Review: No Job for a Lady by Carol McCleary

A Mysterious Review of No Job for a Lady by Carol McCleary. A Nellie Bly Mystery.

Review summary: It's a little slow going at first in this historical novel with the action and intrigue kicking up a notch in the second half, but in the end this is a book for readers who simply want to sit back and enjoy the story of a determined and resourceful female reporter on an adventure-filled journey to mid-1880s Mexico. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

No Job for a Lady
Carol McCleary
A Nellie Bly Mystery
Forge Books (June 2014)

Publisher synopsis: Pyramids, dark magic, and dead bodies are what the intrepid Nellie encounters when she takes off for Mexico after her editor refuses to let her work as a foreign correspondent because "it's no job for a lady."

It's 1886 and Mexico has not cast off all its bloodthirsty Aztec past. Among the towering pyramids in the ghost city of Teotihuacán, Nellie is stalked by ruthless killers seeking Montezuma's legendary treasure and an ancient cult that resorts to the murderous Way of the Aztec to protect it.

Nellie travels with Gertrude Bell, who will go on to be called Queen of the Desert for her later exploits in Egypt, as well as the most glamorous and beautiful woman of the era, Lily Langtry, consort to the Prince of Wales. Along for the ride is a young gunfighter called the Sundance Kid. And there's the mysterious Roger Watkins, who romantically and physically challenges Nellie's determination to be an independent woman in a man's world.