"Charming amateur sleuth"

Although they are as poor as can be, they live in an exclusive section of Boston so Louisa May Alcott and her family mingle with people of high society. Her father doesn't earn much money and the family's work with the Abolitionists and the underground puts the Alcotts in danger yet they are a close group bound by love. In her early twenties Louisa May wants to be a writer.

She is excited about seeing her friend Dot Wortham's home after a year long honeymoon in Europe. Dot noticeably upset asks Louisa to meet with her tomorrow at a tea party. The next day Louisa May learns that her friend's body was found floating in the Charles River. Bruises around her throat and injuries to her head lead the police to believe she was murdered by her husband who society thinks married Dot for her money. Louisa is more attuned to the behavioral nuances of the families of Dot and her husband and thinks the killer is still at large. Wanting justice to be served, she starts her own investigation and almost ends up as the killer's next victim.

LOUISA AND THE MISSING HEIRESS is a charming amateur sleuth novel that will appeal to fans of historical cozies. Anna Maclean brings the 1850's in Boston to life and readers see how even in the North the social issue of slavery permeates the culture. The heroine is charming, intelligent and independent, a woman who knows what she wants and will work to obtain it. This is the first installment in what looks to be a delightful new mystery series starring a totally wonderful protagonist.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 25, 2004

Read an Excerpt

In this delightful new "tale of dark secrets, mysterious men, and heiresses in distress,"* Louisa May Alcott, the beloved author of Little Women, is cast in the role of amateur sleuth-investigating crimes more heinous than anything she can imagine in her "blood and thunder" romances.

Summary

Gentle Reader,

In the days before I achieved renown as the author of Little Women, I was writing and selling stories of a more lurid nature, inspired by my spellbound fascination with the dark and mysterious. But nothing I could conjure from my own imagination could prepare me for the role of detective I found myself playing time and again...

My family and I shared a frugal home in Boston during the years before the Civil War, a time of hooped skirts and beaver hats. While I railed against my lack of freedom as a woman, my parents set high standards for me, offering warmth and wisdom, and secretly (and illegally!) aiding the Underground Railroad. My sisters provided lighter companionship, as did my many friends, including Dorothy Wortham.

I was looking forward to seeing Dot again after her year- long honeymoon overseas. However, the happy reunion I expected was overshadowed by her distant and distraught behavior. Before she could confide her anxiety in me, her body was discovered floating in Boston Harbor, with evidence of foul play. I could not fathom who would wish to harm such a kind spirit as Dot, but I was determined to search the foggy, cobblestone streets until I found out...

Louisa May Alcott