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A review by attytheresa
Seneca Falls Inheritance by Miriam Grace Monfredo
4.0
This is a tale of murder and inheritance set in Seneca Falls, NY just after the adoption by NY Legislature of the Married Women's Property Act that allowed a woman to keep her property after marriage, although women could still not sign contracts and such. Also happening in Seneca Falls at the same time is the Woman's Rights Convention, the first of its kind and borne quite literally out of the inadequacies of the Property Act just enacted. It's filled with historic and fictional characters and events beautifully integrated and given full life. Our main protagonist is Glynis, a librairian who has determined to remain single although an intimate relationship with the town sheriff is hinted. On the one hand claiming to be a bit shy, especially when approaching women about attending a meeting on women's rights, Glynis is a strong, intelligent, and capable. Of course she's going to put all the pieces together.
But she could not have done it without Duncan, her mischievous, thieving white terrier who brought a smile to my face every single time he appeared. Lots of likeable characters, which the author used quite effectively to demonstrate what women's lives were like in the middle of 19th Century America, in a town that only a few years earlier would have been still the frontier. Indeed, one of the town's doctors says: "I've seen it before. We're not that far removed from Frontier justice. Lynching still happens..."
Not only is the historical aspect wondefully integrated, but so is the look and feel of Seneca Falls, a town only about 50 years old, thriving as a result of the commerce and mills brought by the Erie Canal. At first, the murder and inheritance plot seems simplistic but soon it is clear that is just a red herring. In fact, the author's effective use of the historical events and personalities of the time also provide an excellent red herring. It starts off with a dramatic accidental death of a wealthy man and his wife in their prime, dying intestate. It ends with a climactic courtroom scene, followed by a shocker of an epilogue (although this feminist was cheering through her tears).
I've owned at least one copy of this since the 1990s (originally published in 1992) and yet I had not read it until now. Shame on me. I've already added the next in the series to the TBR.
But she could not have done it without Duncan, her mischievous, thieving white terrier who brought a smile to my face every single time he appeared. Lots of likeable characters, which the author used quite effectively to demonstrate what women's lives were like in the middle of 19th Century America, in a town that only a few years earlier would have been still the frontier. Indeed, one of the town's doctors says: "I've seen it before. We're not that far removed from Frontier justice. Lynching still happens..."
Not only is the historical aspect wondefully integrated, but so is the look and feel of Seneca Falls, a town only about 50 years old, thriving as a result of the commerce and mills brought by the Erie Canal. At first, the murder and inheritance plot seems simplistic but soon it is clear that is just a red herring. In fact, the author's effective use of the historical events and personalities of the time also provide an excellent red herring. It starts off with a dramatic accidental death of a wealthy man and his wife in their prime, dying intestate. It ends with a climactic courtroom scene, followed by a shocker of an epilogue (although this feminist was cheering through her tears).
I've owned at least one copy of this since the 1990s (originally published in 1992) and yet I had not read it until now. Shame on me. I've already added the next in the series to the TBR.