The Woman in the Camphor Trunk

An Anna Blanc Mystery, Book 2

By: Jennifer Kincheloe

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

Los Angeles, 1908. Ex-heiress Anna Blanc is precariously employed by the Los Angeles Police Department, reforming delinquent children and minding lady jailbirds. Badly. What she really wants is to trap criminals and be alone with the delicious Detective Joe Singer—both pursuits that could get her fired. If she loses her income, she’ll be on the street. While hunting truants in Griffith Park, Anna and Joe discover the body of a young John Doe. With Anna’s job on the line, Joe warns her away, but Anna can't resist. She's on the case.

Meanwhile, Anna begins getting strange floral arrangements from an unknown admirer. Following the proverbial petals leads her to another crime--one close to home. Suddenly pitted against Joe, Anna must examine her loyalties and solve the crimes, even if it means losing the man she loves.

Inspired by true events.

©2017 Jennifer Kincheloe (P)2017 Jennifer Kincheloe

Fantastic!

I love Anna Blanc and her stories!! But I think the inventive, prefect narration brings it all together and up a notch. If I could, it would get 6 stars. Great job Jennifer Kincheloe and Moira Quirk!!

Start With A Head, End With A Body

Basically a good story, but, the main character is way too selfish and head strong. Anna Blanc wants people to treat her like the wealthy socialite she was born while she acts like she pleases without regard for others. Accustomed to having someone else pay the bills, she is unable to think ahead that she must pay for things herself. Unfortunately, her quirks became tiresome throughout the story. Too cutesy for my taste. I was gifted this from Audiobookworm for my honest review.

Fabulous follow up to Secret Life of Anna Blanc

Loved it! Highly recommend. Several times had me laughing out loud. Can't wait for the next one!

OMGOODNESS

I seriously love these characters.
The narrator makes the ditzy blonde believable. Then again, I hate the main character for the same reason.
All in all, I have listened to the series now and then because it makes me laugh.
The male characters and the voices of those I'm in love with.

Anna Blanc Takes L.A.'s Chinatown by Storm

Assistant Matron Anna Blanc is an amazing detective, perhaps the best one on the L.A. police force in the early 1900s.
But she's a cartoon character who blunders her way into situations most young women would avoid. Like many detectives, she's so brilliant that she can see things clearly that others can not. But Anna, who is clearly on her own planet, always succeeds in making a mess of situations and finds herself back peddling. Here, she tackles a murder in L.A.'s Chinatown with her usual insight, and 'bull in a china shop' eagerness. It's a fun and sobering story based on some historical events.

I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Good Mystery!

This is a fun story by Kincheloe! I love mysteries in general so I’m a big fan of reading different types of mystery genres. This is a good historical mystery novel. It transported me to the time period and the main character was hilarious! She was fun and awesome to read about. I love the detective skills and I felt that this could be realistic. Everything flowed well and I highly recommend for mystery fans. I give it a 5/5!

Narrator Quirk has a great voice. She does so well with all the characters and I love love love this! Her tone and accents are great! The production value is good. Everything flows smoothly and nothing is off. I give the audio a 5/5!

Charming heroine & exciting setting

"As a teen, Anna had indeed broken in to drink the communion wine, because she needed the extra holiness."

I've not been so madly in love with a heroine in a long time as I am with Anna Blanc. I gushed about her in my review of Kincheloe's first book, The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, and this second historical mystery featuring our plucky, daring, poised, naive, sweet, reckless girl was so satisfying and exciting.

I tend to drop serial historical mysteries because at a certain point it feels like the interpersonal stuff with the main characters gets frozen at a certain point to ensure that readers can drop into new releases without wondering what they missed. Possibly this could happen with Kincheloe's series if it goes on for ten more books but so far, I'm really impressed with how much had changed for Anna in this book.

The events of the first book are deeply reflected in Anna's life in this book, and I loved it. The book blurb gives a little away, so I won't recap, but I will say that Anna's decisions aren't waved off in favor of keeping her a socialite-with-a-secret. Her secret came out in a big way in the first book, and Anna is now disowned and struggling to make ends meet on her police matron's salary.

The historical detail in this book was as rich and detailed as The Secret Life of Anna Blanc; with Anna's sheltered life, there's much she doesn't know, and it allows the reader to learn with her. Kincheloe does it deftly, too, so it's not one painful info dump after another; it feels more organic and natural. The setting for this book is Chinatown, with the discovery of a dead woman stuffed in a trunk. It's a horrifying murder that threatens to unleash greater violence, from the criminal gangs that run opium and gambling dens to white mobs motivated by racist fears, and Anna and the police are frantic to quietly solve things without setting off any riots.

What was most interesting slash torturous for me in this read was Kincheloe's handling of Anna's romance with Detective Joe Singer. I don't think it gives anything away to say that Anna is firm -- as she was in the previous book -- that she doesn't want to be under the thumb of any man, even one she's wildly fond of; and as a result, she rebuffs Joe. While I hated this, I also admire it, because Anna is so consistent (even when she's not), and it made for an interesting secondary thread throughout the story. (I've been so deep in romance novels, it was painful for me when things didn't resolve with a neat HEA but when I took a breath, I appreciated that, too!)

I alternated between reading this book and listening to the audiobook. As with the first book, this one is read by Moira Quirk and it is marvelous. Quirk just is Anna but she also does the other characters -- including love interest Joe -- beautifully. Now that I'm listening to more audiobooks, I can appreciate what Quirk does well: her pacing is great (no need to speed up the book), her accents and male voices aren't cringe-y, and she's consistent in her characterizations. She just perfectly captures Anna's naivete and compassion.

I knew I was a fan after the first book; I'm now an Anna Blanc devotee after this one. (I've already finished the third book so now I am a slavish fangirl and can't wait for the fourth book to come out!)

a fantastic book. could not stop listening

Such a fantastic read. the author takes you back to the time period in such a vivid way. a great mystery for those whoare like a fun adventure. I'm looking forward to the next Anna Blanc book in the series.

Anna Blanc makes early 1900s police work look fun!

Note: Even though this is Book 2 in the series, it works as a stand alone.

I didn’t realize how much I missed Anna Blanc until I returned to her world of early 1900s Los Angeles. She’s such a charming character having a kind of innocence but also a deep determination once she’s decided on a course of action. I love how she can judge certain traits about a person while also finding the person as a whole to be worthy. Some would say that her current circumstances are all her own making as she could have lived a life of indulgence and pampering, but doing so would have meant giving up her freedom in nearly everything. Besides, living on a police matron’s salary lets her eat decently (if you count whiskey, kippers, and cracker jacks as wholesome food).

Joe Singer is also a favorite character. While he often has to rescue Anna from one situation or another, he is usually returned the kindness when Anna has to rescue him (though that can put a rub on his male ego). It’s obvious he’s madly in love with Anna but he’s also hurt that she isn’t willing to set aside her independence and become his obedient stay-at-home wife. I expect that eventually Anna will cure him of such expectations but until then I greatly look forward to the back and forth, the give and take between these two.

Wolfe surprised me in this book. He’s always so obvious about how he wouldn’t mind making some time with Anna in the police stables. He definitely has a misogynistic streak and is borderline lewd at times with his blatant comeons. Still, there are some moments in this story where he shines and I very much look forward to seeing what the author has in store for him.

The plot delves into Los Angeles’s Chinatown. It’s a seedy, run down section of the town full of tasty food and crime. Anna can’t resist going again and again despite everyone warning her not to. She’s afforded some protection simply because she is a White woman and Chinatown doesn’t want to be turned upside down by the police in the event of something unfortunate happening to a White woman in Chinatown…. which is exactly what has happened to the mystery woman in the camphor trunk. Joe knows that this crime is a match waiting to strike so he and Anna do all they can to solve the murder before it makes news. However, most of Chinatown is not willing to help, with the exception of Mr. Jones who acts as translator for the two (though Joe knows some basic Chinese phrases).

Missionary work was big at the time and could be a blessing and a curse. Several missionary ladies have been providing English lessons to those in Chinatown, along with their spiritual guidance. Add all this to an underlying war brewing between the Tongs, and Chinatown is a hotbed of impending violence. Anna doesn’t care. Sigh…. Joe, I really feel for you. Keeping Anna safe is a full-time job.

Humor and danger intertwine in this tale to make a delightful murder mystery. The historical setting provides a backdrop of sexism and racism all while being very interesting. Anna is the shinning star of the show, often providing a bit of humor as folks are a little shocked by how she deals with various situations. I really enjoyed Book 1 in this series and Book 2 does not disappoint, holding to the high standard previously set by The Secret Life of Anna Blanc. 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Moira Quirk continues to do this series justice. Her voice as Anna Blanc is spot on. Her masculine voices for the men are believable and her Chinese accents are well done. There’s a variety of emotions in this story, especially for Anna, and Quirk performs them all well. Joe Singer’s emotions are also on display even if he is trying to hold back and I appreciated Quirk ability to get across nuanced scenes. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jennifer Kincheloe. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Beautiful!

Anna is no longer wealthy. Her father has disowned her and completely cut her off. She finds herself struggling to pay for things herself and eat properly. She's thankful that she's been allowed to work as a matron again despite everything coming out in the open about who she really is. Shortly after she returns, she uncovers a great murder mystery and finds herself determined to solve the case.

I really do love these stories. They are realistic to the time being spoken about. There are no liberties taken just because times are different now. I like that. If we cover up or rewrite history, we won't learn from it, but I digress. This book is very action-packed. I can't say I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. It was a bit of a sloppy start for me. The rest of the book made up for that in my opinion.

It's really rare that I absolutely love a story but completely dislike the main characters. This is one of them. I just don't understand how somebody can be so insanely stupid and yet intelligent at the same time. I think I'm being harsh. I get it. She led a sheltered life. However, she comes across as entitled and entirely selfish and spoiled. I can say that this book shows promise that she's starting to calm down a bit. That's a good sign.

Like the first book, this book was also narrated by Moira Quirk. She really did a fantastic job. I took the liberty of looking up other titles by her. She narrates for some pretty interesting titles. I will be doing what I can to obtain and listen to some more books narrated by her. She's not a favorite yet, but she has great potential. I will say that. She's lovely.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the first book as well. I may not really care for the main characters and feel like the rest of the characters could use a bit more of a role in the books, but the books are highly enjoyable. Picture a Stephanie Plum but back in the early 1900s. Well, if Stephanie Plum wound up as a police matron instead of a bounty hunter and if she was born blue blooded.