A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

​It’s a dangerous business being a woman. It’s a dangerous business being a prostitute. And it’s a dangerous business playing a detective. So, from the get-go, Eliza (chosen name) Ripple has her work cut out for her.
But she is young, clever and resilient and so she goes on about it as steadily and compellingly as any good protagonist would.
Inspired by Poe’s fictional detective Dupin, buoyed by her new best friend, and just plain curious, Eliza sets off to solve the recent murders of young women in the area. Monterey during the Californian Gold rush isn’t exactly the most law-abiding of places and these are not the sort of women whose disappearance would be properly investigated by the powers that be, so Eliza and her friend might be justice’s best options.
The other mystery here is why did it take me so long to read this author? She’s been around for ages, well-known, well-regarded, certainly someone I’ve heard off and yet…not until now. Maybe that’s a good thing because this book is certainly serves as a terrific introduction to a new (to me) author. It’s so very well written, Smiley obviously has the gift of natural/organic storytelling, it all just come alive: her characters, her descriptions. The novel is as transporting as you’d ever wish for in a work of historical fiction. The mystery is indeed mysterious and fun to investigate alongside Eliza and her friend. The denouement works very well too. Frontier justice sort of thing and all that.
The depiction of prostitution was…surprisingly quaint. Probably the quaintest I’ve ever encountered in fiction. It’s just a job like any other job and not at all a terrible one at that with mostly decent and reasonable people. Go figure. Certainly, a perfectly reasonable (and not even remotely exploitative) choice for a young widow without means like Eliza.
Monterey – well, it shines in golden sunshine in this book. A place as a character done right.
So all in all, a lovely novel, a terrific perfectly sized, perfectly engaging read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.