“IN 1917, ON THE DAY BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY, EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD RUTH CRUGER DISAPPEARED. WHEN THE POLICE GAVE UP, A MYSTERIOUS WOMAN IN BLACK VOWED TO FIND HER…
“Mrs. Sherlock Holmestells the true story of Grace Humiston, the detective and lawyer who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation’s greatest crime fighters during an era when women were rarely involved with investigations. After agreeing to take the sensational Cruger case, Grace and her partner, the hardboiled detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous web of secret boyfriends, twofaced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man, in a desperate race against time.
“Grace’s motto ‘Justice for those of limited means’ led her to strange cases all over the world. From defending an innocent giant on death row to investigating an island in Arkansas with a terrible secret, from warring halls of Congress to a crumbling medieval tower in Italy, Grace solved crimes in between shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and being marked for death by the sinister Black Hand. Grace was appointed the first female U.S. district attorney in history and the first female consulting detective to the New York Police Department. Despite her many successes in social justice, at the height of her powers Grace began to see chilling connections in the cases she solved, leading to a final showdown with her most fearsome adversary of all.
“Mrs. Sherlock Holmesis the first-ever narrative biography of this singular woman the press nicknamed after fiction’s greatest detective. Her poignant story reveals important clues about the relationship between missing girls, the media, and the real truth of crime stories. The great mystery of Grace’s life—and the haunting twist ending of the book—is how one woman could become so famous only to disappear from history completely.”
As the year draws to a close I realize there has gradually become a sad gap in my reading materials. There was a loss in my family that hit very, very close to home and I fear that put a rather large dampener on my desire and will to immerse myself in reading -- no matter how escapist I normally find this activity to be. It's been a little over three weeks now and I'm just beginning to get back into some of my normal habits (less the interruptions of the holidays) in time to try to finish a few more books before the year ends. I still want to try to keep my tally up (even if I don't think I'll achieve my goal to complete the 2018 reading challenge I began a little bit late into the year)!
This book was yet another Pinterest find; however, I didn't realize it was nonfiction until I went to go pick it up at my local library and the catalog sent me to the nonfiction section (thank you all those years working as a nonfiction page at my local library for helping make my search through the Dewey Decimal System painless). I've been on a bit of a "Sherlock Holmes" kick in my reading and television watching, so this book naturally caught my eye as I was scrolling through my feed. A female Sherlock? Set in early Twentieth Century New York? I was intrigued. When I discovered this was actually a work of nonfiction, I was still interested, if a little bit unsure. I must admit that my occasional fascination with true crime shows were what made me end up borrowing this book. The few reviews I did skim indicated that, while this book was a work of nonfiction, it read more like fiction. This was spot-on. Ricca's writing is vivid with details and he crafts settings like one would expect from a work of fiction. This serves to transport the reader rather than talk "at" the reader, which is sometimes the greatest pitfall of nonfiction. Instead of feeling like I was reading a transcribed lecture, the book was filled with captivating details.
I found the tenacity, ingenuity, and creativity of Mrs. Grace Humiston to be remarkable and truly underscored the assertion that she is America’s female Sherlock Holmes. I was impressed with the way in which she approached her cases and refused to accept the obvious simply because it was the easiest explanation.
I do have some criticism for this work. The introduction with the bit about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s visit to America with his wife, while interesting, added little-to-nothing to the actual plot and story (other than to try to create a stronger connection between Grace and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most infamous literary creation). I expected it to come back into play in some fashion, but it really did not. The readers were then introduced to the mystery of the missing girl, Ruth Cruger. Even the title of the book indicates that this is going to be the focus of the book…however, Ruth’s story is quickly shoved into the background in favor of accounts of Grace’s investigations into the white slave trade in America. While interesting – and while I eventually saw the possible connections to Ruth’s disappearance – I felt like it really took over the book. This wasn’t what I was expecting. The sheer amount of research and cases and investigations probably could have amounted to their own separate book. It felt like there was a long span of time before Ruth’s case came back into play and this slowed down my reading. I was expecting to read about a fascinating “gone girl” case, but it steered more toward the white slavery angle and then abruptly turned back to Ruth. I can see why this information was included, but felt it could have been abbreviated for the sake of sticking true to the book’s subtitle. Honestly, I don’t think I would have minded this as much had the subtitle not led me to believe that we’d be focusing on Ruth’s case. It was all interesting information and, had I gone into this book believing this was a biography about Mrs. Humiston, then I would have felt differently.
The research that went into this book was superb. All of the details and cases, the investigations and hearings, the interviews and tactics were recounted spectacularly. I mentioned earlier that this book reads more like a work of fiction than nonfiction and that is why I feel it was successful. It could have so easily turned into a flat biography or read like some sort of dry account of a case (or several), but it didn’t. The anecdotes and dialogue along with the meticulous research brought Mrs. Humiston’s story to life. I truly believe she’s a hero for all that she did for investigative work and law in early Twentieth Century America, but I’m ashamed that she’s been almost entirely forgotten, relegated to obscure knowledge and history. She deserves to be known for all that she uncovered and accomplished—as well as for her seemingly limitless bravery and dogged determination to truly do what was right, even at a personal cost.
If you like true crime murder mystery shows (think anything on the Investigation Discovery channel or some “Dateline” specials), then this book is right up your alley. The writing style makes it a relatively smooth read and the subject matter is captivating. While I had some critiques for some of the (what I felt to be) excess information, I don’t think it’s necessarily detrimental to the book. It remains well-written and covers a very interesting topic.
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