The Case of the Missing Maid

The first in a new historical mystery series by Osler (“Hayden and Friends” novels), who is an Edgar, Anthony, Left Coast Crime, Macavity, and Agatha Award finalist and an MWA Robert L. Fish Award winner. In 1898, women have few rights and are expected to be married and caring for home and family. At 21, Harriet Morrow wants to break the mold. Raised by free-thinking parents, she was encouraged to be herself. She is owner of a Chicago apartment, caring for her younger brother and working as a bookkeeper. Seeking a different path, she applies for a position as a private investigator. To her surprise, she is hired on a trial basis at the Prescott Agency and tasked with finding a missing maid in one week. With little guidance, she begins her investigation, stumbling her way through the search, which takes her into Chicago’s Polish community, the organized crime underworld, and a grand Prairie Avenue estate, not to mention the underground gay and lesbian community of 1898.