THE CASE OF THE MISSING MAID first in the Harriet Morrow Investigates lesbian-led series

THE CASE OF THE MISSING MAID (Harriet Morrow Investigates #1)
ROB OSLER
Kensington Publishing (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$22.95 ebook, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: The acclaimed author of the Anthony, Agatha, Macavity, and Lefty Award-nominated Devil’s Chew Toy delights with the first in a new historical mystery series set in turn-of-the-20th-century Chicago, as America is entering its Progressive Era and Harriet Morrow, a bike-riding, trousers-wearing lesbian, has just begun her new job as the first female detective at the Windy City's Prescott Agency...

Chicago, 1898. Rough-around-the-edges Harriet Morrow has long been drawn to the idea of whizzing around the city on her bicycle as a professional detective, solving crimes for a living without having to take a husband. Just twenty-one with a younger brother to support, she seizes the chance when the prestigious Prescott Agency hires her as its first woman operative. The move sparks controversy—with skeptical male colleagues, a high-strung office secretary, and her boss, Mr. Theodore Prescott, all waiting for her to unravel under the pressure . . .

Only an hour into the job, Harriet has an assignment: Discover the whereabouts of a missing maid from one of the most extravagant mansions on Prairie Avenue. Owner Pearl Bartlett has a reputation for sending operatives on wild goose chases around her grand estate, but Harriet believes the stunningly beautiful Agnes Wozniak has indeed vanished under mysterious circumstances—possibly a victim of kidnapping, possibly a victim of something worse . . .

With Mr. Prescott pushing a hard deadline, Harriet’s burgeoning career depends on working through a labyrinth of eccentric characters and murky motives in a race to discover who made Agnes disappear. When her search leads to Chicago’s Polish community and a new friendship in Agnes’s charming older sister, Barbara, clues scattered across the city slowly reveal just how much depends on Harriet’s inexperienced investigation for answers . . . and the deep danger that awaits once she learns the truth.

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My Review: In her very first appearance in this (hopefully) ongoing series, Harriet Morrow receives her new name, "Harry," from her first client. The slightly dotty Mrs. Bartlett insist Agnes, her maid, has disappeared without so much as a by-your-leave. Highly unusual behavior for a servant, still less for Agnes, a most responsible girl according to Mrs. Bartlett.

As mentioned, her dottiness leads Mr. Prescott to assign this tyro woman to the likely useless search for a missing maid and to assign her a "mentor" who "investigated" earlier disappearances of stuff in that house, but they turned out to be an old woman's forgetfulness misplacing the items.

This setup pays off right away in the mentor/mentee relationship setting the tone for misogyny in her new world. She does find an ally in McCabe, another very junior agent, at least in part because she's so roughly dismissed by the senior agents...and the secretaries. While Harry looks into Agnes's disappearance with the diligence one hopes to find in an investigator, she also comes across a world she did not know existed in a gay bar that Barbara (Agnes's sister) introduces her to. Not only is she doing the job for dotty Mrs. Bartlett and proving her right about Agnes, she's discovering why "Harry" felt so fight and fitting as a name for herself.

The mystery itself isn't stunningly complex or stupid-easy. I think if you like Maisie Dobbs, you'll like the mystery and its tone. It's a solidly grounded setting, one that Author Osler is at pains to show you he's researched. It's a slightly over-explained setting for my taste but it's not a huge drag on the pace of the read. The stakes are set early and tension mounts as Harry finds this simple case is the tip of a much more worrying set of crimes. You already know Harry resolves the disappearance because this is a series mystery and ma'at must be upheld.

Choosing to revolve a series opener around a lesbian awakening for your sleuth is bold for a male author. I'm not a lesbian so I don't know what Author Osler might have got wrong. Nothing stood out to me, so at least it's sure he made no catastrophic mistakes. (I hope.) I always prefer to read genre fiction that centers my QUILTBAG siblings. I'll be looking for the next entry in the series with pleasure and anticipation.