A woman disguised as a man investigating a drug ring with mysteriously disappearing opium disguised takes dedication and a keen intellect in Katrina Carrasco's The Best Bad Things.

Alma Rosales, a former Pinkerton detective, is a good investigator who observes minute details and asks probing questions while infiltrating situations as need demands as either a female or, as she often prefers, a male. Embedding herself into the West Coast drug scene as Jack Camp, Alma aims to uncover who within the operation is stealing opium from her employer and former lover Delphine. Gaining the trust of one of the local bosses proves to be more of a challenge, when her identity as Camp might become compromised, but her quick wit and thirst for violence prove to be an asset. As the search for the culprit closes in, Alma not only has to navigate the corruption of Port Townsend and keep her identity hidden, but she also has to work to keep the incoming Pinkerton agents at bay to prevent a wrench in her well-laid plans. 

A tale of vice, excess, and corruption that is presented through jumps in Alma's recollection of her assorted reconnaissance work, current and developing action, and the interrogation of a man in police custody, which paints a more cohesive narrative, though its development doesn't build naturally and rather offers small bits for the reader to cobble together. Alma is an incredibly self-confident (perhaps too much so) and sharp-tongued lead; her ability to handle herself physically against opponents is impressive, and skills in camouflaging herself for the situation prove vital for success. Though the text was a bit heavy-handed and overly detailed on brutality and sexual aggressiveness, it was interesting to see a woman taking liberties with her sexuality and dressing as she wants despite the cultural expectations and customs of the era.

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Best Bad Things delivers all that the title promises.   Alma Rosales, a Pinkerton agent operating in 1887 in the western frontier is on the hunt for opium thieves.  Some missing cargo in Washington leaves Alma following clues across the west sometimes in her own guise, sometimes dressed as Jack Camp, a hard-talking, punch-throwing cowboy.  This tightly woven mystery twists back on itself several times before unfolding. Alma/Jack herself is a mystery, an agent for the government; she betrays the agency to work as an enforcer for a smuggler.  A superbly plotted mystery set in the Wild West.

This is a book I admired more than loved. A gender-fluid, part-Latinx protagonist on the rough-and-tumble Washington coast during the time of opium smuggling, Pinkerton agents, and the rise of the railroads? Wow. The plot was suitably complex, with lots of ball juggling, and the prose was so vivid. But the overuse, IMO, of sentence fragments wore on me, to the point that I almost gave up reading before the halfway mark, and I felt some of the descriptions could have been pruned to quicken the pace . We get it: Alma, the protagonist, is highly physical, likes to fight as much as have sex with both men and women, and has seemingly miraculous healing powers. No need to keep showing me that. More important, it wasn't until the final fifth of the book that I felt any empathy with Alma. I don't need to like a character to want to spend time with him or her, but I do need to feel some sort of connection, and I didn't until the final act.

This book sounded like it was tailor-made for me. Female Pinkerton agent in pre-statehood Washington (Port Townsend, to be exact), AND she likes the ladies? I've never wanted Netgalley to approve me for a book than this one. It did not disappoint!

While it has a strong mystery plot as the backbone, the real draw of this book is the main character (who is bisexual, as it turns out). Alma is one of the toughest protagonists I've read in a long time. Is Alma good or bad? Is she the law or a criminal? The answer is yes. Alma's loyalty is to herself and whatever can best serve her in the moment. Carrasco takes the time to really get into her head and show us the world from her perspective. She's always working the angles, never panicking or letting herself get found wrongfooted. I really appreciated the care which was given to Alma's transformation into Jack. It wasn't a simple matter of putting on new clothes and changing her voice, there was a true process that the author did a great job portraying.

This is a book where the story is a backdrop for us to meet a truly original, fascinating character. That said, the writing is fantastic and instantly evocative of the time period. The world opens up almost immediately in all its ugliness and beauty and violence. The characters are well-drawn (if there was ever a spinoff or a prequel or anything with Delphine, sign me up). I look forward to recommending this - and really anything else Katrina Carrasco writes in the future - to everyone I know.

"I’ve made corpses before but never loved it."

Alma Rosales can be many things: a Pinkerton agent, a naive young Scottish girl, a gruff dock worker, a poor Southern worker woman. A shape-shifter, a chameleon, one who is willing to play any angle to get the information she needs. Now in Townsend, Washington working for Delphine Beaumond, her past lover and boss, she is tasked with finding a leak in the opium supply chain. Alma spends most of her time as dock worker and clerk Jack Camp, moving her way stealthily through the dark society of the city's underworld.

Two things stuck out for me in this novel. As sharp as her knife and as deadly as the bullets in her gun, Rosales uses cross-dressing as a sexual weapon. Carrasco's evocative use of the double honey pot trap was unique and done perfectly to heighten the sexual tension between the characters. Connected to that is the double, triple, and maybe quadruple plays the characters employ to outscheme their rivals, their rival's rivals, and of course, their unsuspecting friends.

Carrasco's writing is sharp, especially during the action scenes when she employs an almost staccato or machine gun cadence to her sentences. The descriptions have a sensory connection to the action that serves to link you directly with Alma's bones and muscles. The atmosphere of the Northwest setting and the time period is well crafted and worthy of much praise. Shanghaiing, girls, and drugs... The author makes the commerce of the day and the power plays surrounding it vivid and tangible.

A vivd cast of characters, a strong decisive style, and a burning tension throughout make The Best Bad Things a book I can highly recommend. Alma Rosales is a smart, savvy character who will not be forgotten any time soon. A great debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and Katrina Carrasco for the advanced copy for review.

A fun,fantastic,1800s Jane Bond is the best description I can give to this novel and main character. I hope we get more books about her because one is just not enough.

Great Debut!! Literate, exciting, historically accurate, thrilling new novel by Carrasco. With a sensual female protagonist who likes to dress like a man(and who has sexual desires that rival James Bond) and who fights like one too--this novel set in Portland /San Francisco in the lat 1890's is just so different and compelling that I couldn't put it down. Spare but riveting prose takes us deep into the minds of the characters. Highly Recomended--a substantial cut above most historical fiction and bodice rippers.

This is a well written novel with deep description, solid plotting, and terrific characterization. The pace started slow and steady and gained momentum until all hell broke loose. The ending is ripe for a sequel, even though it’s not set up for one. Highly recommended!

This has some twists. A fun historical mystery. I hope there are more Alma Rosales books to come.

The Best Bad Things is an outstanding literary entertainment. It is a sweaty, sensual, physical sensory overload. In terms of historical novels, it is on a par with Francis Spufford's Golden Hill for its' ambition, cheek and evocation of place.
Alma Morales/Jack Camp is the gender-fluid, all action anti-hero we need. In your imagination this book is a ten part, widescreen HBO epic. You can see her bruised knuckles, dirty fingernails and blood-stained clothes as she cuts a swathe through Port Townsend, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. Like any anti-hero she makes mistakes, gets into fights and very bad spots, enjoying every minute of it.
Alma is trained as a detective and a spy. She is looking for a patsy to take the fall for the smuggling operation run by her boss, and erstwhile lover, Delphine. The more you pay attention in this book, the better the reward. Just as Alma spends half the book as Jack, there is a deal of misdirection in the plot, which is cleverly resolved.
All of the characters are vividly imagined. Wheeler, the boss, is a complex and violent man. Nell, the forger doesn't suffer fools, and Delphine turns on a sixpence, depending on whose company she keeps. So much of the dialogue is like sparring, a fascinating power struggle between people desperate to make it in a dangerous town.
The Best Bad Things is a phenomenal debut novel from Katrina Carrasco.

3.5 Stars

Alma Rosales is a new sort of heroine. She’s smart. She’s brash. She’s a snoop and a spy. She’s daring, sharp-tongued and maybe a little too full of herself. Her self-confidence is both a blessing and a curse as she sets off on high-adrenaline historical fiction suspenseful thrill ride.

A former detective for the notorious Pinkerton agency, Alma, fired but unwilling to give up the hunt, begins her work for a jasmine-dripped woman named Delphine. Alma goes undercover as a man named Jack Camp to infiltrate a local man’s business. There’s opium. There’s murder. And there’s plenty of sexual tension as Alma/Jack employs scheme after scheme to aid Delphine and keep the Pinkertons at bay.

What sets this novel apart is clear: the heroine. She’s Latina. She’s a woman. She’s overtly sexual on all sides. She’s tough. It’s refreshing to have a female character who smashes stereotypes and gets the job done in the process.

My only snag was I felt the story didn’t build so much as leap, if that makes sense.

Amazingly engrossing and well written historical fiction .