1 of 2 copies available
Kate Warne is many things: the country's first female detective, a Pinkerton agent, and a Union spy.
It's August 1861, and her latest assignment could end the bloody Civil War and bring the fractured United States together again. All she must do is win the trust of her captive: Confederate spy and socialite Rose Greenhow. But with Rose well aware of Kate's working-class background and belief in abolitionism, it seems an impossible task. Worse, Kate has secrets that make her vulnerable, such as her forbidden love affair with a colleague.
With time running out, Kate faces not only the moral and political divides between herself and Rose but also the ones she's made in her own heart. She must decide which divides are worth crossing and how far she's willing to go to defeat the Confederacy in this spellbinding and moving new novel from Megan Campisi.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 9, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797177755
- File size: 244247 KB
- Duration: 08:28:50
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from February 26, 2024
Campisi follows up Sin Eater with a gripping and richly imagined mystery set during the American Civil War. At the outset, Pinkerton investigator Kate Warne—the real-life first female detective in America—captures Confederate spy Rose Greenhow, who holds the cipher key that could end the Civil War. After taking Rose captive, Kate is tasked with gaining the woman’s trust and handing over the key to Union forces before Confederate leaders learn Rose has been compromised and change it. It’s no easy task: Kate and Rose are at odds over every conceivable political issue from slavery to class relations, and Kate worries that her illicit interracial romance with Black Pinkerton agent John Scobell could make her vulnerable to blackmail. In the novel’s fierce and frank first-person narration, Kate tries to crack her captive and poignantly reflects on her own personal history, including the death of her immediate family, her escape from starvation in Ireland, and the brutality of factory work in America (which she experienced before meeting Allan Pinkerton and becoming an investigator). With piercing prose and a nimble balance of emotion and suspense, Campisi expertly melds the best of historical mystery with top-shelf literary fiction. Amy Stewart and Sarah Waters fans, take note: this is a must-read. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Susanna Lea Assoc. -
October 1, 2024
Campisi's (Sin Eater) latest historical fiction traces the stories of real-life women spies from the American Civil War. Kate Warne, the first woman Pinkerton detective, receives a new assignment in August 1861: to convince captured Confederate spy, widow, and gentlewoman Rose Greenhow to give up her well-kept secrets. Kate must gain the widow's trust, but spending time with Rose and her young daughter unearths painful memories from her past. While Campisi's premise is intriguing, the plot is muddied by frequent flashbacks to Kate's earlier life, which stall the story's arc and impede the building momentum. Even so, fans of historical fiction featuring daring and determined women will find much to love in this thoughtful reimagining of Kate's life. Narrator Carlotta Brentan occasionally strikes a discordant note with her dialogue, but her Southern drawl is delicious and will draw listeners into the thick of the novel's plot. Despite some issues with pacing, historical fiction fans should enjoy this account of women spies during the Civil War. VERDICT Recommended for those who enjoyed Greer Macallister's Girl in Disguise or Eric Lerner's Pinkerton's Secret, both of which imagine other adventures with Kate Warne at the center.--Jennifer Embree
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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