"This entertaining historical mystery will keep you guessing until the end."

In 1870s Denver City, it isn't ladylike, or even accepted, for a person of the female gender to be a private investigator. But when Josephine "Joby" Sawyer's father meets his maker, what else is she to do? Since no one knows he's passed on, she'll just keep the pretense that he's still in charge of the agency he started. It's truly brilliant of her to keep a desk, along with an ashtray of cigar ashes, so no one will suspect. Joby really needs to solve the murder and the thefts that have been happening lately. If she doesn't earn some money, she and Won Li will surely be on the streets.

It doesn't help that her beau, police officer Jack O'Shaughnessy, has other plans for her. He's looking to settle down with Joby and raise a family. She has bigger dreams, and she's doing all she can to fulfill them.

Again, Ms. Ledbetter entertains us with her most unusual writing style and propensity for detail. This entertaining mystery, the start of a new cozy series, will have you guessing and second-guessing until the very end. I'd venture to say you may even learn a thing or two. Pure entertainment.

Reviewed by Becky Rotz
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted April 9, 2003

Suzann Ledbetter brings her unparalleled storytelling talents to a new mystery series in which one engaging heroine sets out to tame the Wild West with a woman's touch...

Summary

"The simple truth is, I was born clever...." So says spirited young Denver City detective Joby (Josephine Beckworth) Sawyer—and she isn't bragging. With a whip-sharp mind, self-taught expertise in biology, herbology, chemistry, criminality, and legal action, Joby can pretty much get her man. But there's one still hanging on the line: her devoted policeman beau, Jack O'Shaughnessy. In Joby's line of work, murder and mayhem come before matrimony. And with two new cases to crack, her wedding gown can wait.

For now Joby has to get the goods on a no-good abusive husband so a wealthy wife can get out with her fortune and her features intact. Then, a high-class jewel thief goes from larceny to murder as a woman is found strangled with her pearl necklace. Against Jack's wishes, Joby takes a crack at the case with the help of her mentor, Won Li. Determined to prove she's as good an investigator as any man, Joby must use both her brains and her beauty to catch a thief—before he kills again.