The idea of this book which seems to me to be a female crime detective sidling into looking to right the wrongs done to young women who seek independent lives is great ... but it all feels stodgy to me, like expectations are being undermined in worthy feminist considerations but less attention to an exciting story! It reads like a series of events. But what a great idea!

The third in a series about three unusual sisters, this one focuses primarily on Constance, an early female Deputy and therefore a source of frequent surprise and ridicule in the community. She earned her gun and position not least because of her considerable size and girth. She is larger than almost all of the men she meets and doesn't hesitate to knock them down physically if called upon to do so. In this book, she finds herself in charge of the women's jail and wondering why so many young women are there due to vague morals charges that men never share guilt in (although she points out, without their cooperation in the task, there can be no guilt for the women, either.) She advocates for two such women and finds herself required to put her personal beliefs where her work truth is when her own younger sister flees in search of adventure, however briefly. Many aspects of the characters and their lives are based upon true people and incidents adding color to the tale. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley. A wonderful book for lovers of historical fiction and early 20th Century.

This is the third book in a series about Constance Kopp, one of the nation's first female deputy sheriff's. The first book, Girl Waits with Gun, is definitely where you should start if you want to check out this series. I liked that it is set in New Jersey, where I live. It's interesting to read about what life was like in NJ and America in general for women during the early 1900's. The author does a great job of mixing facts about the Kopp sisters with fictional storylines. All three of the sisters are great characters, each one unique, but all three independent and strong in her own way. I hope there will be more books to come in this series.

I am enjoying these Kopp Sisters books more and more. This is the third in the series and based on the real life of Constance Kopp, the first deputy female sheriff in New Jersey. This book is set in 1916 and women do not have the right to vote yet. It reminds us that we have not even been able to vote for a hundred years.

This story involves the local authorities locking up young women in reformatories if they decide they don't want to live at home any more (even after 18) and hand off every cent of their paychecks to their families. They often work at low paying and back breaking factories for less than a man because as one girl was told, "You don't want to take away money from a man who is supporting a family, do you?" Of course this is a struggle that continues to this day.

Constance decided this is horrible and starts helping young women who have left their homes to make a life for themselves. Her sister, Norma, is quite an eccentric and is working on a project to get the White House to use carrier pigeons to carry messages. Fleurette, Constance's supposed sister but actually is her daughter, leaves home to join a dance troupe and makes Constance practice what she preaches.

I love this series and a look at the life women lived 100 years ago and how little or far we've come. I especially like it because it's based on a real person and everything sounds so authentic and real. This was a joy to read.

Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book.

This is a really great series. One of my favorite things to do after I'm done reading is to find out how much of the story the author based on reality. It's so interesting to know how many characters and events really happened. The story itself is about how horrible it is to be a woman in 1916. You had a follow a very narrow path and if you deviated from the path there is a good chance that you'll be arrested for 'immorality' (a very broad term).

The characters are wonderful and when the book is over I was sad to leave them. I'm hoping that Fleurette has really grown up and stops complaining about how weird sisters are. They are weird and that's what makes them so fun to read about.

One small complaint is that there are an election coming up and the book ended before it took place. Does this mean that the next book will be dealing with the new sheriff (who ever he will be)? Does this mean that there will be another book?

I read the second Constance Kopp novel, _Lady Cop Makes Trouble_, through NetGalley, and really enjoyed it--so I was delighted to get approved to read the third book in the series, _Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions_.

What is truly remarkable about these books is that they are based on a very real woman named Constance Kopp who was, in fact, the first paid "lady deputy" in New Jersey at the beginning of the 20th century, and author Amy Stewart draws on newspaper accounts of and other documentation of Ms. Kopp's exploits for the basis of her plots. Stewart uses the facts as a starting point and then seamlessly entwines her research with a real gift for narrative, resulting in a historical mystery that is both illuminating of its era and a damn good story, too.

I especially enjoyed the way Stewart used this book to show how conscripted young women's lives were at the time, particularly if they are poor or of modest means. At the jail where she serves as the matron for female prisoners, Constance struggles against a county prosecutor who's determined to send any independent young woman to the reformatory if she's perceived to have "loose morals": and perception alone is enough to doom a wayward girl to reform school; no evidence is needed. At home, she struggles to grant more freedom to her teenage sister, Fleurette, who longs to be an actress. These parallel storylines work well together, and Stewart also hints at the ways that the impending first World War will open up all kinds of new opportunities for women. Even the grumpy middle sister, Norma, is poised to take center stage in the war effort with her messenger pigeons.

This would be a great book to use in a class on the women's detective novel; though it's written in the present, Stewart's meticulous historical research makes it a far more believable account of the obstacles facing female detectives, and women generally, in the early 20th century.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced readers' copy!

★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Without meaning to slight Girl Waits with Gun or Lady Cop makes Trouble, this is the best constructed novel in this series. There's a unity of theme, stories that complement each other, and a level of (honest) introspection from the characters that we haven't seen before. That said, I don't think I enjoyed it nearly as much as I did the others. So it's a little bit of a trade-off.

We are treated to three stories of young women, one sixteen year-old and two eighteen year-olds, who leave home for various reasons. They all want something more than they can have at home -- meaning, a job, excitement, freedom, and maybe something more. One girl did everything right, but sill was arrested for waywardness. One was pretty foolish, and did some illegal things, but was really arrested for the foolish mistake. The third was Constance's little sister, Fleurette. Constance went to bat for all three -- interceding with the law (when applicable), with family (when she could), trying to give them the ability to live the life they wanted to -- and each of them pressed Constance's ability, job and standing as she did so.

While this is going on, Constance is making headlines across the nation -- making her both a distraction to her friend the Sheriff, as well as a voice for social change. I know she regrets the former, and I'm not convinced she relishes the latter. If she had her druthers, I think Constance would prefer just to do her job and be left alone. But she is learning how to use her notoriety -- or at least her relationship with members of The Press -- to help her accomplish her goals.

Constance begins to come to terms with some very unfortunate realities of her life, and begins to grasp what the future may hold for her, both professionally and personally. In some way (I think), she thought she could keep the life she had and just add on her job on top of it. But between her fame, the time she spends away from the home, Fleurette's aging and getting ready to leave the nest, and everything else going on around the sisters, that's no longer possible. Her old life is gone, and the new one is too in flux for her to get a handle on it. Assuming that there are more Kopp Sister novels to come, watching Constance figure out what her life will be -- and hopefully she gets a hand in shaping it -- will be the key to the series as it progresses.

On the whole, this one didn't work as well for me as the previous books did. But several of the individual elements I found compelling and wanted more of -- I wish we got more of the story about Edna Heustis (I don't need to know what happened over the rest of her life, I just want a clearer picture of the next few months) or her roommate. I'd have liked more interaction between Constance and her boss -- we just didn't get enough of them -- and an honest conversation about the future would've been nice. I did think the ending of the Fleurette story was handled perfectly -- I don't think I'd change a thing about that whole storyline, really. Still, this novel was somehow less than the sum of its parts, for me -- but I can easily see where I'll be in the minority for thinking that. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, I just should've enjoyed it more.

Strong characters, some strong themes (ones you usually don't see in Detective fiction), and a tumultuous time period (for several reasons) combine to deliver another satisfying entry in this series that'll please existing fans and probably pick up a few more.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for this post -- thanks to both for this.

Constance Kopp's adventures as Hackensack's female under Sheriff continue in this third installment of Amy Stewart's fantastic series. Being the only female sheriff in town is no mean feat but Miss Kopp is up to the challenge (in size and spirit) and finds herself on a mission to protect young ladies wrongfully and sometimes rightfully accused of wayward behaviour at the same time as dealing with her own family dramas as her younger sister leaves home to join a travelling vaudeville act.

Amy Stewart's writing is smart and funny and the complex relationships between Constance and her sisters and especially with her employer Sheriff Heath always leave me wanting more.

The third installment of the Kopp Sisters' series, "Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions," is as just delightful as the previous releases. The protagonist, Constance Kopp, is now more well defined as a character, not just as a cop but as a sister and a mother in a subconscious sense as well. She possess the quality of a good cop who is determined to bring justice around but she never forgets to have compassion on her inmates. Here in the third book, in the early 1900s, many conservative parents seek ways to "educate" their "socially wayward" daughters by wanting to put them in jails. Constance encounters two girls who, though both are entirely different in temperaments, behaviors, moral values and motives, are trying to gain independence in their own ways. Constance understands incarceration is not the answer to solve the problem of "waywardness" and she does all she could to convince the judge to let the girls to retain their independence and freedom. In fact, some of the "waywardness" have absolute nil basis to fall back on. The lack of understanding and communication between the generations cause <i>some</i> of the, seemingly, immorality problems.

While the general public still maintains the conventional beliefs that young and unmarried girls should stay home to help, behave respectably, and marry properly someday, Constance is few steps ahead of the people of her time. When her youngest sister, Fleurette, "runs away" to peruse her dreams temporarily, Constance believes in her sister without reservation though her fear of losing Fleurette shakes her confidence somewhat here and there. Author, Amy Stewart, skillfully tie the cases of the wayward young girls to the predicament of having a runaway sister in the Kopp's household. I have long expected something along that line could happen to Fleurette - an attractive, naive and carefree young spirit who yearns to be in the show business someday. Not only Ms. Stewart brings out a common social misconception/problem about young ladies in the early 1900s, the story line of the Kopp sisters is further developed as well. I can't wait to find out more about the three sisters, Constance, Norma, and Fleurette, in the future installments because their clashing personalities and their conflicts are simply fun to read.

Ms. Stewart provides historical facts and backgrounds on the cases, and she tries to stay true to the facts as much as she could with minimum imaginations and fabrications to fill the gaps. As a historical novel, this is a fun, not too heavy yet not overly cozy. Balanced. "Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions" does not have the drama and intense action from the first two books but it gives a different flavor of what it was like in NY/NJ at the turn of the century. A highly enjoyable read. Here and there the conversation between the Kopp sisters would make me laugh. I particularly love the unwanted proposals Constance receives and how Norma would responses to those letters.

Thanks, Netgallery and publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an advanced reading copy in obtaining my honest opinion on this wonderful new addition to the series.

Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions (A Kopp Sisters Novel) by [Stewart, Amy]

So not exactly great literature, but it was fun to read.

Review copy provided by publisher.

I loved this book. Loves the first two, too. Keep writing.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

I have read the previous books in this series and really enjoyed them. This takes place in 1916 when it was unusual for women to have the type of position that Miss Kopp had in a Sheriff's Office. Unlike the previous books, this one dealt with the mores and morals of the times and the roles that were expected of women. Miss Kopp's investigations focused on situations where young women were arrested because they wanted to lead independent lives. The author does a good job of combining a police procedural with historical fiction.

The third book in an engaging series based on a true early policewoman. Besides finding out what is going on with her family we learn about how the early 20th century was unfair to young women. In this story one woman runs away to get work at a factory and her family reports her and she is put in jail. She has to prove she isn't a prostitute so she can go back to her job. It's a good thing she has Constance Kopp to help her. It's frustrating to see how constricted the movements of young women were at the time. Again, well written. I'd recommend reading the first two before reading this one. Enjoy!

This is the third book in the series about Deputy Sheriff Constance Kopp. I’ve read them all and was looking forward to this newest one in the series.

The setting is 1916. “Deputy sheriff Constance Kopp is outraged to see young women brought into the Hackensack jail over dubious charges of waywardness, incorrigibility, and moral depravity. The strong-willed, patriotic Edna Heustis, who left home to work in a munitions factory, certainly doesn't belong behind bars. And sixteen-year-old runaway Minnie Davis… , [is arrested and] packed off to a state-run reformatory. The story focuses on these two young women who left home for varying reasons, ended up working in factories, and were brought to the jail on vague “morality” charges that could keep them locked up for years. But Constance is not willing to give up on these young women. And so the saga begins.

Constance investigates and defends these women when no one else will. Constance’s heart is in the right place—she wants to help Minnie [who is especially wayward] and Edna—who she knows is good.

Her boss, Sheriff Heath, a somewhat liberated man, stands by her but his hands often are tied. And his wife is very wary oif Constance.

Aside from Constance’s duties at the jail and the aforementioned young women, the Kopp sisters form the core of the novel. Constance and her sisters are independent-minded and richly developed characters in this fascinating fact-based historical series. Norma, in charge of the farm, correspondence [Constance gets many letters proposing matrimony], and finances, also trains pigeons. She also sets the latter part of the novel' plot in motion. She is quite the character. Fleurette, the younger sister, wants to be a performer, and is also a superb seamstress. She challenges Constance's beliefs -- how should a young woman behave?

I quite like Constance, And I love the language/cadence of Amy Stewart. But, it didnt quite grab me.

Admirable for its research –there are pages of historical notes and sources at the end. And, in particular, I loved how the language is structured—I truly felt I was at the beginning of the 20th century.

Another solid addition to the series! I highlighted so many passages where Constance sets about applying logic and human compassion to the unjust, sexist laws of the time.

One oddity: My chapter 29 was a blank page followed immediately by chapter 30, so I'll be interested to read what appears in the final version.

Iron bars. Jingling jailhouse keys. A shiny badge and a hidden gun.

Constance was not a woman who was troubled by the idea of shoving a man.........

Have mercy! The Kopp Sisters are back in the third book of this rough and tumble series by Amy Stewart. Constance, a newly appointed sheriff's deputy in Hackensack, New Jersey, is like the snap and pop that you get out of a freshly chewed chunk of bubblegum. Quick and clever, she knows only too well the daily barricades placed in front of women as the tides flow closer to World War I.

Constance's duty involves being the matron of the female section of the jail. And in this era women have such sculpted crimes of their own: waywardness, co-habitating without marriage, suggestiveness, and refusing to stay under her parents' roof. The judge usually threw the book at her with a long stay in the confines of a reformatory with a soiled reputation and smudged records. And marriage in the future? As Tony Soprano would say: "Forget about it!"

But Constance has her hands full with the likes of sixteen year old Minnie Davis. Minnie has slammed the door on her family home with a loud bang and taken to residing with Tony Leo who keeps a fake marriage license application in his pocket. It appears that tantalizing Tony will slip through the cracks and Minnie is looking at spending time in that afore-mentioned reform school.

Constance is going to get in the middle of this cracklin' case for sure. But our lady deputy will have her hands full with a family matter sizzling like hotcakes on a stove. Ironically, youngest sister, Fleurette, with starry-eyed dreams of being on stage runs away with a traveling theater show. Both Constance and sister Norma are shocked. Norma will be hot on Fleurette's trail with Constance hiding her own 6 foot frame in confined telephone booths in hotel lobbies. And what's to become of Fleurette?

Amy Stewart has raised the stakes in this one with more humor, shady life styles of the time period, and multi-layered storylines. Stewart has based her story on the real-life Kopp sisters while adding a few embellishments along the way. The author's notes at the end of the book are rich with interesting details. Although the ending was a tad abrupt, it leads the reader to believe that there's a wide open door with more to come in the lives of these sizzlin' sisters. And we'll certainly stay tuned for more Hackensack adventures.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and to Amy Stewart for the opportunity.

What fun to have adventures with the other two Kopp sisters. Norma and Fleurette feature much more prominently in this tale than they have in the past. I really enjoy the sense of time that Amy Stewart captures with her attention to details like clothing, reactions to a female Sheriff's deputy, transportation, women's boarding houses, factory work and more. This is great fiction to escape the hot summer days but it is laced liberally with truth and facts.

This was the first of the Kopp Sisters books I've read, but it won't be the last; I plan to go back and read the first two in the series. This one stands up on its own, however. I enjoyed the sly humor and the well-delineated characters, and as the mom of a daughter the same age as Fleurette, I appreciated Constance's struggle between wanting to protect her daughter and realizing the importance of letting her make her own way, a struggle that was handled deftly.

I jumped at the chance to review this title since I had read and enjoyed the previous two novels in the Kopp Sisters series. Thanks to NetGalley for supplying me with an ARC!

As I was thinking of how to review this, I realized that there are parallels between this and my favorite cozy mystery series, Flavia de Luce. Both are set in the past, both have strong, interesting female leads, both have obnoxious sisters (I'm looking at you, Norma!), and sly humor. However, Flavia unravels mysteries whereas Constance, despite being in law enforcement, doesn't really solve mysteries. She chases down leads and questions people, but the books feel more like adventures, not mysteries. Cozy adventure, is that a thing? Historical fiction with mystery flair?

Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions opens with a morality case - Edna Heustis is brought into Constance's jail on a charge of waywardness, with her mother as the accuser. Constance has been seeing more young women brought in for "serious crimes," like keeping late hours, talking to men, or dressing provocatively. Heaven forbid!

Soon after, another girl, Minnie, is brought in for living with a man without being married. Constance sees herself in these young women (remember where Fleurette came from!), and tries to do her best for them by investigating the claims against them and speaking up for them with the judge. And in the middle of all this, Fleurette decides to leave home and join a vaudeville troupe.

Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions centers on the limitations placed on women in the early 20th century - Constance has to constantly fight for her place in law enforcement, Edna is punished for simply leaving home and seeking employment, Minnie is shamed for promiscuity, and Fleurette struggles to leave farm life and domesticity behind.

A standout element of the novel is the humor, and I love (to hate) the character of Norma. Don't we all have a family member(s) that drive us up the wall?

The book wraps up with historical notes that give more insight into the real people behind the story as well as the era this is set in. If you liked the first two books, you'll definitely like this third installment. If you haven't read the other two, it's not necessary to read them to enjoy this one; however, you'll get more out of it if you read them in order.

This story is based on real events in the lives of three sisters, Constance, Fleurette and Norma Kopp, who lived in Bergen County in 1900’s. They are all rather quirky characters, first lady policeman, in Bergen County, Sheriff’s dept. This book is set in 1916, and Constance is becoming famous for being first lady deputy, in Bergen County, Sheriff’s dept. And amusingly keeps getting marriage proposals from men all over area.
The best part of this book is the historical content, and the ease with which the story jogs along. This is an entertaining novel about the trials and tribulations of this unusual family, and their relationships with each other.
There aresome really interesting details about morals and attitudes towards young women at the time.
On the whole an enjoyable book.