Escape Artist: An Edna Ferber Mystery

Set in Hollywood in 1955, Ifkovic's debut, Lone Star (2009), depicted Edna Ferber as a matronly but shrewd established author. This excellent prequel, set in 1904, shows her at the start of her career, a recent high school graduate working as a reporter for her hometown newspaper in Appleton, Wis. People can be comfortable with girls who are beautiful or dutiful, but Edna is neither, so she's constantly irked by their disapproval and is especially upset at the male dithering that impedes investigation of the murder of a lovely, pregnant high school girl she knew. Fortunately, visiting celebrity Harry Houdini is able to give some advice on how a "locked room" crime could be committed%E2%80%94and to make Edna understand her need to escape from her internal restraints. If Edna's personality is more astringent than appealing, the smothering details of smalltown life justify her determined efforts to show what women can do. (June)