Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions by Amy Stewart

Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions by Amy Stewart ISBN-13: 9780544409996 Hardback: 384 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Released: Sept. 5, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Deputy sheriff Constance Kopp is outraged to see young women brought into the Hackensack jail over dubious charges of waywardness, incorrigibility, and moral depravity. The strong-willed, patriotic Edna Heustis, who left home to work in a munitions factory, certainly doesn’t belong behind bars. And sixteen-year-old runaway Minnie Davis, with few prospects and fewer friends, shouldn’t be publicly shamed and packed off to a state-run reformatory. But such were the laws—and morals—of 1916.

Constance uses her authority as deputy sheriff, and occasionally exceeds it, to investigate and defend these women when no one else will. But it's her sister Fleurette who puts Constance's beliefs to the test and forces her to reckon with her own ideas of how a young woman should and shouldn't behave.

Against the backdrop of World War I, and drawn once again from the true story of the Kopp sisters, Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions is a spirited, page-turning story that will delight fans of historical fiction and lighthearted detective fiction alike.


My Review:
Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions is a historical detective novel set in 1916 in New Jersey. It's the third book in a series, but it works as a stand-alone. The Kopp sisters were real people, and Constance Kopp was New Jersey's first female deputy sheriff. In this book, most of the events involving Norma and Fleurette were fictional, but the author worked true events involving Constance into the story. The story also involved two young women--Edna and Minnie--who were arrested for morality charges. Constance gathers evidence to help defend them.

There was an underlying humor to the story, especially the interactions between the sisters. The author worked interesting historical details into the story and portrayed the difficulties faced by women who wanted independence or who wanted to help out with the war effort. The characters were interesting and acted realistically. The focus was mainly on the various women, their personalities, and the challenges they faced.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this enjoyable story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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