The subject matter is great. I think it's very relevant to the movement taking place today and was definitely an interesting read. However, my one criticism, is that this book could have been better organized. Each chapter revolved around a female operative and the case she was assigned. The author or publisher seemingly choose to randomly put these chapter together. I feel like it would have made more sense, and been easier to follow if the chapters had been organized chronologically. All in all, a fascinating read and well worth your time. Thanks to NetGalley for making this title available!

Chris Enss has written an excellent and highly engaging history of the first women detectives of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. These women were at the forefront of the most dangerous work the Pinkerton Agency was doing - protecting the President, spying for the Union during the Civil War, and apprehending dangerous criminals. Kate Warne is the primary focus of the book, and deservedly so. Not only was she the first woman Allen Pinkerton hired, she was incredibly skilled and had a long career with the agency. The stories of Kate Warne and her fellow agents are filled with excitement, danger, and occasionally heart break.
I loved getting this glimpse into the secretive world of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

Fascinating text and rarely heard of story. I was very intriguing throughout and the style and pace were executed well to keep my attention and interest. I enjoyed the cipher code the most, I read it twice!

I didn't know much about the Pinkerton agency, other than that they were detectives. I didn't know they protected President Lincoln and involved themselves in the events of the Civil War -- that they worked as spies for the Union. I had no idea about the theatrical and psychological methods they used... and I didn't know that Pinkerton employed women, before women were regularly employed, and considered them important and indispensable operatives. This book delves into all of that by presenting little case histories of various capers the women were involved in. I say capers because some of them really do seem like that.

It's a little odd that the blurb mentions Kate Warne, the first woman employed by Pinkerton's, in the context of an affair with Allan Pinkerton. Unless I somehow skipped a chapter, there's no such evidence presented in this book. Likewise, it's a little odd -- and sexist -- that the men are referred to by their surnames, while women are referred to either by their full names or, more commonly, by their first names. It seems disrespectful to treat them differently than the men.

Otherwise, this is very readable and undoubtedly interesting. I kind of want a whole stack of novels about Kate Warne, now.

[Review link live from 16/05/2017 on breathesbooks.com.]

I enjoyed this well-researched book about the women of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Many of their missions were more spy-like than what I would consider the modern idea of a detective. Each chapter is another case and another false identity that either stops crimes in their tracks or brings criminals to justice (and sometimes both). These detectives protected the life of President-Elect Lincoln and they served as secret service agents. Would make a great mini-series.

I thought this was a very interesting book! The stories about the Pinkerton Detective Agency were quite interesting and very much connected to history including Abraham Lincoln. The Pinkerton Agency was very much ahead of its time in utilizing women as actual agents. The women were able to gain information from sources that male detectives would not have been able to utilize. I enjoyed this book and would recommend this book to others.

The Pinkerton Agency may have been one you have heard of. This group, lead by Allen Pinkerton, was well known in the era of the Civil War in America for ruthlessly bringing criminals to justice. What you may not have heard of, are the women detectives inside this agency that did a great deal of the dirty work. Known as the Pinks, these women went places where men could not. They could befriend women, encourage the truth out of children, and even seduce others for information. The most famous of these, and the first, was a woman named Kate Warne.

Chris Enss' book, The Pinks, follows the true story of Kate Warne, one of the best known operatives in the Pinkertons. She underwent many missions, including one that safely delivered President Elect Abraham Lincoln to a location before a well planned assassination attempt. This was before he was even president. Enss does his best to try and disspell some of the rumors that float around the story of female detectives, and includes a great deal of references to the resources he's used. There are a great deal of historical photographs included in the book as well for those interested int he time period.

The Pinks is a great deal of fun to read, especially for those who love the Civil War era when studying history, or the involvement of women in the early days of detective work and Presidential protection details. The book is available July 1st from Twodot Press.

I recently finished Greer Macallister's fun novel about Kate Warne, Girl in Disguise, about the first woman hired as a Pinkerton detective. Normally I would prefer to read real history rather than fictionalized, but it seemed that there was little known about Warne, according to Macallister. So I was pleased to see this new non-fiction book about Warne and those who followed in her footsteps. Much of the book does focus on Warne and there is actually quite a lot that is known about her. The book details individual cases that Warne and the other Pinkerton detectives (Pinks), including protecting Abraham Lincoln as he traveled to his first inauguration. Some of the cases are Civil War related and have more to do with spying than detecting. For my money, author Chris Enss saved the best for last -- the final chapter is Kate Warne's swan song and it's a doozy, with poison, adultery, and even a gig as a fortune teller for Warne, who specialized in adopting false identities. There's even a happy ending. (Thanks to TwoDot publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy.)

"The Pinks" is a collection of true crime and spy stories and some biographies. The author talked about several of Kate Warne's cases and about various other women who worked as spies during the Civil War. We're told a little about Pinkerton, his detective agency, and how he hired Kate Warne in 1861. We get details about a couple cases that Kate helped solve (before and after the war). These cases were interesting, especially as the Pinkerton team was hired more to gain confessions than gather clues.

But most of the chapters talked about spying just before and during the Civil War. Kate Warne, Hettie Lawton, Vinne Ream, Elizabeth Baker, Mary Touvestre, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker were all involved in spying for the Union during the war. I don't think that they all worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, though.

Some of the chapters described details about what the woman did and discovered, but some missions were covered only in general terms. The chapter on Dr. Walker focused more on her ambitions and what happened after the war than on what she did as a spy. One chapter was more about submarines and the battles involving the Merrimack and the Monitor than about the women who passed on information about the submarines.

I'd expected more details about Kate Warne's life or a focus on the detective cases involving the first female Pinkerton operatives. Though the book focused more on spying and gave only a brief look at these women, it was interesting to learn some of the things these women did.

Go Get ‘Em!

The Pinkerton Detective Agency has been a part of America for over 150 years, and has been among the most innovative crime-investigating agencies ever. They were among the first to use modern investigative and scientific techniques, and were also early adopters of female detectives. In The Pinks, Chris Enns documents the remarkable stories of the first female Pinkerton detectives.


=== The Good Stuff ===

* The book starts off quickly, grabs your attention, and does a decent job of holding on to it. The language is relatively easy to read, mostly, and I read the book in a day or so.

* You can’t help but like some of the female operatives that are discussed. Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton, had a knack for assuming identities and creating confidences. Her exploits would compare well to any modern detective-and most fictional ones as well. Warne respected no boundaries, either because of her gender, background or experience, and thought nothing of taking up the role of a Southern Lady…just as the Civil War was getting started.

*In the absence of strong US Government law enforcement, the Pinkertons became involved in what would currently be government roles. Protection of the President began as a function of the Pinkerton agency, almost as an accident, and female operatives quite likely saved the life of President Lincoln before he was even inaugurated.

* The book also shows a cross section of life in 19th century America. Law enforcement was certainly different in those times, and the Pinkertons regularly employed tactics that a modern defense attorney would use to have a case dismissed in ten seconds. Entrapment, fraud, intimidation and illegal searches were just how business was done.


=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* If we are to take the book at face value, the Pinkerton Agency was uniformly successful, intrepid, and invaluable in saving the country. I don’t believe that, but I would put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Allan Pinkerton. From what I have read elsewhere, Pinkerton was a shrewd businessman, and understood the value of public relations, advertising and maintaining a positive public image. And while he was noted for detailed chronicles of events, I suspect they were a touch slanted in his direction.

* Parts of the book can get a bit repetitive, with certain information repeated multiple times with no new insights or explanation. Also, parts of the book get a big heavy on quoted passages, something I always find distracting and cumbersome when reading.


=== Summary ===

I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject matter. I believe much of it is based on Allan Pinkerton’s own writings, so it may not be 100% accurate. But it does give a great look at 19th century law enforcement as well as the careers of the first American policewomen.

You can’t help but admire the courage and fortitude it must have taken for these women to be successful.

Very interesting book about the various missions "The Pinks" , as the female Pinkerton agents were known as, and the immeasurable contribution they made for our country. From disguises to coded cipher messages these women got information to Allan Pinkerton that helped save President-elect Lincoln's life and countless lives during the Civil War. An amazing group of women who deserve a prominent spot in the history of our nation.