Hilda Johansson is a Swedish maid in the Studebaker mansion, in South Bend, Indiana, in 1900. Hoping to earn enough money, with the help of some of her siblings, to pay for passage to America for the rest of her family, she must be careful to obey the house rules, lest she lose her job. But when she and Patrick, the Irish Catholic fireman she keeps company with, discover a murdered woman’s body in the shrubs by the mansion, Hilda puts her job and her life in jeopardy. Not wanting a Chinese immigrant to be arrested for the murder simply because he is a foreigner, she enlists the help of Patrick and Norah, Hilda’s friend and coworker in the mansion. Hilda’s instincts are good – up to a point. This tale is the first in this series of historical mysteries by Jeanne M. Dams, and a good introduction to the setting and characters. Well written and entertaining, Ms. Dams gives us an excellent look of what life was like for immigrants at that time, especially for those in service to the wealthy. ( )

The state of Indiana has pretty much been "drive-through land" for me over many years of traveling between Minnesota and Maine. Nearly always, we took the tollway. The only nice feature of the Indiana State Tollway is that the rest and refreshment areas are named for famous Hoosiers, many, if not all, writers. The [a:Gene Stratton Porter|1372693|Gene Stratton-Porter|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], the [a:Ernie Pyle|188592|Ernie Pyle|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], the [a:George Ade|52739|Dawn Ades|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] are some I recall. Should the highway authority need to name any more of these spots, I'd say humorist [a:Jean Shepherd|1655|Mark Twain|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1170645482p2/1655.jpg] should be first in line, but [a:Jeanne M. Dams|108579|Jeanne M. Dams|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] would come a close second. Her love and understanding of South Bend shines through every page of [b:Death in Lacquer Red|1372980|Death in Lacquer Red A Hilda Johansson Novel (Hilda Johansson Mysteries)|Jeanne M. Dams|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183060342s/1372980.jpg|1362852], her first Hilda Johansson mystery.

When I reached Indiana in my alphabetical "A Mystery for Every State" project, I had already decided to give the Hilda Johansson series a try, based on many recommendations on the DorothyL list. I'm so glad I did!

I enjoyed the setting, with its glimpses of domestic life above- and belowstairs in the turn-of-the-century Midwest. the characters, especially Hilda and her beau Patrick Cavanaugh, are both endearing and believable for the period. And the plot surprised me -- I didn't see the ending coming at all! I'll definitely be looking for the rest of the series and hoping it continues for a long time. ( )

Hilda Johansson, a Swedish immigrant to the United States who is working as a servant in a large house in South Bend, Indiana, discovers the body of a woman. The deceased had returned from China, where she had served as a missionary. Her return was precipitated by the Boxer Rebellion. What reason could anyone possibly have for murdering the woman? Convinced that the police will blame an immigrant for the woman's death when she is certain someone else committed the offense, Hilda begins to investigate on her own, ignoring the butler's admonitions against doing so. I failed to connect with the characters. I particularly disliked the butler in Hilda's household and secretly wished he had been the perpetrator. I had higher hopes for this series since the author's Dorothy Martin series is one of my favorites. Hilda really had no reason to investigate. She put herself and her friends in a great deal of danger by doing so. Very few of the actions seemed to be authentic to a servant of her prescribed station in that time period. I do not intend to read future installments. ( )

An okay look into the contrast between the promise and the reality of immigrant life in 1900. The story does not engage enough for a reread. ( )

I really expected to enjoy this - I love Dams' Dorothy Martin series. I usually read the first two books before making up my mind about a series, but this was so bad that I didn't have the heart to read the next.

The best part of the book is the evocation of time and place: turn-of-the century Indiana from the perspective of a young Swedish immigrant working as a maid for the Studebakers. Hilda is one of the four Johansson children sent to America to find themselves a place and then earn passage for the rest of the family.

The overall story is rather flimsy. Hilda is deeply concerned that an immigrant, almost any immigrant, will be blamed when a member of a prominent family is murdered. When she learns that the police have left in a patrol wagon to question a Chinese guest of Notre Dame, a Mr. Kee, Hilda decides that she and only she can save him. She arrives at Notre Dame after an exhausting walk to learn what the lazy and less righteous of us would have guessed for ourselves: 1. The police have been and gone (they had a head start and they were riding in a wagon, for pete's sake!); and, 2. The priests of Notre Dame could do more for the him than she could, i.e. provide an alibi. But in a very contrived sub-plot, Mr. Kee flees before the police arrive so that Hilda can save him later. Her duties as a maid don't leave her much opportunity for investigation. The servants' gossip network was supposed to be Hilda's advantage, but she finds the killer by dumb, as in stupid, luck, during an unnecessary piece of folly.

The killer's actions are a little hard to credit: I don't want to spoil the story, but means and opportunity are as important as motive. I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out how the killer managed to pull off the crimes. Why would the killer be so stupid as to confront Hilda under disadvantageous circumstances? My guess is that Dams had some scenes in her head and then connected them as best she could with often awkward seques.

My last problem with the book is the Hilda's attitudes toward the US. The miserable experience of immigrants is a major theme in this book, and I don't doubt that a lot of immigrants had a hard lot, but why, having experienced hellish American life, are she and her siblings trying to bring the rest of the family here? Wouldn't you think they'd be saving to get back to Sweden? I don't expect a fairy-tale, but the portrayal of Hilda seems incomplete. ( )