Maids of Misfortune: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery [Kindle Edition]

M. Louisa Locke (Author)

Book Description

It's the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie's husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt.

Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco's most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl's clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen.

Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior.

Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco. Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke's historical mystery series, the sequel is Uneasy Spirits, and there are currently two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

M. Louisa Locke is a retired U.S and Women's history professor who has taken her story telling in a new direction with the publication of her best-selling Victorian San Francisco mystery series, including Maids of Misfortune, Uneasy Spirits, and her short stories. She is currently working on the third book in the series, Bloody Lessons.

Product Details

• File Size: 545 KB
• Print Length: 337 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1449925030
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002Z13UGS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,529 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Americas > United States > State & Local > West
  • #37 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Historical
  • #41 in Books > History > Americas > United States > State & Local

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

125 of 128 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Cozy Historical Mystery April 1, 2010

By sevenmoonlight

Format:Paperback

This historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco is a complete package of a modified locked room puzzle, more than one murder, daring undercover snooping, romantic tension and a few twists and turns for a powerhouse of a debut novel.

When I finished this book I immediately missed Annie (a liberated woman ahead of her time!) and the other characters, showing just how well they had been brought to life and made, dare I say...memorable. The mystery was well plotted so I went down the wrong path along with the police at first. The setting of Victorian San Francisco and period details are rich and layered, easily woven in the overall story from the attitudes towards Chinese and class divisions to the strict propriety rules restricting women. The journey back in time seemed so complete I felt jarred if pulled back into the modern world when my reading was interrupted.

The climax and revealing of the murderer was tense and an edge-of-your-seat ordeal where Annie is in very real danger. The ending was satisfying and I put the book down smiling at the wrap-up.

Read the complete review at [...]

74 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read! February 10, 2010

By Ann B. Elwood

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Annie, the main character of Maids of Misfortune, a feisty pseudo-psychic, is so real she seems to walk off the page. Her male cohort, the lawyer Nate, is the epitome of gentlemanly sex appeal. The mystery advances the sizzling but restrained attraction between Annie and Nate to an almost unbearable pitch as it leads them into the most interesting by-ways and corners of Victorian San Francisco. You'll want to yell at Annie like a kid in a theater, "Get out, now!" as she explores the library in the middle of the night-you just know someone's behind her. Is someone? Wait and see. You're there at the dance where the swells invade and Nate defends Annie against a masher. And the final scene, in which Annie and her accomplices . . .but I don't want to spoil it for you. The mystery is not so easy to solve, in spite of the clues, and yet its solution satisfies.
M. Louisa Locke has a Ph.D. in history, and her research is meticulous. However, she never lets it stand in the way of her story-telling, and, in fact, her deep knowledge of the past enriches the story and makes it more credible even as it overturns your pre-conceptions of the nineteenth century.

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Mystery set in Victorian San Francisco March 23, 2011

By William Drescher

Format:Paperback

M. Louisa Locke, a semi-retired History professor has written a delightful mystery set in Victorian San Francisco. In rating a book it is of first importance that I care what happens to the main characters and she has do a good job of drawing them in multiple dimensions and in a way that leads you to care about them. Secondly I look to see if I can figure out the plot before I get to the end. While she is very good at foreshadowing who the the "bad guy" is by the end of the book I was still unable to figure out several of the plot twists until she skillfully revealed them. Third I rate a book by how much I look forward to my next reading installment. This book I carried with me to that when I had a few uncommitted moments I could continue to read it. By the end I was willing to lose sleep to find out how the locked room (actually locked house) mystery was accomplished.

Very highly recommended and I look forward to her next book when it becomes available.

More About the Author

M. Louisa Locke is a recently retired professor of U.S. and Women's history at San Diego Mesa College. Dr. Locke has now taken her story telling in a new direction with her Victorian San Francisco mystery series. The first of that series, Maids of Misfortune, was a finalist in the historical fiction category of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, a 2012 B.R.A.G. MedallionTM Honoree, and it, and the sequel, Uneasy Spirits, are historical mystery bestsellers on Kindle. Her short stories, Dandy Detects and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage, are based on characters from her novels and can also be found on Kindle.

For those of you have read any of her work, Locke would love to hear from you at [e-mail], and she would really appreciate if you could spend a few minutes writing a review on Amazon.com.

Locke is currently living in San Diego with her husband and assorted animals, where she is working on Bloody Lessons, the next installment of her series of historical mysteries set in Victorian San Francisco.

If you are interested in learning more about Victorian San Francisco and the events and places in her books, please join her author facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/mlouisalockeauthor or her website/blog at http://mlouisalocke.com/