THE STREEL by Mary Louge will be published on May 12th 2020 by University Of Minnesota Press.
It is the late 1880s, and times are hard in Ireland thanks to the potato famine. In fact, times have been hard for a considerably long time. To help ease her family’s burden, fifteen-year-old Brigid Reardon—along with her brother, Seamus—is sent to America to establish a new life. After spending some time working as a maid in Minnesota, Brigid travels to the Black Hills of South Dakota to join Seamus. The morning after Brigid arrives in Deadwood, she finds her brother’s fiancée murdered. The local sheriff has decided that Seamus must be guilty of the crime. While Seamus flees the area, Brigid teams up with his friends to clear his name and work their gold claim.
THE STREEL is an interesting historical mystery. I’ll admit that my main reason for reading it was because it was set in the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota. I was also intrigued that the main character was a female immigrant. Brigid is only in her early teens, and her nativity shows in the early parts of the novel. As she gains more worldly experience, she begins to mature. The focus of the novel is more on Brigid’s journey than the actual mystery. Overall, I thought the mystery was fairly easy to figure out.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.