A historical novel inspired by the life of one of Maryland’s earliest English colonists.

Dietz, the author of The Flapper, the Imposter, and the Stalker (2017), fictionalizes the story of Margaret Brent, a wealthy Englishwoman who becomes a prominent figure in Maryland in the mid-17th century. The story opens in England, where she, along with the rest of her family, worries that her economic and social privilege may not protect her as the Protestant government increases restrictions on their Catholic faith. When her cousin Lord Baltimore encourages the Brents to consider moving to the Colony that his father established across the Atlantic, where Catholics are free to worship, Margaret is hesitant. She’s finally swayed by Baltimore’s offer of land and other rights to anyone, including women, who brings servants to settle in the Colony. Along with three of her siblings, Margaret travels to Maryland and settles into life in her new home. Although men far outnumber women there, Margaret feels that she should remain unmarried, both for religious reasons (to devote herself only to God) and to maintain her independence. She frequently appears in front of the Colony’s governing body, speaking on her own behalf as well as for other colonists in their disputes and petitions. Margaret also takes a role in the Colony’s relationship with neighboring Native Americans, even serving as foster mother to the daughter of a Piscataway chief who converts to Christianity. When conflicts with residents of other Colonies threaten the Colony, Margaret acts as a close adviser to the governor, and he names her as his representative when he dies, leading her to play an important role in saving the community. 

Although little of Margaret’s real-life history was recorded, Dietz does a good job of drawing on what’s known about her and about the early years of Maryland’s colonization to create a well-rounded, convincing portrait. Over the course of the novel, the author employs a great many vivid details (“His mossy-green silk doublet, embroidered with scrolls of golden-brown and pink-rose threads, emphasized his slashed sleeves, which in turn showed his ivory silk shirt beneath”) that bring everyday life in both England and Maryland into sharp focus. However, as a result, some readers may find the narrative to be overly wordy at times. The theme of women as a settling influence (“ ‘Worst of all,’ Margaret interrupted, ‘the country is overrun with irrational angry young men with no wives to settle them’ ”) appears throughout the book, offset by Margaret’s refusal to be anyone’s spouse, which makes for an intriguing contrast. The novel sticks closely to its protagonist’s perspective, so it does not address colonization from the point of view of the Indigenous characters, and no mention is made of enslaved people, who were also present at that time and place. For the most part, though, the book is sweeping in scope, covering Maryland’s foundational years from the perspective of a woman who played a crucial role in its existence.

A robust imagining of the life of a largely unsung hero.

A life-changing revelation finds an amateur sleuth juggling another mystery and her strained marriage as she embarks on a search for her biological father.

Dietz’s third book, a sequel to her series debut, The Flapper, the Scientist and the Saboteur (2016)—her second work was a prequel featuring the flapper character—picks up at the funeral of Kathleen McPherson. The adopted Beth Armstrong believed this “redoubtable” woman was her aunt only to learn she was actually her mother. “My aunt’s my mom and my mom’s my aunt and they’re both dead,” Armstrong laments, and she becomes consumed with finding out “who in the world is my father.” Other mysteries immediately present themselves: Is she being stalked by the driver of a beat-up old truck? Who was the unannounced woman playing saxophone at Kathleen’s funeral? Armstrong’s husband, Harold, can be forgiven for feeling let down when he discerns her true agenda after she suggests the pair take an impromptu Caribbean vacation on St. Thomas. “I thought we were off to recapture the romance in our marriage,” he tells her. “Instead we’re off on a mystery hunt for some guy who’s probably long dead.” Romance definitely takes a back seat when, in their hotel bar, Armstrong notices a picture of the saxophone player. “There’s a connection,” she insists. “When does this vacation actually start?” Harold responds. The loss of the unflappable Kathleen robs Dietz of her most intriguing character, but she introduces several vividly drawn stand-ins, including Gnat, an “exceptional child,” and Missus Abu, who “knows everyone and everything—quite a good friend to have.” There are tense scenes, such as an early encounter with a street thief, but it is the personal stakes rather than the mystery that will hold readers’ interest. The stage is skillfully set for more “wild stories.”

An engaging family tale with a strong cast.

In this prequel, readers discover where a feisty, chain-smoking, elderly flapper got her start—in Chicago in the Roaring ’20s with all of its frenetic craziness.

Seventeen-year-old Kathleen McPherson comes from a staid, upper-middle-class family in Minneapolis, but she is a rebel at heart. When a young classmate is murdered in the park right across from her house one night in 1923, she begins to sense danger. She decides she will absolutely not attend the women’s college that her family has picked out for her. A talented dancer, she and her gifted singer pal, Sophie Dagget, run off to Chicago. Amazingly, they both find work, but that just pulls them deeper into danger. Madcap characters proliferate. Some are good and protective, but others are as dangerous as rattlesnakes. In fact, people from Kathleen’s past in Minneapolis are more treacherous than the notorious gangsters in Chicago. Did her almost lover Chester Davidson fake his death, and is he now trying to kill her? What about wacky Ivy Schrader? Is Mrs. Vivian Davidson to be trusted? And who is this rather creepy Pritchard fellow who nonetheless seems to be a kind of guardian angel? The action never stops, and the girls—the annoying Dolly, a former classmate, also shows up—get into one scrape after another. Kathleen falls for a married man who is not really the cad that he seems. The imposter is finally revealed, and readers can have their choice of stalkers, depending on the quarry. Dietz (The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur, 2016), whose preceding novel featured Aunt Kathleen McPherson as an aging flapper and spirited amateur detective, has a wonderful time with all of it. The chapters are quite short, with each one featuring an epigraph and an appropriate cliffhanger or semicliffhanger. The author’s prose deftly captures her protagonist’s gutsiness and insouciance. Here Kathleen steals a gangster’s car left idling: “She floor boarded it down the street, howling in delight, taking the corner on two wheels.…Her face hurt from grinning.” It is hard to believe that the teenage flapper could be so savvy, so smart, such a survivor, but Dietz makes readers believe as the pages turn. The author is also a master of suspense. Not until the final pages is the stalker (or stalkers) revealed.

A fast-paced historical novel that is both scary and witty, a wonderful combination.

In this debut novel, a Colorado medical researcher must deal with a lab mystery, thorny secrets, and a boatload of personal conflicts.

Beth Armstrong, the story’s main character, has a lot on her plate and a lot slipping off it. Beth is a gifted researcher (currently working on a cure for multiple sclerosis) who discovers that some of her valuable mice have inexplicably died. Then there is the matter of files that disappear then reappear. Clearly someone is sabotaging her project and murdering the mice (although it is hard to convince her colleagues of this). At home, she copes with her aunt, the redoubtable Kathleen McPherson, who came to tend Beth’s mother in her final illness and now is in the busy researcher’s care. And there is Beth’s husband, Harold, a charming doofus who can’t stand his job as a CFO, preferring to start messy home renovation projects. Kathleen, a glamorous entertainer in her day (with a colorful history that includes speak-easies and mobsters in Chicago and Detroit), and Harold hit it off. Their Cuba Libre–fueled antics annoy Beth, who interrogates Harold about this alarming development (“So Kathleen’s bewitched you, has she?”). Soon Kathleen and Harold both become amateur sleuths. Early on, Beth’s beloved childhood home burns to the ground, and it sure looks like the fault of Kathleen, the doddering chain smoker, which further strains things. (To Beth’s amazement, her aunt firmly denies responsibility.) Eventually, the search for the lab saboteur and thief produces some extremely tense moments. The author can be forgiven a few loose ends—but most things are wrapped up nicely. And there is one real stunner at the conclusion. Dietz is a talented writer, delivering nuggets like “Beth dug a pleasant look out from somewhere,” and “She tossed her imagination in the wastebasket along with the card.” Readers will initially settle in for a standard mystery (who killed the mice?). But when the appealing Kathleen and Harold take over things, this story becomes much more complicated than a simple whodunit—it delightfully turns into serious literature. Readers should hope for more captivating novels from this promising author.

An impressive family tale with a strong cast.