A Dangerous Business

By: Jane Smiley

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

“Mrs. Parks was often paid in gold dust, but she paid her girls in dollars …”

From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author: a rollicking murder mystery set in Gold Rush California, as two young prostitutes follow a trail of missing girls

Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can’t resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe’s detective, Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious.

Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive, but to find their way in a nascent town on the fringes of the Wild West—a bewitching combination of beauty and danger—as what will become the Civil War looms on the horizon. As Mrs. Parks says, “Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

©2022 Jane Smiley (P)2022 Recorded Books

Enjoyable

The reader was excellent. The story was a bit disjointed and the ending odd. Also there was a reveal of one of the ladies that seemed way out of left field. But, overall I did enjoy it.

Just dumb

Not a good story, very typical murder story. Throw in some gender stuff and prostitutes and John’s doing their business.

I liked the story

But the rendition was beyond annoying. The reader should not do accents and should not sing. It put me right off. But other waist ok; not he delight the critics had promised

Editing??

Not among author’s best books unfortunately. Seems disjointed and incoherent at times. Captures the culture of the time.

Tedious at best

For a story about a prostitute in 1859s Monterey, long winded and boring. Not as erotic or as mysterious as expected.

Not a Stellar Performance

I was uneasy listening to this from the start and couldn’t pin down what was bothering me. After an hour or so I realized that the issue was the reader’s presentation, which made the book seem light - even breezy - as if it were “chick lit”. This is a book to read, I think, rather than to listen to.

Status of women

Pleasant no thought book. Light read. Also
Author took many liberties with the historical truth. Fun for those who know SF and Monterrey.

Slow and shallow

Some of the plot seemed silly and nothing was deeply developed. Some of the storylines seemed out of place with no bearing on the overall plot. I finished it because I am stubborn and wanted to know whodunnit.

Very Disappointing

Shallow plot and characters. Unconscionable portrayal of prostitution. Made it sound like a fairy tale. Tried to return after first 30 minutes. Expected so much more, on so many levels from Jane Smiley.

Enjoyable read

This story has a somewhat rosy view of being a prostitute in the 1800s but has appealing characters and moves at a good pace.