The Good Old Summertime

Book excerpt: In 1910, Julia Nye has an unconventional job as a typist for the St. Louis City Police, a first for a woman but not as unconventional as her desire to be a detective like her sheriff father. When her father’s friend, a sheriff in Ste. Genevieve County, dies in a suspicious wagon accident, Julia is excited to investigate along with two male reporter friends. But it turns out the sheriff’s death involves bootlegging. And in 1910, the countryside is a patchwork of wet and dry localities, with prohibition passions threatening the peace. In Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis, police detectives and even Julia’s suffragist housemates make the investigation complicated—and deadly. As she sees her two friends increasingly in danger, Julia worries that her urge to investigate is the cause of the continuing violence. Finding herself attracted to one of the men makes the situation more worrisome. Julia has to decide. She can take the advice of almost everyone to lay low and let the real police detect. Or she can struggle to expose a surprise enemy and push the investigation to a dangerous finish.