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A dangerous business / Jane Smiley.

Smiley, Jane, (author.).

Summary:
A rollicking murder mystery set in Gold Rush California, as two young prostitutes follow a trail of missing girls. Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can't resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe's detective, Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious. Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive but to find their way in a lawless town on the fringes of the Wild West--a bewitching combination of beauty and danger--as what will become the Civil War looms on the horizon. As Mrs. Parks says, "Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise".

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780525520337
  • ISBN: 0525520333
  • Physical Description: 207 pages ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, ©2022.
Subject: Prostitutes > California > 19th century > Fiction.
Murder > Fiction.
Brothels > Fiction.
Widows > Fiction.
Young women > Crimes against > Fiction.
Genre: Detective and mystery fiction.
Historical fiction.

Available copies

  • 72 of 74 copies available at SPARK Libraries.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 74 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library MYS SMILEY (Text) 50686016253077 Adult Fiction Available -
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library M SMI (Text) 37268003140415 AHMFL Mystery Available -
Altoona Area Public Library F SMI (Text) 33240005157451 Adult Fiction Available -
Ashland Public Library FIC SMI (Text) 30399000367243 Fiction Available -
Bangor Public Library F SMI (Text) 75011000387313 Adult Fiction Available -
Bedford County Library F SMI (Text) 35010001099561 Adult Fiction Available -
Blossburg Memorial Library F SMI (Text) 30063000276826 Adult Fiction Available -
Boone Area Library SMI (Text) 33249024520094 Fiction Available -
Boyertown Community Library SMI (Text) 33249024850962 Fiction Available -
Cambria County Library MYSTERY Smi (Text) 85131001858266 CACM Mystery Available -


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