Those who want to see what is possible to accomplish with a historical mystery need look no further than Richard Moquist's debut novel involving Sadie Greenstreet, the discontented wife of a Pinkerton agent who gets a chance to investigate a steamboat slaying on the post-Civil War Mississippi River.

Although happily married and with a career of her own as a Chicago journalist, Sadie knows something is missing. So when her husband is again to be sent away on a mission, she puts her foot down, determined to go along with him. Sent to ensure the safety of a river boat owner being pressured to sell out, she gets an opportunity to see a way of travel slowly being eclipsed by the railroads, and when the owner is found dead, at his writing desk, she gets to try her hand at detecting the not-so-gentle art of murder.

Moquist tells their story briskly and economically, using the vivid vernacular and descriptions from those times in a way that Dianne Day and Elizabeth Peters does not. A generous selection of photographs and illustrations, cleverly mingled among the text, are included. By the end of this tale, Sadie discovers what was missing, and with a telegraph from Alan Pinkerton in hand asking them to investigate a troubled baseball team in Cincinnati, the foundations are laid for an engaging and much-anticipated series.