Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister is a fictionalized retelling of Kate Warne, widow and the first female Pinkerton detective in Chicago in 1865. The story outlines her successes and challenges in becoming an undercover operative was both entertaining and educational. Her story was bittersweet with tears and cheers. Highly recommended.

Macallister tells the story of Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective. Caught in a world of lies and deceptions, Kate must work to not lose her true self, while proving that woman can handle the job. The book was well written and characters well developed. I found the book to be sad in many places but overall enjoyable.

This is a fictional novel (not a biographical!) about the life of the first female Pinkerton detective Kate Warne. Not much is known about her life, so the authoress went all by her imagination - and this imagination (with the lack of richer research abou the then times) is probably responsible for my dissatisfaction. Because this woman must have been something! Yet this book does not do her right - she is solving a little case here, bigger case there, has all the right attitudes (by our modern views!), falls in love...this novel could be much richer, I think. For the mystery lover as me it feels a bit dry, as there is little of an intellectual (or thrilling) challenge. The romance is quite boring, to be honest. And the loner's life...does Kate not have any of her own hobbies, habits, personality? Maybe this is not needed for a character with a job like hers - yet it makes for a bit dry read. Only her musings and internal challanges make her feel like her own, grown, maturing woman.

I was obsessed with Macallister's first book and was really looking forward to reading this one, but somehow it got lost in the shuffle. I finally read it this summer and thought it was wonderful, especially how a woman could be a detective in an age when that just wasn't done. The author continues to be an auto-buy for me!

I did not finish - I have tried reading this book on multiple occasions and just could not get into it.

Girl in Disguise tells the story of Kate, living in the mid 1800s and finds herself suddenly a widow in Chicago.

Left to her own, Kate walks into the doors of Tje Pinkerton Detective Agency in hopes to live out her dream as a detective.

This historical novel is about Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective, which was a private detective agency based in Chicago in at least the 1850s and 1860s when the book was set. Knowing basically just that about the book before I read it, I assumed it was going to be a historical mystery, but it really wasn't because the various different investigations she worked on were almost always just briefly discussed and disposed of in a chapter or less, sometimes just a few pages. It was more of a fictional biography - indeed, I was surprised to discover in the author's afterword that Kate Warne was a real person (though one who not much is known about), not a fictional character. She definitely was an interesting character and there was a lot I enjoyed about the book, but the way the plot moved for most of the book felt a little superficial. 3.5 stars.

I was eager to read this one--based off the first Pinkerton female detective, it promised to be a good story. And it was, to a point. But what it wasn't was a well-written novel. It was both didactic and telling. I felt like I was reading a manual, not a story. It's a risk you run when you try to tell a story that is based in fact, has historical figures, and therefore they narrow your scope. Some writers do it very well, sadly, Macallister was just passable. The only saving grace was that it went quickly, and it wasn't so boring as to make abandonment my top choice.

A little too much fiction, a little too much whining, a forced and rather ridiculous romance--all combined, nothing very stellar here. Not terrible, just not enough to entice me to read anything else Macallister might offer. If I could, I'd give it 2.5, but alas...

The setting is mid nineteenth century Chicago and Kate Warne is the nation's first female Pinkerton detective. The premise is exciting and Greer Macallister weaves an amazing tale of mystery, murder and deceit. Kate is perfect in this role--she's a chameleon, she's ready to change personalities in the blink of an eye, giving her an advantage over the other Pinkerton detectives. She's brave, cunning fearless and most of all, likeable. I'd read The Magician's Lie and have been looking forward to other books by this author. A terrific read, highly recommend!

I loved this book! It was very well done and the whole Pinkerton plot was fabulous. I would reread this book again! It was great! Completely recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction and also anyone who loves a good mystery!

What a great book! I love the twists and turns in the story. I especially love how the main character grew. Her development was fun to watch and the author did a fantastic job in that area. I enjoyed this book and the last one, too. Am looking forward to her next book!

Thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book that was inspired by the story of Kate Warne who became the first woman investigator to work for Allan Pinkerton. Set in the streets of Chicago, the story follows Kate as she convinces Allan Pinkerton to hire her at his detective agency despite his concerns about her suitability for the job. She is widowed and broke and is desperate to start a new life with limited options available to her. She finds that she has a knack for manipulation and being able to lie and create new identities with an ease that makes her an invaluable asset to Pinkerton. But as time goes on, is she losing the real Kate to all the various roles she is playing? The high stakes of her job soon start to take a toll on her and after a tragic loss, Kate has to evaluate what she really wants out of her life.
A thoroughly enjoyable read full of twists and turns, Greer Macallister has written another book full of action and suspense that is a real page turner.

RATING: 3.5 STARS
(I received an ARC from the PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY)
(Review Not on Blog)

Girl in Disguise is based on a true story. Kate Warne talked her way onto Pinkerton's team and proves to a powerful tool for the organization. With this novelization we get more of Warne's personal background - though I am not sure how much of it is fact. I liked this novel but at times I felt like there were gaps and other times the story dragged on - it made the pacing awkward at times. I would recommend this novel for any one wanting to know more about the women behind Pinkerton. It is great to see more novels about real women.

This book follows the first female Pinkerton detective, Kate Warne. Based in Chicago, we follow Kate at the beginning of her career as she takes on cases and is a successful detective. But where the book really takes off is when the Civil War begins and the Pinkertons are pulled into the fray as spies. Kate takes on various roles throughout the war, including helping Lincoln avoid an assassination attempt. It is more than just spies and aliases. It really focuses on the relationships that Kate has with all the other characters. The one thing I didn’t like is the love story. It didn’t feel necessary and for me took away from the story. But it is still an enjoyable book, especially if you like historical fiction. It was really interesting to read about how spies really played a big part in the Civil War.

I truly loved Greer McAllister's first novel "The Magician's Lie" and was eagerly awaiting her next endeavor. This book is also historical and also rotates around a woman who is in a predominantly male profession. I found that this book, (most likely because it was based on a true story) lacked a certain amount of depth of characters and seemed a little bit less climactic than the first novel that I enjoyed so much. I feel that Ms. McAllister needed to follow a certain script, since this was based on a true woman during the Civil War who became the first woman Pinkerton detective. If the author had the liberty to tell her story on her own terms, I think this would have been a much more entertaining read. I did enjoy this book, but not as much as I anticipated, and so it was a bit of a let down for me.. It still definitely merits 3 stars and a must read for anyone who is a history buff and interested in the history of women's struggle to be in the workforce.

I ran out of time before I could read it. I am going to get the published book to read sinevI missed the review copy time.

This was a pleasant read, but I just hoped for more. I loved The Magician's Lie so much but this one did not meet my expectations. I ended up skimming through the last quarter of the book. I was just hoping for my substance in the character of Kate Warne.

I had a hard time getting interested in this book, so I didn't finish it.

A wonderful novel about how to stick it out with your dreams even though there will be major hurdles along the way. Kate Warne is a force to be reckoned with in the best way possible.

Based on a real person based in the Pinkerton Agency this book is an interesting read.
Kate is a strong female characters. Knowing what she wants and due to a challenging childhood she is willing to go far to get it. She is sharp and witty but on some ways also conservative. Her career in the agency is interesting and filled with investigation. It is clear that the goal of the story is to tell about the woman and not her cases. There is no puzzling along with this story but it does give a nice insight on how the agency works.
I did enjoy the way the character was developed though the timeline got me confused sometimes. I was never really sure how much time had passed between situations and had to hold on to the numerous mentions of historical happenings to realize what year we were in. Some parts of the story go very fast with jumps in time others take a bit longer and maybe even drag at points. These stops at certain situations were always important to the development of the story though for some it takes some time to be revealed. In the end everything does become clear and there are no loose ends.
What did annoy me a bit was the fact that all the man in the story got accused of sexist behaviour or having wrong intentions. It will probably was a reality in the circles Kate was moving in and the types of man she encountered. Still it felt forced at some point and in my eyes it was not needed to make her a strong female character.