I discovered Jane Smiley many years go. In fact it was her book, The Greenlanders, that captured my interest in her writing (you must read it!). I also read a few more of her books and equally enjoyed them. What luck to stumble across her latest book via @netgalley. In a nutshell, this is a murder mystery, with the investigations being carried out by Eliza, a working girl in Monterey in the 1850s. Eliza’s abusive husband was killed in a bar fight, and based on her experiences with her husband, she turn sot working in a local brothel to earn some money. She connects with another girl, Jean and soon discover they both love Edgar Allen Poe, and have an insatiable appetite to solve the disappearances of several young women (also prostitutes).



There was not a lot of substance to either the characters or the mystery. Eliza and Jean were amateur detectives however they were portrayed almost as hapless young girls. The descriptions of her work were pallid and basic;

and there was no other element to Eliza that brough her vividness or vibrancy. The brothels did highlight places of safety for many women during this time; they were protected and earned their money. And maybe the lacklustre descriptions of the motions of Eliza’s days were to provide that sense of going through the motions; it was a job so she could earn enough money to live alone and not have to return to her parents. Monterey sounded like a beautiful place, but it seemed to lose its gleam as Eliza and Jean explored in order to solve the crimes. The sheen of a gold rush town wore thin as the reality of murder and working out the murdered became all too clear. Maybe that was the cleverness in the story – the rose coloured glasses lifted at the end for Eliza to see there was so much more to life than this.

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley is a quaint cozy mystery set in 1850’s Monterey, California, in the midst of the Gold Rush.
Eliza, the protagonist, is a young woman from Kalamazoo, Michigan, whose conniving husband drags her across the country to California, where he subsequently dies in a bar fight, leaving her destitute. With few skills and no money, Eliza becomes a prostitute in a relatively clean and honest brothel run by kindly Mrs. Parks. When local young women keep turning up dead, Eliza, inspired by Poe’s August Dupin, begins sleuthing to find the killer, aided by her quirky friend Jean.
The setting is nicely atmospheric, with local landmarks and legends well-described, including the “ghosts” of local legend. There are scenes of violence but also tenderness, as the reader observes Eliza maturing and forging her path as a strong woman in a rough and tumble town.
The jewel in this book is Jane Smiley’s beautiful storytelling—her simple yet descriptive narrative is skillfully written and envelopes the reader with a strong sense of place and commitment to Eliza’s story, her personal growth and future.
This is a beautiful simple story about the resilience of women in “a dangerous business” and a dangerous world, told with great insight and charm. I have long admired Smiley’s writings and highly recommend this new novel to those who appreciate a story rich in historical perspective and literary skill.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley is a murder mystery set in Monterey during the early 1850's. Jean and Eliza are friends who are both working as prostitutes and who discover the body of a young women during a stroll. Over the course of some weeks, they find two additional bodies of women who were apparently murdered. Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, the two women decide that since no one seems concerned about these deaths, they will do some sleuthing on their own.

The book is a quick read, at 224 pages, and the plot is not terribly complex. The multiple sexual encounters are not written graphically, and reflect Eliza's personal disregard for the men she services. Eliza is an interesting main character, both sympathetic and strong, and as she was originally from a town very close to me, I enjoyed reading her memories of her hometown. I did not find the mystery compelling, however, and the final reveal was neither surprising nor terribly satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the advanced copy of A Dangerous Business. The opinions in this review are my own.

A quick read, set in Monterey (where I once lived!) so I was immediately drawn to it. A bit slow to start, but picks up the pace. I really enjoyed that Eliza has no qualms about her profession - that she realizes this makes her independent in a time when many women aren't and thus embraces being a prostitute. I feel that's refreshing in literature, a different take. A historical mystery with well developed characters and compelling descriptions of California during the Gold Rush/pre-Civil War era.

“A Dangerous Business,” by Jane Smiley, Knopf, 224 pages, Dec. 6, 2022.

It is 1851 in Monterey, California. Ever since her husband, Peter, was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Cargill, who goes by the last name Ripple, has been working in a brothel. Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security.

It seems like a better life. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind. But then dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town. The victims are all prostitutes. Eliza and her friend, Jean MacPherson, try to piece together an array of clues to catch the killer.

Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive, but to find their way in a lawless town on the fringes of the Wild West. As Mrs. Parks says, "Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Mrs. Parks runs a tight ship and her doorman Carlos keep the girls safe.

As one would expect, the historical aspect is nicely done, with her detailed descriptions, Smiley evokes the town in Gold Rush California. As for the mystery itself, it mainly involves Eliza and Jean following their clients until the resolution. By the middle of the book, I was tired of the descriptions of Eliza’s interactions with client. Although it is a relatively short book, that was too drawn-out.

Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including “A Thousand Acres,” my favorite of her books. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Eliza Ripple has been living and working in a brothel ever since her husband died. Then girls start mysteriously turning up dead and Eliza and her friend Jean begin to investigate. Set against the backdrop of Gold Rush California in Monterey 1851, the novel gives interesting insight into the lives and times that were. Especially with the civil war looming in the horizon. An easy quick read if historical mystery fiction is your cup of tea.

This guaranteed bestseller is very different from A Thousand Acres, the book that made Jane Smiley famous, but it beautifully displays her considerable gifts for setting and character. The heroine, Eliza Ripple, is still in her teens when she is forced to become a prostitute to support herself in 1851 Monterey, California, after her much older husband is shot in a bar brawl and leaves her penniless. It's a quiet life with a dependable income, and the owner of the establishment where Eliza works makes sure her girls are protected from the worst aspects of the trade, Eliza is content -- until someone starts killing Monterey prostitutes. She and her friend Jean, who share a love of Edgar Allan Poe's writing, know the murders won't be solved in a place where there is minimal law enforcement and nobody cares about dead prostitutes. They set out to catch the killer themselves -- a dangerous business indeed.

This book is thoroughly entertaining, with an engaging lead character whom readers will cheer on. Highly recommended.

Jane Smiley's Monterey is perpetually muddy, perhaps reflecting the many "Houses of Pleasure" it counts among its young establishments. The city, and in fact the state of California itself are young, and as such almost everything is in a flux, growing and changing fast. Law and order have been relegated to lower priorities, far behind the gold rush that's by now largely come-and-gone but is a clear and recent memory, and - everyone hopes - a possible recurrence in the near future as well.

Amidst all this, how much weight can murder have?

Eliza and Jean are enthusiast self-proclaimed detectives in 1855-56, who believe murder does carry enough weight. Especially, when the victims are women like themselves, shunned by and largely invisible to the Monterey society, cast out by their families and ignored by the law.

The author's writing evokes a fresh and picturesque landscape, albeit with muddy roads and horse-drawn carriages, and a solitary restaurant. It is easy to see the appeal in reading a period drama like this, and come away wishing, at least in part, that one could have been there - when so much was being discovered and figured out for the first time, and so much was up for grabs. The flip side of course was that society itself was still being defined, and stability and safety ware largely matters of opinion.

Though Eliza is the focus of the story for the most part, she is a curious mind, and by following her around, eventually we are exposed to a variety of characters, almost all of whom - as Eliza figures - could be the murderer she is chasing down! Given the exploits we've all been used to by now, seeing the Bonds and the Bournes and the Jacks (I'm looking at you both - Ryan and Reacher), this might seem rather tame and underwhelming, but the earnest writing does get to you, eventually. It takes some effort to slow down enough to smell the roses while walking the mile or two down Monterey's main street, rather than whizzing around the globe six times in two days in hot pursuit, but once you do that, the book reaches an endearing and an almost enduring stature.

By the end, I was wishing there would be more Eliza adventures on the way.

In a time and place when women were possessions, without choices or voices, Eliza Ripple refuses to be a victim. Married young to a much older man who treated her without respect or kindness, Eliza finds herself widowed and living in a land far from anyone who might help her. She makes the decision to take care of herself, so finds work in the local brothel.

Jane Smiley has written a western where the main character lives and thrives in an era that was not kind to women of any station. Yet this is not a tale of how badly the world's view of a woman earning her keep as a prostitute could be. Eliza blazes through life. She has friends and actually reads books, especially Edgar Allen Poe. She and a friend will use their hard earned knowledge of men and the clues from EAP's books to solve the murders of women that the sheriff can not be bothered to solve.

This book was so much better than I expected. I have several friends that will find this book in their stockings this year. Maybe you should read it too.

Thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for providing this ARC. Overall, a disappointing read for me. It sounded perfect, historical fiction, murder mystery, centered on women. The women were flat, the action was nonexistent (mostly wandering around town, walking and eating), very little detecting of any kind happened, and then it ended rather abruptly with no real insight into anyone’s motivations. Pretty boring and I’m almost sorry I pushed myself to finish it.

Published by Knopf on December 6, 2022

An unfortunate marriage at the age of 18 to a man twenty years older takes Eliza Ripple from Michigan to Monterey. When her husband is killed in a bar two years later, Eliza begins a career as a prostitute, working for a madam who takes good care of her employees. In 1851, Monterey is relatively lawless, although its residents enforce their own brand of justice if they deem the task worthwhile. Neither the townspeople nor the sheriff are particularly troubled when prostitutes are murdered.

Eliza is a pleasant young woman who earns a good living as a prostitute. Some of her customers are sailors ashore between voyages. One is in the construction business. One is a lawyer who makes vague references to a wife. One is an older man who brings her to his home where his wife seems tolerant of his adventures. One takes her out to dinner; another only meets her in the brothel but seems to enjoy her companionship as well as her body.

Eliza befriends Jean, a woman who works in a bordello that services women. Eliza spends much of her free time with Jean, roaming around Monterey and the surrounding countryside, occasionally on rented horses. When they discover a dead body, Eliza’s keen powers of observation help her identify the murder victim as a prostitute who once worked in her establishment. The term “serial killer” had not yet been coined, but Eliza and Jean begin to connect the disappearances of multiple working girls. They decide to track down the killer.

The story follows Eliza for a couple of years after her husband’s death. Eliza’s haphazard investigation of the missing prostitutes drives the plot, but the deeper story is told by the details of Eliza’s life. As she considers whether each of her customers might be the killer, she evaluates the behavior of all men. Some, like her dead husband, are cruel. Some are superficially kind but seem to be on the edge of violence. Some are needy. Some are indifferent. A few are genuinely decent.

Eliza and Jane discuss the topics of the time — slavery and the threat of a war that might divide the country — defying the understanding that, as women, they are not capable of expressing meaningful opinions. Eliza’s customers tend to pontificate, sometimes discussing political or philosophical questions that interest Eliza, although they do not invite her to do anything but listen. She takes advantage of her free time to read Dickens and The Scarlet Letter, exercising her mind in ways that her madam encourages, even if her customers might regard her intellectual pursuits as a waste of time. Reading Poe introduces her to Dupin and suggests a model of detection that will help her investigate the deaths of her professional colleagues. Dupin’s powers of observation parallel Jane Smiley’s observant attention to detail as Eliza and Jean search the streets and faces of Monterey for clues.

The “hooker with a heart of gold” is a familiar character, but Smiley does not content herself with the familiar. Eliza is something of an early feminist. She views prostitution not as subjugation by men but as a pragmatic path to freedom, much like the underground railroad that interests Jean. Eliza’s husband steered her course until her madam took note of her after her husband’s death and began to direct her life as a working girl. Smiley encourages the reader to wonder whether Eliza will eventually become the captain of her own ship and how she might find a less dangerous occupation. At the novel’s end, Smiley supplies a satisfying answer.

The plot is equally satisfying, culminating in a moment of peril and resourcefulness as Eliza and Jane learn who is responsible for the dead prostitutes. At the same time, Poe fans should not expect the second coming of Dupin. Crime and detection provide the novel’s framework, but they are secondary to the novel’s other virtues. Smiley’s prose is an example of elegant understatement. While the novel is not particularly suspenseful — I would categorize the novel as a pleasant historical drama, not as a thriller — I do not imagine that suspense was Smiley’s intent. A Dangerous Business is the quiet story of a woman who comes of age in a difficult time for single women (as most times have been), who learns about life, and who strives to benefit from those lessons. Readers who expect nothing more will likely enjoy the book for what it is.

RECOMMENDED

Between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
from A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

Eliza Ripple’s husband died and it didn’t bother her a bit. He seemed nice enough back in Kalamazoo, before he took her across the country to Monterey and exerted complete control over her. Her parents pushed her into marriage with him; he presented himself as well off, and Eliza was in love with an Irish laborer. She was eighteen to his thirty-eight but Eliza’s parents sure didn’t want her marrying a penniless Irish Catholic.

Eliza’s husband forced her to have an abortion before he was shot in the saloon, so Eliza was left alone in a strange place and needed to support herself. Luckily, Mrs. Parker had a job for her. In her brothel.

Still, Eliza was better off there than she ever was with Peter, for Mrs. Parker had a maternal bent and ran a clean and safe house. Eliza was freer than she ever was at home with her Covenanter family or with her husband who locked her up.

Eliza made friends with Jean, who worked at a different kind of business, servicing lonely women who just wanted a moment of affection. They shared an interest in books, especially the thrilling, new stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Eliza studied the detective Dupin who used logic and observation to solve mysterious deaths.

Women were disappearing from town, The police didn’t seem to care. After Eliza and Jean discover a woman’s body they commit to seeking justice for these women, observing the men who came to town, following the trails, and noting clues.

When the first of “the girls” disappeared, no one thought a thing of it.
from A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

I sped through this novel in a day.

I loved how Smiley brought in the political and social history of a divisive time in America, split over slavery, Native Americans reduced to ghosts haunting the landscape. It was a time of religious extremism. Children leaft their homes in Michigan and New York and New England for new opportunities in the West. Eliza’s customers include sailors and men trying to build ranches and farms.

The dangers of being female were multiple. Men might get themselves killed in a saloon fight, or lose their life in hazardous jobs, but women had no political power, no power in their own homes, no power over their own bodies.

I also loved how the girls’ reading the literature of the time figures into the story.

It’s a fast reading, entertaining story, with a mystery at it’s center. It’s revealing historical fiction and a feminist statement. Eliza’s descriptions of all her customers may, on the surface, seem extraneous, yet Eliza meets all kinds of men and gains a deep understanding of human nature. At the end, we are sure she is going to thrive.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

a dangerous business doesn’t quite live up to its pitch: two prostitutes, inspired by edgar allan poe’s dupin, attempt to solve the murders of a series of missing women.

i expected more mystery from a book marketed as a murder mystery. very little time was spent on exploring suspects and clues, so the mystery was underdeveloped, and ultimately the conclusion was abrupt and anticlimactic.

where a dangerous business succeeds is as a historical fiction novel centered on an overlooked demographic of women. the setting, 1850s gold rush california, was absolutely fascinating (though the book would have benefited from a map to follow along with eliza and jean’s wanderings), and i loved the exploration of both the benefits and dangers of living in a new, still lawless town.

I love Jane Smiley writing style and this novel didn't disappoint me. The story is interesting, both main characters work in a brothel and this gives an interesting point of view of the California Gold Rush. It was fascinating also how the mystery was “resolved” and how Eliza got her detective skills from Poe’s novels.
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC, I really love to read Jane Smiley new novel.

The novel is set in the 1850s in Monterey, California. Eliza, after the death of her husband, finds work in a brothel. When several young women go missing and authorities take no action, Eliza and her friend Jean take it upon themselves to investigate. They are inspired by the techniques of C. Auguste Dupin, the fictional detective introduced by Edgar Allan Poe in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

The book suffers from a meandering plot that mirrors the women’s ambling. The only sleuthing the two women do is walking or hiring horses for rides around Monterey. The reader is given detailed descriptions of Eliza’s day, her walks/rides, the countryside, and the types of clients she services. There is no real sense of rising tension though Eliza becomes suspicious of every man she encounters.

Besides the slow pace, there are other issues with the plot. Eliza and Jean stumble across three bodies? This seems rather coincidental. Some episodes seem to serve little purpose. Why, for example, is it necessary to describe virtually all the meals that Eliza eats and even include a taste-testing of a biscuit versus a scone? Then there are the needless repetitions: the many descriptions of clients’ preferences for sexual activity become tedious. At other times, an element is introduced and then dropped. For instance, Jean mentions ghosts in almost every conversation in the first part of the book, but then loses interest? Are the references to ghosts meant as a nod to Poe’s gothic horror fiction? And the ending is underwhelming. The resolution is weak; instead of a thrilling denouement, events at the end seem rushed and are wrapped up very neatly. My reaction was, “That’s it?”

Much about the novel feels flat. Just as the plot is plodding, so is the prose because it lacks a smooth flow. The characters also do not emerge as fully developed. Eliza is unsophisticated and uneducated (having to learn about geography from her clients) and not especially intelligent. Jean, with her penchant for cross-dressing and dramatic flairs, is much more interesting.

The theme of the novel seems to be that it is dangerous to be a woman: there are statements like “’being a woman is a dangerous business’” and “indeed, every woman in the world had been pushed and slapped.” But there are some contradictions. Yes, the victims in the book are women, but Eliza works in a clean brothel where she is protected from violent clients; even the madam is kind and caring. (This depiction of prostitution in California during the Gold Rush is accurate?) There is a serial killer, but most of the men seem to be rather solicitous.

This book just wasn’t for me. The plot is contrived and there is a lack of suspense. I felt indifferent about the characters. This is a disappointing novel from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Jane Smiley provides a glimpse at Monterey, California in the early 1850s through the friendship between two prostitutes. Eliza is a young widow from Michigan who traveled to CA with her brute of a husband who killed soon after their arrival. Eliza earns her keep entertaining men at a local brothel. Jane, who sometimes dresses as a man, provides comfort to women at nearby business. When other local prostitutes are found murdered, Eliza and Jane investigate their murders based on the skills they have learned from reading Edgar Allan Poe. The novel is full of rich descriptions of the coastlines of Monterey and the horses who help riders along the trails. As always, Jane Smiley offers readers rich, well-researched fiction. A good selection for new adult readers and fans of smart historical fiction

This was an incredibly quick read! A Dangerous Business is a mystery set in 1850s Gold Rush California as two young prostitutes try to figure out who was behind the disappearance of some girls. Smiley did not shy away from graphic language here so I was glad my kids were not in the car with me when I listened to this. While I enjoyed the characters, and the mystery, everything felt a bit easy. Thank you Knopf for the ARC of this one!

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley is a highly recommended historical mystery set in 1850s California.

"As Mrs. Parks says, 'Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise...' "

After Eliza Cargill Ripple’s husband is killed in a bar brawl in Monterey, California, she chooses to work in the well-run brothel of madam Mrs. Parks. Eliza is only 21, but she knows she does not want to go back to her parent's house in Kalamazoo. Work in a brothel provides financial security and allows her to stay in Monterey. Eliza also makes her first real friend, Jean MacPherson, who works in the same profession, but with women. After some working girls are missing and bodies are found outside of town, the two begin to work together investigating who could be targeting and murdering young women as law enforcement isn't interested..

Smiley, as expected, excels at providing descriptions of the setting during the specific time period and furnishing the historical details that bring the narrative to life in this incredibly well-written novel. Eliza's trade is described in a quaint manner, although perhaps too much for the page count, and interesting details about the time period are provided by her clients, many of them sailors. I also appreciate the literary references about novels during the time period included in the plot.

Eliza and Jean are portrayed as realistic and sympathetic characters within the historical time period. Smiley brings them both to life in the narrative as they work together trying to piece together clues and figure out which client could be guilty of the murders. Of course, there are also horses which are all described as unique.

My reticence concerning A Dangerous Business is three fold. The whole plot element involving seeing ghosts and ghosts being sighted almost constantly is suddenly dropped and nothing is done with it. The second is that, no matter how well-written, the pace of the novel is very slow. Finally, the actually denouement was a bit of a let down, as I was anticipating more, which is perhaps my failing, but there it is.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Knopf Doubleday via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I didn't know what to expect, but loved the mystery and the main character. It kept me on the edge of my seat!

DNF -- This story didn't grab me the way other updated westerns have. It didn't seem new, fresh or compelling.