Kate Warne finds an ad in the newspaper from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency looking to hire a new detective.  Kate jumps at the opportunity, but Allen Pinkerton is reluctant to hire her. She convinces him that being a women would be an asset for his agency rather than a liability.

Kate says, “Sir, here is the crux of it. Women can go places men are not welcome. They can win the trust of other women, the wives and companions to whom the criminals have confided their crimes. They can travel in genteel circles to insinuate  themselves with seeming gentleman. I’m certain the men who work for you have many talents, but there is one thing none of them can do: be a women.”

I love that Greer Macallister has used a real person to build her story around. Kate Warne really existed and was the first female detective hired, at the Pinkerton Agency. I really enjoyed reading about the many real-life events that Kate was actually involved in while working at the agency. While reading the first several chapters of the book, I felt like I was watching an old movie from the earlier 1900’s. After a while I felt like the story dragged a little and got a bit redundant, but by the time I reached the halfway point things started to really pick up. I became completely immersed in the second half and couldn’t read fast enough to find out what happens.

I had never heard of Kate Warne, and according to Greer Macallister much about her is unknown, but what is known is quite amazing. She even played a key role in history, while working undercover, to try and protect a US president. You’ll just have to read the book to find out more about that!

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Greer Macallister for an opportunity to read and give my honest opinion about this book.

Based on the real first female Pinkerton agent, it tells the tale of a truly interesting woman. Great read.

Book Review
Girl in Disguise

by Greer Macallister
Pub Date 21 Mar 2017          

This was a cute little detective book. I found a few similarities with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. A woman in a tight spot decides to pursue work at a detective agency, her gender is held against her, especially in the Civil War times the book is set in. She actually turns out to be successful because it is unexpected that a woman would gather intelligence. She tries to use her skills to help the north during the Civil War.. working to keep Lincoln safe and gathering information on visits to the South. I wasn't thrilled with how her romantic interest turned out, I really wanted something good for her, and that soured the ending for me. I reached the end of the book to find that the book was based on an actual woman. I wish I had known that at the beginning, because it made the read all the more enjoyable. 4 stars

Kate Warne is a unique woman, so she seeks a unique career. She is not content to be a governess or seamstress; instead, she applies to be a Pinkerton detective. Her boss is initially hesitant, but he decides to give her a try. Once she shows what she can do, she becomes a vital part of the Pinkerton team as she can go places and hear things that her male colleagues cannot. Based on the cases of the first female Pinkerton detective, Girl in Disguise follow Kate as she runs right into danger discovering thieves, working as a spy, and maybe even saving the president.

It's great fun to follow Kate from case to case and witness her defy the expectations of her co-workers. Unfortunately, you never quite feel like you know Kate the person. I don't think this is Mcallister's fault though; she writes in the notes that none of Kate's personal records survived. It must be difficult to bring a character to life based on some brief case notes that other people wrote. Even if our protagonist never quite comes off the page, I would still recommend this one as a way to learn a little about an incredible woman who was the first in her field.

Girl in Disguise
By Greer Macallister
Sourcebooks Landmark March 2017
308 pages
Read via Netgalley

Kate Warne is a widow in the 1850's. She must work as she needs an income. She doesn't want to do just any job. Kate goes to Allan Pinkerton to apply for a position as an agent. She convinces him that there are places where a woman can go that a man can't. She gets a trial case and lands her position as the First Pinkerton lady agent As time goes by, her fellow agents respect her.

A historical novel loaded with action that is a superb story. The author does provide an "Author's note" that details truth from fiction. It is a wonderful story about a smart and courageous woman.

Was so intrigued and excited to read a true story about the first female Pinkerton detective.

So well written; however, I felt that it was overshadowed by the fact that this would have been even more fantastic if the story line was just left to just Kate Warne and not involve a romance. Sigh. The amount of work it would have taken a woman to become a detective in that time period was astronomical and giving that away to a romance and to a man made me lose interest.

Overall, I read this book in less than a day-really enjoyed the writing and how fast paced it was, and would love to check out more from the author.

I would like to thank Greer Macallister and SOURCEBOOKS for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

This is a very interesting concept, which could have been a great vehicle for exploring roles and expectations of women in the era AND, most importantly, a chance to highlight what an amazing accomplishment it was for Kate Warne to become a detective, let alone a Pinkerton... Instead it turned into a rather stereotypical woman-makes-good-after-sorry-husband story that fell unexpectedly flat about a third of the way in for me. It started quite strong - Kate was a compelling figure in the beginning, then just seemed to flatten as the story wore on. The other characters - even the redoubtable Pinkerton himself - never went fully three-dimensional for me either. And why add the utterly unnecessary romance element (unless it was historically accurate, which I rather doubt, since you'd expect that to be mentioned somewhere)? I saw it coming from a mile away, unfortunately, and it didn't add anything but an eye-roll factor for me. It's hard to believe the Kate from the opening scenes - the one who dogs Pinkerton to give her a chance, who constantly struggles to prove herself capable - would let herself risk all that for a man she works with, especially given her disastrous marriage... It felt forced and de rigeur.

GIRL IN DISGUISE, another no-go started with such promise! Set during the Civil War with a heroine as the first female detective in the famed Pinkerton Agency, the novel has a strong feminist tone to it. It started off real good but it slowly turned into some sort of a memoir where the protagonist was just going through career highlights and didn't really dig deep in terms of character development and show compelling experiences to establish how being a detective changed her. I may be wrong because I did DNF this, but at 60% into the novel, there were a lot of missed opportunities like when she had a case assigned to her that brought her to Tennessee where she witnessed slaves being dragged through the streets by their owners like pets. These instances could've reinforced how strong of a woman Kate Warne is and that she is a woman beyond her time versus summing it up in so few a words missing the mark in terms of painting a more compelling scene.

“I’d already applied to every possible position appropriate for a lady. Only the inappropriate ones remained.” Kate Warne

Thank you, Greer McAllister! Because of you, I discovered the inspiring and trailblazing Kate Warne - the first female operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. I loved everything about scrappy and smart Kate and her determination to become a successful detective.

Thank goodness Mr. Pinkerton saw something special in Kate after she walks into his office looking for a job. Kate convinces him that a woman can be useful in “worming out secrets in many places which would be impossible for a male detective.” He hires her despite backlash from his male detectives and Kate proves early on that she is meant for the job. I LOVED reading about her efforts, especially in some famous cases, including her major involvement in protecting President-Elect Lincoln from assassination. From detective work, she progressed into covert war Intelligence during the Civil War and continued espionage work post Civil War. An incredibly accomplished woman who holds a significant place in history, her story is fascinating. and as she died at such a young age - 35, I wonder what else she could have been able to accomplish if given the time?? I would love to see this made into a movie. The story has also moved me to read Allan Pinkerton’s memoir.

Fascinating story of the first female Pinkerton operative Kate Warne. Smart, resourceful, quick witted, with no qualms about functioning in a man's world among some very unsavory characters. A really fun,
Interesting read.

GIRL IN DISGUISE by Greer Macallister is a historical fiction book based on the life of Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton agent. I always love to read about the “first” females in any role and this being the first detective agency in the U.S. made it sound even more interesting. Kate’s story is perfectly suited to be told in as a historical fiction due to the fact that a lot of the actual paperwork from her time in the Pinkerton agency went up in flames the Chicago Fire of 1871.
Kate was the daughter of traveling actors, who were also con-artists. She was forced into a loveless marriage that ended with her becoming a young widow and unable to have children. She is out of money with no job prospects and answers the ad for Pinkerton agents. There is always a sadness and aloneness about her, but her life has given her the basic skills to become a great detective. Pinkerton takes her on and not only does she become one of Pinkerton’s top agents, she also heads up the Female Detective division for him.
The author has written the adventures of a complicated woman, her relationship with Pinkerton himself and her interactions with the other agents in his employ. I felt the characters were all true to their time period and the situations could have happened just as written. This is a story that was very well told.
Thanks very much to Sourcebooks Landmark and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review..

Available now: Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister

***3/5 stars-liked it

"Someone has to be first..."

From the author of The Magician's Lie, a novel about the first female Pinkerton agent.

Recommended readers:

If you like a strong female character,
and if you like real figures in your historical fiction, this novel is for you.
Here's my Rankings:

3/5 for characters
3/5 for plot
3/5 overall

REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:

Girl in Disguise is a fictionalized account of the little-known life of Kate Warne, the first female operative of the Pinkerton detective agency. Disguises and intrigue and gender strife abound in this fun nineteenth-century romp, with quick-witted jabs around nearly every corner. While entertaining, the story spans over ten years and many of the cases during Warne's career, at times reading a bit more like a biography or a diary than a narrative.

Girl in Disguise is available now

Girl in Disguise
Greer Macallister
Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2017
ISBN 978-1-4926-3522-2
Hardcover

From the publisher—

Inspired by the real story of investigator Kate Warne, this spirited novel follows the detective’s rise during one of the nation’s times of crisis, bringing to life a fiercely independent woman whose forgotten triumphs helped sway the fate of the country.

With no money and no husband, Kate Warne finds herself with few choices. The streets of 1856 Chicago offer a desperate widow mostly trouble and ruin―unless that widow has a knack for manipulation and an unusually quick mind. In a bold move that no other woman has tried, Kate convinces the legendary Allan Pinkerton to hire her as a detective.

Battling criminals and coworkers alike, Kate immerses herself in the dangerous life of an operative, winning the right to tackle some of the agency’s toughest investigations. But is the woman she’s becoming―capable of any and all lies, swapping identities like dresses―the true Kate? Or has the real disguise been the good girl she always thought she was?

Kate Warne really was the first female detective with the Pinkerton Agency, a woman far ahead of her time and with prodigious abilities; you can read more about her here. Ms. Macallister now offers a fictional account of this endlessly fascinating woman and brings Kate to life for us.

Kate’s adventures don’t seem all that exciting, on the surface, until you remind yourself she was a 23-year-old female doing a traditionally man’s job in 1856. To say she had to overcome some gender-based obstacles would be an understatement but she proved her worth and validated Allan Pinkerton’s decision to give her a chance. In effect, Kate broke the glass ceiling for all the women detectives who followed her.

The reader looking for a typical mystery won’t find it here because there’s no particular case to be solved. Rather, this is a lively recounting of a private detective’s adventures, made more interesting by the times and the excitement of being a Pinkerton.

The fun of this book lies in all the detective stuff we fell in love with as children—codes, deception, disguises and general shenanigans along with derring-do—and the tale is told by Kate herself, giving it a taste of reality as it existed in the mid-nineteenth century, especially during the Civil War. Ms. Macallister doesn’t fill the pages with thrills and chills but, considering how little is known about this captivating woman, she gives Kate a real presence.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, March 2017.

Inspired by the real life first woman Pinkerton agent, Kate Warne. Girl in Disguise is a fast pace suspenseful historical novel with quick wit thrown in the mix.

This was a well written, fun to read historical fiction book. I liked the strong female character and her antics.

Does the name Kate Warne mean anything to you? How about Rose Greenhow? Or Elizabeth Van Lew? Given some context (the American Civil War era), I recognized the latter two names as spies, but I had not heard of Kate Warne until I read GIRL IN DISGUISE by Greer Macallister. This work of historical fiction is set in a favorite time period for me and describes the adventures of Warne, who was the first female detective operative for Allan Pinkerton.

Readers will also recognize other historical figures, particularly Abraham Lincoln who Warne helped protect from an assassination attempt prior to his inauguration. GIRL IN DISGUISE is a mostly fun mystery read, with a series of cases described and solved. It becomes more serious as the war evolves and danger increases as the cases turn to protecting military secrets and therefore saving many lives. Chicago of the 1850's and 1860's also features in the story; Warne seems to have considered it home and is in fact buried in the Pinkerton family plot in Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery. Library Journal called GIRL IN DISGUISE a "stellar historical novel featuring a fierce female lead." Similar titles would be Seneca Falls Inheritance by Miriam Grace Monfredo or Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart.

Links in the live post:
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2015/03/celebrating-womens-history-americas-first-female-p-i/ AND
https://www.amazon.com/Seneca-Falls-Inheritance-Miriam-Monfredo/dp/0425144658/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490462172&sr=1-2&keywords=Glynis+Tryon AND
http://treviansbookit.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-mixture-of-mysteries_78.html

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I though this was a really well written novel. I know next to nothing about Kate Warne and the only thing I know about the Pinkerton Agency is that they were spies.

The author draws you straight into Kate's life and trials and tribulations and from there it's a complete journey. As a woman you understand what she has to do to prove herself worthy of being a Pinkerton operative. As a reader, it was engrossing to be seeing things through her eyes and wondering what you would do in the same situation. Kate is inventive and very good at being an operative.

Throughly enjoyed this book and I'm glad to see this is actually the authors second novel. Off to get the first.

Girl in Disguise was a positive surprise for me. It exceeded my expectations, because I confess I thought it would be no more than a well-written, enjoyable but all-in-all average detective novel. That’s what I believed I’d get after having read Greer Macallister’s previous novel, The Magician’s Lie. I was mistaken. Greer Macallister did a very good job with her second novel.

There isn’t much data left for us that would give information about Kate Warne’s – the first female Pinkerton detective’s – activities and when I googled her name looking for pictures of her, I only found one or two photographs of a young man. The captions suggest the person on these pictures might be her, but I’m not convinced (was she that masculine? Well, who knows...).

Given the lack of information, Greer Macallister had an awful lot of freedom with this book, which she took advantage of and wrote something that can capture the attention of those who are interested in 19th century American history and also easily captivates the ones who like reading about female pioneers.

The first thing Kate Warne – our heroine – had to do after getting the job at the Pinkerton Detective Agency was to get herself accepted, that’s for sure. In the story most of the men don’t think it was a the greatest idea of Pinkerton to hire a woman and I have the feeling this wasn’t any different in reality.

Kate had to show she had skills that were needed for the job and she had to hammer some generalizations out of the male detectives’ head; for example, that women are too fragile or that they break down in every situation that generates emotions in them. The writer handled Kate’s early difficulties very well, these problems were interlaced with the earlier cases, through which Kate proved her professionalism to her peers.

The story isn’t told in one tight narrative; a period of Kate’s life is shown to us through the cases she dealt with. To tell the truth, for a while I didn’t believe it would build up to anything, but in the end I got a whole picture and I was satisfied.

The biggest cohesive chunk in the book was the Civil War part and that was the one I enjoyed the most (other than the parts with Lincoln in it. Did you know Kate Warne helped prevent an earlier assassination attempt against Lincoln? She practically smuggled the soon-to-be president from Baltimore to Washington D.C., so he could be inaugurated. Yeah, she was that cool).

During the Civil War the Pinkertons gathered intelligence and that was the most dangerous thing they ever had to do. Kate fought in her own way in the salons and dining rooms of suspected enemy spies, pretending, knowing if she got caught she would be in real trouble.

The romance that evolved between two agents in the story was unexpected, but welcomed from my part. A well-inserted and cleverly executed romance can never ruin a book.

There were only two things I wasn’t happy about. One was how Kate reacted when she found out that one of the detectives was gay. Could it really be that some adult people were that naïve and ignorant in that time they didn’t know gay people existed? Maybe, unfortunately I can imagine that. For her it seemed unnatural and she didn’t understand why the guy ‘did it’, which is a shame, but let’s attribute it to ignorance, shall we?

However, what I couldn’t tolerate for the life of me was when she decided to involve the same guy in a case in which he had to seduce a woman and she deliberately asked Pinkerton to send him. He was the best looking agent and therefore fit for the job, although I can’t help but think she wanted to ‘cure’ him somehow with this little affair and that was unsettling to say the least.

If I don’t count the character’s above mentioned flaw, I would say I liked Kate. However, for some reason with Macallister’s novels I always feel there is a transparent wall between me and her characters. I see them, I like what they do, I can even take a liking to their person, but I can never get close enough. If she writes another book, I’d like to see that wall shatter.

Overall, there was a lot of action, fascinating detective work, a good amount of travelling... it was a thrilling adventure from start to finish.

The Author’s note says this novel is a love story between a woman and her work and I couldn’t agree more. Kate Warne is a historical character that can inspire people, especially women and I’m glad I was introduced to her through this book.

The subject of this fictionalized biography would be downright offended at its title. By the time this book begins in the mid-1850s, Kate is a woman whose illusions seem to have been stripped away long ago. She’s also a widow.

“Girl” doesn’t fit her at all, and she wouldn’t want it to. What she wants, at least as she is portrayed in this book, is to be treated as an equal. The equal of any man in the Pinkerton Agency. And it’s a hard-knock fight every single step of the way.

Kate Warne was a real person. Admittedly, a real person about whom not very much at all is known. Which makes her a great character on which to hang a work of historical fiction. Particularly since what is known about Kate Warne is the stuff of fiction to begin with.

Kate was the first female Pinkerton agent. Hired in 1856, she was one of the first, if not the first, female detectives in the world. No one expected her to succeed. No one even expected her to apply. There was no such thing as female detectives or female police officers when Kate Warne answered Allan Pinkerton’s “Help Wanted” advertisement for new agents.

But as she says, “Someone has to be first.”

Her life, what little we know of it, is the stuff of legends. Most of the information about her real career was kept in the Pinkerton office in Chicago. And most of it was wiped out in the Great Chicago Fire. (Mrs. O’Leary’s cow has a LOT to answer for)

One of the things that is known, and that made her fame, was her part in spiriting then-President-Elect Abraham Lincoln through a risky Baltimore night ride on his way to his inauguration – and his subsequent date with history. Without Warne, the history of the U.S. as we know it might have been far different.

But this book is a fictionalized version of her life, stitching together what little is known about her, with considerably more that it known about the Pinkerton’s in general and their work during the Civil War in particular, and making a fascinating story out of it, without descending into rank sensationalism or outright melodrama, at least until the very end.

Kate Warne lived a brief but fascinating life. I wish history had left us more details of her adventures. But if they were even half as hair-raising as this story, her candle must have burned very bright indeed.

Escape Rating B: I left myself plenty of time to read this one, because while I was very interested in the subject, I was a bit unsure about the author. As much as so many people loved The Magician’s Lie, when I gave it a try I couldn’t get into it at all. But Girl in Disguise grabbed me from the first page.

I think that had to do with Kate’s voice. The book is written in first-person singular, so throughout the story we are always in Kate’s head. It’s a fascinating place to be. While the circumstances of Kate’s life are particular to her time and place, so many of her thoughts seem universal to working women.

She wants to be considered as a professional, on an equal basis to the men in the agency. She never trades on her feminine wiles, and has nothing but professional relationships with all of the male Pinkerton’s, particularly including Allan Pinkerton himself. As portrayed in the book, the relationship between them was strictly professional from beginning to end. He mentored her and trusted her in a way that would have raised no eyebrows if she had been a man, but because she was a woman she constantly battled rumors that they were having an affair – rumors that persist to the present day in spite of a complete lack of evidence either then or now. It was simply assumed that a woman could not possibly be hired or trusted on her own merits.

Until the end, Kate is in love with her job, and as so many of us do, sacrifices most of her life to the pursuit of her work. But Kate isn’t the only one. As one of the male agents comments, none of them have personal lives, with the exception of Pinkerton himself. They are on the road too much, and they must keep way too many secrets. No spouse, male or female, is willing to tolerate that kind of treatment for very long.

What made Kate so relatable, at least for this reader, is just how dispassionate she is about her own life. She’s not given to flights of either hyperbole or fancy, at least in the privacy of her own head. This is who she is, this is what she does, this is what it costs her. She’s a heroine, but she never sees herself that way. She’s a woman doing a job that challenges her in ways that she can’t find anyplace else, and that she absolutely loves. She’s doing what she was born to.

There is historic evidence that Kate was part of the team that kept Lincoln alive on his way to his inauguration. Many of the other cases in the book where she is involved are based on real Pinkerton cases, even if Kate’s specific involvement is not known, and a few have been combined for dramatic license.

I really enjoyed the perspective of Kate the professional woman, both her triumphs and her many and frequent qualms about whether the ends justified the means. She has a lot to live with, and sometimes, quite reasonably so, she has second, third and fourth thoughts.

As a reader, I wish that her dispassion had not failed her in the last quarter of the book. I very much enjoyed reading about Kate in love with her work, and the details of that work as the Civil War heated up. I was less enthralled when Kate fell in love with a fellow agent. At that point the melodrama swept in.

But all in all, Girl in Disguise is a fascinating portrait of an unsung heroine – Kate Warne, the first female “private eye”.

Turns out not much is known about Kate Warne, The Pinkerton Agency’s first female operative, but that doesn’t stop author Greer Macallister from writing a compelling tale about a woman and the love of her job.

I was expecting Girl in Disguise to unfold a bit different than it did. I was expecting to read about an unusual woman with a penchant for solving crimes and perhaps be treated to a single mystery with a bit of backstory about Mrs. Warne. The story took on a bit of a different shape connecting several different cases together while building Kate’s character and showing her dedication to her job and her country. It was a pleasant surprise.

Kate ranks right up there, in my mind, with Alexandra Bergson from Willa Cather’s O! Pioneers. A woman willing to deny herself simple pleasures in an effort to survive, overcoming life’s obstacles to find a rewarding self-made life beyond those struggles. I admired Kate’s tenacity and ingenuity. I do wish that many of the case files from Mrs. Warne’s days with The Agency hadn’t been lost in Chicago’s Great Fire as her story is certainly one I wouldn’t mind reading more about.

I have to hand it to Ms. Macallister for taking a few scant details and introducing me to a new historical heroine to admire. Her compelling story gives strength and encouragement in the darkest known part of American history to date.