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Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

I've actually found a few cool book recommendations on Pinterest and this was one of them. Being obsessed with all things Sherlock, I skimmed through it at the library and it's one of those books that already had me interested by the first sentence- always a good sign! It's the true tale of Grace Humiston, a New York detective and lawyer in the early 1900s. She was the first female US District Attorney and spent most of her career providing cheap legal help to low-income immigrants (her motto was "Justice for those of limited means") and taking on cases dealing with white slavery. The majority of the book, however, focuses on Ruth Cruger, an 18 year old girl who went missing, whose case the police completely (and probably intentionally) bungled, and how Humiston eventually unraveled the mystery. She was doing all this before women could even vote, and she did her work not only in the midst of a generally sexist climate but also threats to her life and livelihood by the criminals and competitors she fought against. If there's anything better than Sherlock, it's a real-life, badass FEMALE Sherlock. Loved this and got a glimpse into an earlier, much creepier New York City that I never knew existed.

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