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

A promising premise for sure. Gold Rush California and a widowed prostitute, Eliza, and her friend decide to find out who is murdering women after being inspired by the works of E.A. Poe.
Should be interesting, right? Nope. Boring.
The whole novel spins in this average routine: Eliza takes in a gentlemen at the brothel, describes the event, then goes and finds a dead body with her friend in the woods. Eliza talks about mud and footprints a lot, follows some people around, takes in another gentleman at the brothel, describes prick and maybe they are a suspect. Then she eats food and walks around some more. No tension, no air of mystery, or feeling they are in danger. I feel like this could have been a short story but Smiley and her publisher wanted it blow up to fulfill some sort of contractual obligation.
Bloated and tedious. ( )

Surprisingly light and breezy. Eliza and her friend Jane are investigating the disappearances of women in their area. There investigation is composed of reading Poe's mystery stories and wandering around town. They stumble upon two bodies. Eliza is sure that several different new men are the killer. Jane believes in ghosts. No one has any problems with Jane working at a brothel for women and her cross dressing. ( )

A murder mystery set in gold rush California involving local prostitutes - and one of them is from the town where I work in the midwest. This was a little light on mystery and a little heavy on the business of prostitution, but the characters were great fun to follow, and it isn't a long book. I really don't know how they kept stumbling on the bodies of the murdered girls, but that sure was convenient. ( )

In Monterey, California in 1852, Eliza Ripple is a young woman taking the chance to make a life for herself after her husband was killed in a bar fight. She takes up an offer to work for Mrs Parks, who turns out to be the owner of a brothel. However, the title is perhaps not referring to Eliza's new profession - according to her new boss, it is just being a woman that is "a dangerous business". Mrs Parks turns out to be relatively benign boss, trying to combine making some money with providing better, safer working conditions than the average madam.

This is not the most grittily realistic historical novel, but I am not sure it is setting out to be. I thought it was quite an enjoyable and entertaining lightweight story in which an apparently young innocent woman uses her wits and what she has read in novels to navigate her way through the dangerous business of being a young woman in a rather lawless town, a few years after the gold rush. No easy money here, but lots of travellers and chancers, including Eliza and her new friend Jean, who works at another establishment down the road. Young women are being murdered and Eliza and Jean set out to find out why.

The murder mystery plot is insubstantial. I enjoyed the book as a lightweight adventure story. Through her career, Jane Smiley has written books which played with various genre conventions, and in this she offers an alternative take on the options for 19th century women and on historical Westerns. ( )