Some books just scream for a sequel. Either the author just sets up the story to pave the way for another new book or you just like the characters so much you want to revisit them and see how their lives turn out. I'd say Amy Stewart's Girl Waits with Gun is just such a book on both counts. I was expecting to like it in any case, but all the more so when it came as a recommendation of "the Crime Lady", Sarah Weinman. If you like mysteries, thrillers, or good novels of suspense and if you are not already subscribing to her weekly-(ish) newsletter then you should be. It is rare that I read a weekly installment and don't jot down a title or two to read or give further attention to. The Stewart novel was already on my mental radar but it got pushed up the pile when Sarah Weinman raved about it. One good rave by a reader I trust and I'll go grab it from my pile of books to read (sooner or later) no questions asked.
It's kind of a quirky-ish story, but then the characters are sort of quirky so it fits. I will say it is a most entertaining read, though it does sag a bit on occasion which might be more a reflection of my own impatience to hurry through the action and find out how it all turns out than anything Stewart is or is not doing. Ultimately this is a story based on or inspired by the first woman to be deputized, but in the actual telling it is about three sisters who have a messy run in with the wrong sort of man--a gangster with a tarnished heart (and reputation) but not the brightest color in the box.
Let's see--the sisters? Constance is our heroine. I like her. She's got a wry sense of humor and a conscience that guides her but that will get her into trouble. She is also tall and sturdily built and can hold her own when needed. Norma has a wry sense of humor, too, but enough common sense and cynicism that she uses to try (often with no success) to rein in Constance. Then there is Fleurette, the youngest by a number of years. Lovely Fleurette who has a sense of adventure (she wants to be in the movies) that will get her into sticky situations should her sisters fail to contain her exuberance. There father left when they were younger and their mother has passed away not so long ago. They prefer to be as independent as three women can be in the early 1920s and so live away from the rest of the town on their own little farm. Norma keeps carrier pigeons, Constance keeps house and Fleurette keeps bugging her sisters about her wish for adventure.
"Our troubles began in the summer of 1914, the year I turned thirty-five. The Archduke of Austria had just been assassinated, the Mexicans were still revolting, and absolutely nothing was happening in our house, which explains why all three of us were riding to Paterson on the most trivial of errands. Never had a larger committee been convened to make a decision about the purchase of mustard powder and the replacement of a claw hammer whose handle had split from age and misuse."
"Against my better judgement I allowed Fleurette to drive. Norma was reading to us from the newspapers as she always did."
And then it happens. A black motor car comes barreling down the street broadsiding the sister's buggy and shattering the wood. It's only luck that saves the horse and the sisters, but the buggy is mostly a loss. A loss they can't afford and so Constance pursues (figuratively that is) the driver to get their recompense. It's only too bad the driver is not only a wealthy mill owner, but a disreputable one at that. And one with nasty friends who begin harassing Constance and her sisters. First it is only small things to intimidate them into leaving him alone but when she does not back down, Constance is pretty formidable I must say--but in a good way, it becomes violent and frightening.
Interspersed in the narrative is the story of the sisters (and their older, married and no longer living nearby, brother) growing up, which helped move the story along nicely. But there is a lot of harassment, which is where Sheriff Heath comes in. An officer of the law who has the best interest of the sisters at heart but not a law adequate to actually protect them or prosecute the man. It's his seedy dealings and Constance's persistence that will see the investigation through and the framing of the criminals.
Girl Waits with Gun is a fun story, mostly very light-heartedly presented, but an interesting look at early modern America. If you are wary of historical fiction, this is a story that wears its details lightly. Stewart did her research, but the story doesn't get bogged down by it. My only criticism is that is really does get a little saggy at times. How many times can a criminal get away with the things he does to the sisters? Apparently quite a few in 1914. So I really cheered when the end and a resolution was in sight. But Constance does get deputized, right, I kept asking myself. You find out at the very end and then know that surely there must be more adventures to be had now that she has found the perfect job for her skills.
If you are curious about the real Constance, you can read more about her here. Fingers crossed that there will be further adventures for the sisters and particularly for Constance.