Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Girl in Disguise” is the about the first woman Pinkerton officer, Kate Warne. I don’t know much about the Pinkertons and had never heard of Kate Warne. Kate Warne decides she wants more from her life after her husband dies and being childless she has some freedom to determine her future. The founder of the Pinkertons decides to take a chance on her, knowing that a woman can get information and serve as a decoy in certain contexts better than a man.
One of the big cases that Kate works on is meeting Abraham Lincoln, prior to being a president and once elected. At first I thought this was a work of historical fiction, but the Kate Warne did exist and she was involved with Lincoln’s safety as president. Not only was it interesting learning about this historical figure, but the story was engrossing. My only complaint is that Kate falls in love in one of her colleagues and suddenly her whole life and purpose becomes this guy. I’m not turned off by a love story but it bothers me when it comes on suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, and when characters become so drastically different from where they were before. All in all though, I do recommend this read for the story and good historical fiction writing.