Miss Kopp Investigates by Amy Stewart

Miss Kopp Investigates
by Amy Stewart

ISBN-13: 9780358093114
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books
Released: September 7th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Winter 1919: Norma is summoned home from France, Constance is called back from Washington, and Fleurette puts her own plans on hold as the sisters rally around their recently widowed sister-in-law and her children. How are four women going to support themselves?

A chance encounter offers Fleurette a solution: clandestine legal work for a former colleague of Constance’s. She becomes a “professional co-respondent,” posing as the “other woman” in divorce cases so that photographs can be entered as evidence to procure a divorce. While her late-night assignments are both exciting and lucrative, they put her on a collision course with her own family, who would never approve of such disreputable work. One client’s suspicious behavior leads Fleurette to uncover a much larger crime, putting her in the unlikely position of amateur detective.


My Review:
Miss Kopp Investigates is a historical novel set in 1919 in America. It's the seventh 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. However, the events in this book were largely fictional, loosely based off of snippets of family gossip or moved earlier than the actual date that they happened.

The beginning felt kind of forced: All three sisters were now used to living their own lives rather than acting as a family unit. Norma was always bossy, but she's outright cruel in how she demanded that everyone give up their dreams and follow her orders. I was shocked that they (initially, at least) did so. So not only are they grieving their brother's sudden death but the loss of their dream employment. Happily, the story ended with them finally recognizing what the "family business" really was and with each using her unique skills.

The author worked interesting historical details into the story. The characters reacted realistically to events, were interesting, and I cared about what happened to them. Some suspense came from family relationship tensions as well as the women trying to discover how their brother could have been so badly in debt and how to pay the debt. There were no sex scenes. There was a couple uses of bad language. Overall, I'd 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.