Fremont Jones— an unusual name for a woman, but then it was an unusual time and place — San Francisco in 1906.

Fremont has her own business, a typing service, and is doing fine but the San Francisco earthquake changes all that. She salvages her typewriter from the ruins of her business and her few possessions from where she lives.

While salvaging what she could at her office, she notices a broken crate in a store room. The contents were items you’d expect to see in a museum. Why would her landlords have such items? Smuggling? This is the beginning to some very strange happenings in Fremont’s life.

She takes up an offer of a place to live from a woman she had done some typing for in the past. What the woman presents as her life turns out to not be actually true.

Fremont also helps her friend, Meiling Li, search for a pouch of perarls that are somewhere in the ruins of her family home. A gift from her grandfather she plans to use to finance a college education and provide an independent life for herself. It is a dangerous project, given the looters that are about.

Fremont is a fan of Sherlock Holmes and patterns her investigative style after him. She still manages to get herself in some bad situations, even when she tries to be logical.
It’s an enjoyable read with an interesting cast of characters, interesting setting and a touch of romance and humour. ( )

Fremont Jones involved in murder and conspiracy in post earthquake SF

Having previously read Dianne Day's first book (The Strange Files of Fremont Jones) featuring the feisty sleuth/typist, I decided to pick up the second of the series. The book starts out with the great earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco. Mrs. O'Leary's house is evacuated and Fremont's office has been destroyed. Handsome and mysterious Michael Archer has been called out of town on business and leaves his room at the Presidio and his automobile in Fremont's care. While working for the Red Cross Disaster Relief team, she meets Alice Lashley who seems very confused about what's going on in her life. Alice invites Fremont to stay with her and that's when she discovers various dead things keep appearing on the front steps. With Michael away and Mrs O'Leary missing, she has no one to consult, and the situation becomes very dangerous.

The story of murder and chicanery, confused by the destruction of the earthquake is clever, as is our independent, feisty protagonist. The characters are interesting and nicely developed, and the relationship between Fremont and Michael is progressing slowly. I find this series so entertaining and the time period set in San Francisco is filled with possibilities. It's not a tightly written suspense/thriller novel, but if you're in the mood for a “spunky” heroine, Fremont is a woman who knows her own mind and can definitely keep you entertained.
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Really enjoyed this read - will write a quick review in the next day or so

A mystery set in post-earthquake northern California, I was looking forward to this read. It was the second in a series, but the first I had read. I have a feeling I would have gotten more out of it had I read them in order, but it was still satisfying. The characters well-developed and able to stand alone. It painted a decent picture of the aftermath of the Great Earthquake of San Francisco and its affect on the people who were there. As a mystery, decent. No last-minute unveilings that came from nowhere (and for that, I thank the author).