Harriet Morrow

Created by Rob Osler

Is it just me? Or does there seem to be a surprising number of books and other media in the first few decades of the 21st century inspired by Kate Warne, the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s first female operative?

Some are endless retellings of the same facts, others offer fictionalized and romanticized accounts of the same events and some are outright fiction, taking significant liberties. And then there are those who create completely new characters, clearly inspired by Warne.

The Case of the Missing Maid, by Rob Osler, is clearly in the latter category — it only takes a few pages for Kate to be mentioned. But the author ups the stakes considerably, presenting a completely different female operative for a large national detective agency, advancing the timeline by a few decades, and adding a few new embellishments with a clear eye on 22nd century readers.

Like, it’s not enough that HARRIET MORROW is the first female detective at Chicago’s Prescott Agency circa 1898—she’s also a feisty, bike-riding, trousers-wearing lesbian. 

Of course she is.

She is also, despite being in the closet, of course, one tough and determined broad, pedaling her ass off around the Windy City and doing whatever she can to take care of her kid brother, Aubrey. Naturally she has to contend with an agency full of dubious male colleagues, a disapproving female office manager and the old man himself, Theodore Prescott, who remains skeptical. And so he gives her a nothing case — and a deadline — to test her mettle.

She’s dispatched to the home of Pearl Bartlett, Prescott’s neighbour; a batty old lady who insists that her maid, Agnes Wozniak, has disappeared. Prescott remains dubious, but Harriet soon comes to believe that Agnes may have indeed been abducted.

The attention to historical detail and culture feels right, as Harriet prowls posh mansions, shady nightclubs, burlesque theaters and the tenements of Chicago’s Polish community, searching for Agnes, while some of the prejudices the rookie detective encounters remain uncomfortably relevant even now.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rob Osler is the acclaimed author of the Anthony, Agatha, Macavity, and Lefty Award-nominated Devil’s Chew Toy and Cirque du Slay.

UNDER OATH

• “With lush historical detail, optimistic but plausible gender politics, and an unforgettable heroine, this series is primed for success.”
  — Publishers Weekly

NOVELS

• The Case of the Missing Maid (2024 ) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
•  The Case of the Murdered Muckraker (2026) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.