Both were reading the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, and set out to be detectives in the spirit of Insp. Dupin of "Murders in the Rue Morgue." They discover two more bodies and know that there is a serial killer at work. The local sheriff doesn't take any interest in solving the murders.

Eliza, on a walk through a cemetery, notices footprints that suggest that the killer walks with a limp. In her sleuthing around town, she spots Zeke, a man with a limp, screaming a woman. She can find nothing else that links Zeke to the crimes.

Eliza accepts a lawyer as a client. She surreptiously peeks though his window and notices many knives on a table. She and Jean wonder if he could be the killer. They plan to set a trap for the murderer. Eliza invites the lawyer (she has only just found out that his name is Jenkins) to a walk and picnic in the vicinity of the last murdered girl. Jean is to trail behind to intervene if Jenkins makes a menancing move. Suddenly, out of the bush comes Zeke brandishing a large knife. Jean is able to fell Zeke and Eliza stabs him with his knife. Jenkins takes no action to protect the women. He then reveals that he and Zeke were from the same place back East. Zeke had observed Jenkins strangle his wife and holds this crime over Jenkin's head. Jenkins is aware that Zeke is a murderous psychotic and facilitates Zeke getting away with his murders. Eliza and Jean toss Zeke's body in a ravine and Jenkins, aware of the horror he played a part in, commits suicide in the ravine.

Both Jean and Eliza find ways to move away from their prostitution. Jean will leave Monteray to return east to assist with the Underground Railroad. Eliza become housekeeper to a wealthy family whose household includes a young man, a former client, who seems enamoured with.

The story has an interesting theme of female agency in a time and under circumstances that mitigated against it. In the mid-19th century, women had little opportunity to live independent lives. The predominent expectation was marriage and family with no chance to fulfill themselves in the male-dominant society. Working in the brothel, Eliza demonstrates that she is in control of the men who frequent it. She and Jean undertake a bold path to uncover the culprit of heinous crimes. As a widow, she is determined not to return to Michigan, even after she finds a way to leave Mrs. Park's establishment.

This is an interesting and well-told novel.

Review of audio on Library Journal website: https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/a-dangerous-business-2172121 ( )

A Dangerous Business is a book in the midst of an identity crisis. Eliza Ripple and her friend Jean are prostitutes in a rather lawless historical Monterey, California. At once a murder mystery, a bit of a feminist manifesto, and a historical period peace, A Dangerous Business seems to be doing too much and would probably have benefited from a little more focus. The main characters' obsession with Poe and their clumsy investigation of the murders, which is marked by a strange lack of urgency, was the weakest part of the narrative.

It succeeds more as a historical piece. 1850s Monterey comes to life in Smiley's hands, with the help of Eliza's narration and the stories of her various customers. Smiley handles Eliza's line of work gently and manages to make it interesting rather than lurid. With a little more investment in her two main characters, the lackluster mystery and its investigation would hardly have been needed. ( )

A very well-written historical mystery that is more character-driven than suspense-driven. ( )