I won copies of book 1 & 2 of the Kopp Sisters series, Girl Waits With Gun and Lady Cop Makes Trouble (by Amy Stewart), through Reading Group Choices.
Description of Girl Waits With Gun:
Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared.
Review:
I started this not really knowing what to expect, but with high hopes. I’m happy to say they were sustained. Stewart’s writing is snappy and quite readable. Plus, I simply appreciated so very much about the character Constance. I loved that she’s a woman in her mid-thirties, a ‘substantial’ woman with a past, and not even willing to pretend to the frailties expected of women of the time. Further, her sister Norma is the anti-social introvert we all know and love somewhere in our lives, while Fleurette added some levity. I also liked that the book resisted falling into a romance, even if the elements are there. All in all, I think the best way to tell you how much I liked this book is to say that I read it AND HALF OF BOOK TWO in one day. To say I devoured them would be an understatement.
Description of Lady Cop Makes Trouble:
After besting (and arresting) a ruthless silk factory owner and his gang of thugs in Girl Waits with Gun, Constance Kopp became one of the nation’s first deputy sheriffs. She’s proven that she can’t be deterred, evaded, or outrun. But when the wiles of a German-speaking con man threaten her position and her hopes for this new life, and endanger the honorable Sheriff Heath, Constance may not be able to make things right.
Lady Cop Makes Trouble sets Constance loose on the streets of New York City and New Jersey–tracking down victims, trailing leads, and making friends with girl reporters and lawyers at a hotel for women. Cheering her on, and goading her, are her sisters Norma and Fleurette–that is, when they aren’t training pigeons for the war effort or fanning dreams of a life on the stage.
Review:
While I didn’t love this book quite as much as the first, I still greatly enjoyed it. The one thing holding me back was that Constance really pushed her luck and repeatedly disobeyed orders in this one and heroes/heroines that get away with what other characters wouldn’t is one of my pet peeves in books. Beyond that however, I continued to love Constance as a character, really liked seeing Norma start to step out of her shell and grow, and I was happy to see the Sheriff solidified into and even more solid character too. I look forward to continuing the series.