credit: Renee Barth
Wesley Hazelberg
When there’s a whodunit in the hat department, who can solve it? None other than Sophie Strong!
In Amy Renshaw's Strong Temptations (the newest installment in her historical fiction series, which stars heroine Sophie Strong and started with the book Strong Suspicions), readers are welcomed into the glitz, glamor and darkness of Milwaukee in 1912. Renshaw describes the book as a cozy historical mystery, which it most certainly is: despite the mystery and murder, the tone remains lighthearted. First and foremost, however, it’s a story of the relationships of the characters involved.
“Though Sophie Strong may be a fictional character, she represents the many women journalists in the early 1900s across the US who played a pivotal role in pioneering women’s rights and the future of women in her field. ”
Though Sophie Strong may be a fictional character, she represents the many women journalists in the early 1900s across the US who played a pivotal role in pioneering women’s rights and the future of women in her field. While Sophie longs for more opportunities to do hard-hitting journalism like her contemporaries, she’s held back by the more menial topics her editor views as appropriate for women to write on. She eventually convinces her editor to allow her to write a story undercover as a “shopgirl” in the Gimbels department store. She expects the assignment to be tedious, but when someone turns up dead, Sophie realizes there might be more to this store’s story than initially thought.
“Anyone who’s interested in women’s rights, the history of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, or even the history of the US in the early 1900s, I think, will enjoy it.”
Mystery fans will no doubt enjoy the story’s twists and turns, and history buffs will feel equally engaged by the details of the author’s meticulous research. “Anyone who’s interested in women’s rights, the history of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, or even the history of the US in the early 1900s, I think, will enjoy it,” says Renshaw. Readers will recognize glimpses of our region’s yesteryear from the settings, the apparel worn, and the topics discussed by the characters. They’re all perfect opportunities to transport the reader. The greatest example of this is the story’s main setting: the Gimbels department store. It draws its details—from the floor plan to the store directory—from the real-world Gimbels on 101 W Wisconsin Street in downtown Milwaukee. This multistoried colossus of a department store took up an entire city block, and its popularity as a destination foreshadowed the shopping malls of today. The fascinating thing about stores like Gimbels, explains Renshaw, is how “they sort of invented the concept of shopping as an activity, especially as an activity for women … It was a way that women were emerging into the public realm, and it also generated a lot of employment for women.”
However, while the book can be very informative on history, the primary intent of the book—as with all of the best cozy mysteries—is to offer entertainment and escape to its readers. If solving a crime is how you relax after a long day, Strong Temptations is for you. Fans of Rhys Bowen, Victoria Thompson, and Ashley Weaver, will love the latest from Amy Renshaw.
Books are available at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and the Altoona Public Library, as well as from online retailers.