Girl in Disguise

Starred review from October 10, 2016
Macallister (The Magician’s Lie) pens an exciting, well-crafted historical novel featuring Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective in 1856 Chicago. Kate is a widow and needs a job, convincing Allan Pinkerton that a female detective can go places and do things a male detective cannot. Once hired, Kate becomes skilled at lock picking and surveillance, but she is best in disguise—as a prostitute, rich matron, spinster, clerk, Southern belle, doting sister, and false friend—an expert liar, playing a role. She investigates burglaries, bank robberies, embezzlement, counterfeiting, blackmail, and murder. The Pinkerton Detective Agency is a man’s world, and Kate is forced to prove herself, especially when someone tries to discredit her. She eventually earns the respect of her fellow detectives, learning a secret to be used later. Kate carries a pistol, but her wit, careful observation, and boldness see her through tricky and unexpected situations with desperate, dangerous criminals. In 1861 Kate comes up with an ingenious plan to protect President Lincoln from a Southern assassination plot, and she later works as a Pinkerton spy in the South during the Civil War, vowing revenge on whoever betrayed her lover and focusing on a formidable adversary, the notorious real-life Southern spy Mrs. Rose Greenhow. Loaded with suspense and action, this is a well-told, superb story. Agent: Elizabeth Weed, the Book Group.

January 15, 2017
The story of the very first female detective traces her growth from determined young woman to seasoned pro.Though she was not a woman who expected to work, as few women of the 1850s did, Kate Warne is determined to find a position that suits her. Though she's a widow desperate for income, Kate eschews this identity, cultivating instead a reputation as a woman with a quick mind. When she applies for a position at the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Kate uses her powers of persuasion to convince Allan Pinkerton that having a woman on staff might be of particular value. Pinkerton gives Kate a trial case, and while she ends it at odds with fellow detective Tim Bellamy, she lands the job and becomes Pinkerton's first lady agent. Macallister (The Magician's Lie, 2015) follows Kate through her years with Pinkerton's, with each case serving as the next chapter in the serial storyline. Kate finds an ally in colleague Graham DeForest and potential adversaries in Bellamy and new hire Jack Mortenson. The animosity of the latter becomes more prescient when Kate is put in charge of her own department of lady detectives, and Mortenson's lack of respect for women becomes a serious problem. The story follows Kate as she comes into her own, from missteps and mix-ups, like losing key pieces of evidence, to protecting President Abraham Lincoln from an assassination attempt. An Author's Note provides some of the details on the differences between the fiction and Kate's true history, though those immersed in the plot may not want to know the difference. A celebration of a singular woman's life that's guided by facts but features some inviting imaginings.

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February 1, 2017
The title's disguised girl is Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton agent, hired by Alan Pinkerton in 1856. Experienced as a child in assuming costumed roles for her father's scam operations, the adult Kate quickly becomes one of Pinkerton's best detectives, while also constantly battling prejudice against a woman doing a man's job and by reputation-damaging rumors, not to mention putting her life at risk. Authentic historical details lead readers right into the gritty criminal underbelly of Chicago (and elsewhere) and into the agency's role in fighting crime: infiltrating, investigating, and bringing down gangs, thieves, and killers. Macallister's story is a rip-roaring, fast-paced treat to read, with compelling characters, twisted villains, and mounds of historical details adeptly woven into the tale of a courageous woman who loves her job more than anything or anyone else. Kate's matter-of-fact courage and quick thinking may remind readers of Constance Kopp in Amy Stewart's mystery Girl Waits with Gun (2015). Those fascinated by Kate's adventures and personality might also appreciate Pinkerton's Secret (2008), by Eric Lerner, which takes a different tack on the relationship between Pinkerton and Warne.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)