Miss Kopp just won't quit

*Starred Review* It seems Constance Kopp's career as the first woman deputy sheriff in Bergen County, New Jersey, might end on any page of Stewart's fourth entry in this historical mystery series, which features, as always, Kopp's deeds of daring and tenacity in the face of social prejudice. Stewart again portrays the uncomfortable conditions experienced by women in America in the WWI era, including sketches of women detained on morality charges in the Hackensack jail. The particularly compelling main case here about a woman committed to an insane asylum by her husband under false pretenses furthers this theme and forms the heart of the story. The press relentlessly stalks Constance and Sheriff Heath (now running for Congress), casting aspersions to promote Heath's political rivals. As the sheriff says, A man who does nothing but cast out hate and blame couldn't possibly be elected to office. Balancing these weighty topics are a dry-witted tone and amusing vignettes involving Constance's sister, Norma, and her carrier pigeons, and the naive efforts of Constance's daughter, Fleurette, who believes she is Constance's sister, at finding wartime entertainment. Constance herself a tall, plain woman with a man's job continues to drive the series with a no-nonsense personality that evokes a mix of Laurie R. King's Mary Russell and Lawrence H. Levy's Mary Handley. This entry is more suspenseful than its predecessors and boasts a deeper emphasis on character, politics, and social issues. A must for Constance's growing fan base.--Jen Baker Copyright 2018 Booklist

Deputy Constance Kopp, of Bergen County, N.J., comes under scrutiny during the brutal 1916 election season in bestseller Stewart's fraught fourth Kopp Sisters novel (after 2017's Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions). While her mentor and boss, Sheriff Robert Heath, runs for Congress, the real-life Constance prepares for a successor less supportive of the "lady deputy." Her extracurricular investigation into the case of Anna Kayser, a seemingly sane woman whose husband and doctor conspired to send her to a mental institution, unexpectedly threatens to affect the election. Stewart draws on newspaper accounts from the era for the vicious rhetoric aimed at Constance, whose audacity at working in a male-dominated profession provides political fodder for her boss's opponents. Although the Kayser story eventually loses steam, Stewart skillfully builds nail-biting suspense around the election results and Constance's subsequent employment prospects. The blend of practicality, forthrightness, and compassion in her first-person narration is sure to satisfy series fans and win new admirers. Author tour. Agent: Michelle Tessler, Tessler Literary Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Stewart's intrepid deputy sheriff is back (Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions, 2017, etc.), this time enmeshed in a 1916 local election with uncomfortable contemporary resonance.Sheriff Heath, Constance Kopp's liberal-minded mentor and defender at the Hackensack County Jail, is reluctantly running for Congress because he's term-limited by New Jersey law. Odious John Courter, running to succeed Heath, attacks his record at every opportunity, including most particularly the "Troublesome Lady Policeman Who Frees Lunatics from Asylum." The "lunatic" is Anna Kayser, committed by her husband for the fourth time on what seem to Deputy Kopp very flimsy grounds. Indeed, she soon learns that Mr. Kayser has his wife put away every time he wants to play house with a new girlfriend. Constance gets Anna a lawyer, one of the many feisty women with whom Stewart's unabashedly feminist series is populated, and justice might even triumph in this case. The main plot concerns the increasingly ugly election, and Constance probably won't be the only one who flinches when Sheriff Heath optimistically tells her, "A man who does nothing but cast out hate and blame couldn't possibly be elected to office." As before, Stewart bases much of the story on actual events (carefully documented in endnotes), with generous fictional embroidery to elaborate the stories of Constance's Popular Science-loving sister, Norma, currently working to convince the Army it needs carrier pigeons, and their putative baby sister (actually Constance's illegitimate daughter), Fleurette, who has aspirations as a performer but at the moment is a seamstress for a Fort Lee movie studio. The looming threat of World War I adds to the dark tone, but the military training camp at Plattsburg offers all three Kopp women a fresh start after the dispiriting election results. Constance may just have turned 40, but this tough-minded, generous-hearted believer in second chances and equal rights for women looks set for many more adventures.A welcome addition to this sui generis series, always fresh thanks to its vividly imagined characters firmly grounded in historical fact. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

On the day I took Anna Kayser to the insane asylum, I was first obliged to catch a thief. I say "obliged" as if it were a hardship, but in fact I enjoy a good chase. A man fleeing a crime scene presents any sworn officer with the rare gift of an easy win. Nothing is more heartening than a solid arrest, made after a little gratifying physical exertion, particularly when the thief is caught in the act and there are no bothersome questions later about a lack of evidence or an unreliable witness. My duties are hardly ever so straightforward, and my victories rarely so decisive, as Anna Kayser's case would demonstrate. Perhaps this is why the business with the thief lingers so clearly in my memory. The scene of this particular crime was the Italian butcher where I liked to stop for my lunch. The proprietor, Mr. Giordano, put out a kind of Italian sausage called salsicciotto on Tuesdays that he seasoned with salt and peppercorns, then smothered in olive oil for two months, to extraordinary effect. He could sell every last one in an afternoon if he wanted to, but by doling them out on Tuesdays, he found that he could lure people into his shop once a week and make sure they left with all manner of goods imported from Italy: soap, perfume, hard cheese, enameled plates, lemon candy. The profits from those trinkets helped compensate for the cost of shipping over the extravagantly priced olive oil in which he aged the salsicciotto. I was but one of many willing participants in his scheme. Along with the sausage I took a bag of lemon candy weekly, finding it useful to dispense during interrogations. The man ran out of the shop just as I rounded the corner onto Passaic Avenue. Mr. Giordano gave chase, but the thief had the advantage: he was young and trim, while the butcher was a rotund gentleman of advanced age who could do little more than stump along, huffing and shaking his fist. He would've been out of luck, but there I happened to be, in my uniform, equipped with a gun, handcuffs, and a badge. I did what any officer of the law would do: I tucked my handbag under my arm, gathered my skirts in my hands, and ran him down. Mr. Giordano heard my boots pounding along behind him on the wooden sidewalk and jumped out of the way. I must've given him a start, because he launched into a coughing fit when he saw who had come to his rescue. In giving chase, I flew past a livery driver watering his horses, a druggist sweeping out his shop, and a boy of about twelve staring idly into a bookstore window. The boy was too engrossed or slow-witted to step out of the way. I'm sorry to say I shoved him down to the ground, rather roughly. I hated to do it, but children are sturdy and quick to heal. I raced on. The thief himself hadn't looked back and had no idea who was in pursuit, which was a shame, as men often stumble and lose their resolve when confronted by a lady deputy. I was always happy to use the element of surprise to my advantage. But this one ducked down a side street, deft as you please, no doubt believing that if he stayed on bustling Passaic Avenue, more passers-by would join the chase and he'd soon be caught. The detour didn't bother me, though. I preferred to go after him on a quiet tree-lined lane, with no more danger of loiterers stumbling into my path. I rounded the corner effortlessly and picked up speed. He chose for his escape a neighborhood of large and graceful homes that offered very few places to hide. I closed the distance between us and was already looking for a soft patch of grass ahead on which to toss him down, but he saw an opportunity ahead. He'd done this before​--I had to credit him that. He hurled himself over a low fence and into a backyard. Here is where an agile man of slight build has the advantage. I was forced to abandon my handbag and to heft myself over the fence in the most undignified manner. Hems caught on nails, seams split, and stockings were shredded into ribbons. I landed on one knee and knew right away I'd be limping for a week. It occurred to me, at last, to wonder what, exactly, the man had stolen, and if he was really worth catching. If I'd abandoned the chase at that moment, no one--not even Mr. Giordano-- ​would've blamed me. But no matter, I had to have him.   Excerpted from Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit by Amy Stewart All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.