The Secret Life of Anna Blanc

September 14, 2015
The 1907 Los Angeles setting of this ambitious debut novel holds great potential, which, unfortunately, Kincheloe doesn’t achieve. Anna Blanc, the daughter of a widowed bank president, is pampered and spoiled, but also repressed and frustrated in her desire to break free and experience life. When her elopement is thwarted, she takes a job as a police matron. Dissatisfied with her office duties, Anna decides to go undercover, acting as a self-appointed detective, attempting to unravel a series of prostitute murders, which higher-ups in the LAPD insist are either suicides or accidental deaths. Along the way, she gets into a number of entanglements that descend from adventure to parody and, ultimately, farce. Kinchloe has a knack for creating vivid and effective scenes, but the book’s lack of a single likable or admirable character, including Anna herself, is a handicap. Agent: Neil Blair, Blair Partnership.

November 1, 2015

In 1907 Los Angeles, women do little except appear decorative, even if they long to match wits with Sherlock Holmes. Anna Blanc just wants some adventure in her life. Her attempt to elope is thwarted by her father, who then saddles her with a no-nonsense chaperone. Anna discovers Mrs. Crisp is susceptible to bribery and suddenly freedom looms. Anna takes a job as an assistant police matron and is horrified when the department refuses to investigate a string of brothel murders, so she decides to look into the "suicides" herself. VERDICT The author won the 2013 Colorado Gold contest for unpublished writers and was a runner-up in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Unfortunately, in Kincheloe's first mystery, the prose tends toward being stilted, the dialog wooden, and a few too many red herrings complicate the investigation. With more writing under her belt, Kincheloe could have a charming series on her hands. [For another mystery about a groundbreaking female policewoman at the turn of the 20th century, try Lawrence H. Levy's Second Street Station.--Ed.]

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2015
Strong-willed debutante? Check. By-the-books cop? Check. Instant chemistry? You bet. In Kincheloe's delightful historical mystery, set in 1907 Los Angeles, Anna Blanc uses her quick wit to outsmart chaperones when what she'd really rather be doing is chasing down criminals. She gets her chance when she takes on the alias Anna Holmes and applies to be a prison matron at the LAPD. Not content to type and drop the occasional orphan off at the children's asylum, Anna deduces that a string of prostitute suicides is really the work of a serial killer. Now if only she could get someone like big, strong Officer Joe Stringer to help her investigate. At home, she pleases her banker father by accepting the attentions of financier Edgar Wright. Even a hotshot like Anna can't keep this dual life up forever. Whose arms will she be in when her cover is blown? Anna is a wonderfully independent character: she won't share a church pew with a married woman for fear that their prayers will get mixed up and she'll find herself pregnant, and the ma'am will get a motorbike. Fans of Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy and Kerry Greenwood's Miss Phryne Fisher will become fast friends with Anna Blanc.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)