It’s September 1902, and Mary MacDougall has fulfilled her greatest dream—opening her own detective agency. But the achievement doesn’t come without complication.
Mary’s father insists that an older cousin come to work with her—as both secretary and minder. Jeanette Harrison pledges to keep the plucky sleuth away from danger, as well as from her unsuitable suitor Edmond Roy. This arrangement, embarrassingly, makes Mary the only detective in the state with a chaperone.
The new agency’s first cases hardly seem to portend danger or significance. There’s the affair of the nicked napkin rings…the problem of the purloined pocket watch...and the matter of the four filched felines.
Mary and Jeanette have not the slightest notion that one of these modest little matters will blow up into the most consequential and perilous case of the heiress-sleuth’s budding career. What begins in triviality mushrooms into disappearance, betrayal, international intrigue, and murder. As she learns more and more, Mary’s prospects for making the acquaintance of an assassin’s blade improve dramatically.
A Character's Own Words
Title: Our Thoroughly Modern Mary
Mary MacDougall was only a few months old when I started working for the family in 1883. Her mother, Alice, had come to realize that with two small children, her own efforts—even with the help of a part-time maid—weren’t nearly up to properly keeping that big house on Superior Street in order. My two boys were grown and gone, and my husband wasn’t in the best of health. So the job came as a blessing.
My first assignment was to add the necessary staff. John MacDougall had just recently become a millionaire, but I could tell it tore at his Scotch frugality, paying those salaries. Alice, however, was insistent, and, as usual, John let her have her way. I hired a cook. The part-time maid became full-time and we two handled the inside. I found a good man to take care of the outside—from gardening and driving to repair and shoveling. He was a Civil War veteran, an artilleryman who had fought at Shiloh.
From the minute she started walking, little Mary was all over the house and into everything. If she wasn’t following her mother around, or her big brother Jim, she was haunting me. And I never did meet a more inquisitive creature. “Emma, why?” “Emma, what?” “Emma, how?” As soon as she knew how to read, she gobbled up books like cookies. At first she hated her piano lessons. But she warmed to the keyboard, and before long was playing simple Mozart and things of the sort. Sometimes, the girl exhausted us, with her constant motion and curiosity. But Alice wouldn’t have had it any other way. Nor would have I.
But when Alice’s illness took her, all the joy went out of that little girl, who was just barely eight years old. With her father traveling so frequently, the job of mothering Mary and her big brother fell to me. I assumed, of course, that Mr. MacDougall would remarry at some point. But he never did and it was I who saw to the children. I tended to their scrapes and bruises. I helped them with their homework. I gave them encouragement when they were down. I meted out a few paddlings when they were naughty, but more often hugs when they were good. I like to think they love me as much as I love them.
But if I’ve learned anything about Mary MacDougall, it’s to expect the unexpected.
For instance, one naturally assumes that an attractive young lady such as Mary would, by and by, find herself a husband. Or pursue a degree. Her father said he would be fine with sending his precocious girl off to any college she picked.
But she’s followed neither path, choosing something that is quite out of the ordinary for any woman, much less a young lady of means.
Of course, I thought Mary would grow out of her fascination with detective stories and the like. But it seems I was wrong. I’ve never seen anyone quite so tenacious about pursuing her dream. She’s managed to get herself involved in criminal investigations. She even saved a woman’s life off in Michigan, though she ended up in jail doing it.
You may well ask why John MacDougall hasn’t put his foot down and physically restrained his daughter. Well, he could, I suppose. But he knows it would make life in this house a misery. Our thoroughly modern Mary would see to that. He hopes that by allowing Mary her scheme to run a detective agency, the drudgery of everyday business will soon come to bore her. I would warn Mr. MacDougall that I think that won’t happen anytime soon. Mary appears to be having way too much “fun.”
And her efforts apparently haven’t gone unnoticed. In fact, just a few days ago, a slender little man came to the house with two other gentlemen, to conduct a private interview with Mary. I wasn’t told his name—only that he represented the State Department. The State Department!
Of course, I’m dying of curiosity to know what their conversation was about. I expect Mary will tell me when she’s good and ready. For now, though, all she’ll say is: “Sorry, Emma, it’s top secret.”
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
December 2 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 3 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 4 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, GUEST POST
December 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
December 6 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
December 6 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 7 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
December 8 – Baroness’ Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
December 8 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 9 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
December 10 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 10 – Ascroft, eh? – GUEST POST
December 11 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
December 12 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW
December 13 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Thanks so much for hosting my blog tour! And I hope everyone enjoys housekeeper Emma Beach's little memoir of the young sleuth Mary MacDougall.
Posted by: Richard Audry | 12/02/2019 at 01:39 PM