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An Edna Ferber Mystery #2
Escape Artist
"Ferber makes an appealing if unlikely detective...." -- Kirkus Reviews of Lone Star
In 1904, Edna Ferber is a 19-year-old girl reporter for the Appleton, Wisconsin, Crescent , an occupation her family considers scandalous for a proper young girl. By chance, she interviews Harry Houdini, in town visiting old friends. When beautiful young Frana Lempke disappears and is soon discovered murdered, the crime baffles the local police; Frana disappeared from a locked room at the high school. Edna asks Houdini for help in solving the murder. But as Edna pursues the story, she senses that she is being followed.
Though she is dedicated to her blind father, Edna's homelife is in disorder. And now the newsroom has become a hostile environment, with a new city editor determined to undermine her....
In 1904, Edna Ferber is a 19-year-old girl reporter for the Appleton, Wisconsin, Crescent , an occupation her family considers scandalous for a proper young girl. By chance, she interviews Harry Houdini, in town visiting old friends. When beautiful young Frana Lempke disappears and is soon discovered murdered, the crime baffles the local police; Frana disappeared from a locked room at the high school. Edna asks Houdini for help in solving the murder. But as Edna pursues the story, she senses that she is being followed.
Though she is dedicated to her blind father, Edna's homelife is in disorder. And now the newsroom has become a hostile environment, with a new city editor determined to undermine her....
241 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2011
7 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Ed Ifkovic
41 books15 followersAKA Edward Ifkovic
Ed Ifkovic taught literature and creative writing at a community college in Connecticut for over three decades, and now, retired, devotes himself to writing fiction. His short stories and essays have appeared in such diverse periodicals as the Village Voice, America, Hartford Monthly, and the Journal of Popular Culture. He’s published fiction with small presses, including a novel based on the life of Victorian poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. A longtime devotee of mystery novels, he fondly recalls his boyhood discovery of Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason series in a family bookcase, and his immediate obsession with the whodunit world. When he was fourteen, bored on a lazy summer afternoon, his mother handed him a copy of Edna Ferber’s Cimarron—for him, a riveting Western about the settling of Oklahoma and the discovery of oil—and he stayed up until three in the morning, until, bleary-eyed, he finished the novel.
Ed Ifkovic taught literature and creative writing at a community college in Connecticut for over three decades, and now, retired, devotes himself to writing fiction. His short stories and essays have appeared in such diverse periodicals as the Village Voice, America, Hartford Monthly, and the Journal of Popular Culture. He’s published fiction with small presses, including a novel based on the life of Victorian poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. A longtime devotee of mystery novels, he fondly recalls his boyhood discovery of Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason series in a family bookcase, and his immediate obsession with the whodunit world. When he was fourteen, bored on a lazy summer afternoon, his mother handed him a copy of Edna Ferber’s Cimarron—for him, a riveting Western about the settling of Oklahoma and the discovery of oil—and he stayed up until three in the morning, until, bleary-eyed, he finished the novel.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 15, 2011
This is a simple historical mystery. A girl goes missing... How did she simply disappear from a crowded and well monitored school? (This is 1910 we are talking about here..) And even worse, how did she end up dead and who did it? Harry Houdini (back in his hometown) helps Edna figure it out.
Edna Ferber, the one and only girl reporter in the Wisconsin town is on the case. I love Edna. She's a realistic, yet strong heroine. She bravely troops around town asking questions, being shunned by much of society, and stands up to a very sexist editor. However, she has her issues. Her home life is difficult. It's amazing what happens to a household of women when a man isn't around to "maintain order." Edna's father is not "all there" and Edna and her sister and mother are constantly engaged in verbal warfare. Edna is also very nosy, too nosy sometimes and this pushes people away and she also feels very self conscious about the fact that she is not pretty.
Edna is real and charming and witty. However, this novel gets a three from me for one simple reason: TMI. Too Much Information.
Only about 25 percent is actual mystery. The rest is description, description, description. The novel tells every character's life story, their history, home life, something funny they did or said. The book even goes so far as to decribe pictures on Edna's wall. Too much.
Laugh out loud moment: When Edna is having a discussion with Harry Houdini, famous escape artist, she tells him,
"Sir, I get three dollars a week running up the streets of the town." (In response to a remark he made about her reporting.)
Harry: "Handcuffs pay better."
Edna: "I'll stay with my flowery accounts of afternoon teas with the Ladies Benevolent Society, sir. Less wearing on the wrists."
Favorite quote: "Men shouldn't have a monopoly on discussing base or foul human behavior, even though they were responsible for so much of it."
I got an egalley from netgalley so these quotes may be different in the printed edition.
Edna Ferber, the one and only girl reporter in the Wisconsin town is on the case. I love Edna. She's a realistic, yet strong heroine. She bravely troops around town asking questions, being shunned by much of society, and stands up to a very sexist editor. However, she has her issues. Her home life is difficult. It's amazing what happens to a household of women when a man isn't around to "maintain order." Edna's father is not "all there" and Edna and her sister and mother are constantly engaged in verbal warfare. Edna is also very nosy, too nosy sometimes and this pushes people away and she also feels very self conscious about the fact that she is not pretty.
Edna is real and charming and witty. However, this novel gets a three from me for one simple reason: TMI. Too Much Information.
Only about 25 percent is actual mystery. The rest is description, description, description. The novel tells every character's life story, their history, home life, something funny they did or said. The book even goes so far as to decribe pictures on Edna's wall. Too much.
Laugh out loud moment: When Edna is having a discussion with Harry Houdini, famous escape artist, she tells him,
"Sir, I get three dollars a week running up the streets of the town." (In response to a remark he made about her reporting.)
Harry: "Handcuffs pay better."
Edna: "I'll stay with my flowery accounts of afternoon teas with the Ladies Benevolent Society, sir. Less wearing on the wrists."
Favorite quote: "Men shouldn't have a monopoly on discussing base or foul human behavior, even though they were responsible for so much of it."
I got an egalley from netgalley so these quotes may be different in the printed edition.
October 31, 2011
It is interesting to read about Appleton, Wisconsin in 1904 when Edna Ferber solves the murder of a high school girl with the help of her blind father and Harry Houdini who was Ehrich Weiss when he grew up there. This town and Milwaukee are active characters in the story and vividly portrayed.
This is a well written second novel for Mr. Ifkovic although there is little drama or danger apparent in it. Yes, a young woman is murdered, but the menace of that act does not come across in this mostly frothy tale of a 19 year old trying to make her career among bigoted men.
This is a well written second novel for Mr. Ifkovic although there is little drama or danger apparent in it. Yes, a young woman is murdered, but the menace of that act does not come across in this mostly frothy tale of a 19 year old trying to make her career among bigoted men.
April 7, 2011
Book Review: The Escape Artist
In 1904 Edna Ferber is a nineteen-year-old girl reporter for the Appleton, Wisconsin "Crescent," an occupation that many townspeople, including her own family, consider scandalous for a proper young girl. By chance, she interviews Harry Houdini, in town visiting old friends. Houdini, as Ehrich Weiss, spent his boyhood years in the small town. When Frana Lempke, a beautiful young German high-school girl, disappears and is soon discovered murdered, Edna asks Houdini for help in solving the murder.
Who could resist a mystery novel featuring Edna Ferber and Harry Houdini in Appleton, Wisconsin? With a description like this, I knew I had to read it. I've never read anything by Ferber, but I know she wrote the novel Giant, which the movie was based on and I knew she was a member of the Algonquin Round Table. In The Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic, we watch young Edna as a reporter in Appleton writing society pieces for the local paper, the Crescent. But Edna is hungry for more. She wants to write bigger and more important stories.
But it isn't until local celebrity hero, Harry Houdini, returns home to visit friends and perform at the local theatre, that Edna begins to realize there is more to the world than Appleton, WI. I think the relationship that Ifkovic develops between Houdini and Edna, is really telling. Houdini, the man of the world and heroic escape artist, sees a bit of himself in Edna; a young person with too much energy and curiosity that is quickly becoming too big for Appleton. But the best relationship in the novel is that between Edna and her dying father Jacob. Jacob is blind and slowly fading away as he sits on the family front porch waiting for Edna to return home from work so she can tell him about her day. And in the end it is Jacob, not Houdini, that gives Edna the courage to move out of Appleton to create a life that is her own and to become a writer.
The murder of Frana Lempke wasn't so much a secondary story, but a less significant one to me.The murder investigation that the 19 year old Edna took on allowed her to turn a critical eye on the people she thought she knew. And with Houdini's help, Edna uncovers the true killer in a denouement fitting for an Agatha Christie novel.
I can envision this novel becoming a series with Edna Ferber moving on to Milwaukee and then New York solving crimes along the way. And Ifkovic would have plenty of historical figures and celebrities to add to the story as well. Edna Ferber and George Kaufmann solving murders...now that's another book I'd read.
*eARC provided courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley.com
In 1904 Edna Ferber is a nineteen-year-old girl reporter for the Appleton, Wisconsin "Crescent," an occupation that many townspeople, including her own family, consider scandalous for a proper young girl. By chance, she interviews Harry Houdini, in town visiting old friends. Houdini, as Ehrich Weiss, spent his boyhood years in the small town. When Frana Lempke, a beautiful young German high-school girl, disappears and is soon discovered murdered, Edna asks Houdini for help in solving the murder.
Who could resist a mystery novel featuring Edna Ferber and Harry Houdini in Appleton, Wisconsin? With a description like this, I knew I had to read it. I've never read anything by Ferber, but I know she wrote the novel Giant, which the movie was based on and I knew she was a member of the Algonquin Round Table. In The Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic, we watch young Edna as a reporter in Appleton writing society pieces for the local paper, the Crescent. But Edna is hungry for more. She wants to write bigger and more important stories.
But it isn't until local celebrity hero, Harry Houdini, returns home to visit friends and perform at the local theatre, that Edna begins to realize there is more to the world than Appleton, WI. I think the relationship that Ifkovic develops between Houdini and Edna, is really telling. Houdini, the man of the world and heroic escape artist, sees a bit of himself in Edna; a young person with too much energy and curiosity that is quickly becoming too big for Appleton. But the best relationship in the novel is that between Edna and her dying father Jacob. Jacob is blind and slowly fading away as he sits on the family front porch waiting for Edna to return home from work so she can tell him about her day. And in the end it is Jacob, not Houdini, that gives Edna the courage to move out of Appleton to create a life that is her own and to become a writer.
The murder of Frana Lempke wasn't so much a secondary story, but a less significant one to me.The murder investigation that the 19 year old Edna took on allowed her to turn a critical eye on the people she thought she knew. And with Houdini's help, Edna uncovers the true killer in a denouement fitting for an Agatha Christie novel.
I can envision this novel becoming a series with Edna Ferber moving on to Milwaukee and then New York solving crimes along the way. And Ifkovic would have plenty of historical figures and celebrities to add to the story as well. Edna Ferber and George Kaufmann solving murders...now that's another book I'd read.
*eARC provided courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley.com
May 22, 2021
The first book in this series takes place in Edna Ferber's later years. This one takes place when she's still in her hometown of Appleton, Wis., and shows how she became shaped as a writer and a person in addition to an interesting mystery. Intriguing series!
May 10, 2011
It's 1904, and nineteen-year-old Edna Ferber is working as a "girl reporter" for the Appleton Daily Crescent, in the small Wisconsin town of Appleton. She's frustrated by the trivial nature of the stories she gets to report, and indulges her imagination and creativity in making the stories she can report as vivid as possible. While the publisher, aging Civil War veteran Sam Ryan, likes Edna, the new City Room editor, Matthias Boon, does not, and believes that females have no place in the newsroom.
Then Appleton's homegrown international celebrity, Ehrich Weiss, better known as Harry Houdini, comes home for a visit. Through a combination of luck and initiative, Edna scores the interview that Houdini originally didn't intend to give to either local paper. Boon's hostility is ratcheted up even further. Meanwhile, Edna can't escape from the stresses at work by going home, because she's in near-constant constant conflict with her sister Fannie, and her mother Julia is resentful and angry over husband and father Jacob's blindness which has forced Julia to take over running the family store, My Store.
When a beautiful young German-American girl, Frana Lempke, disappears from the high school and is found dead two days later, Edna finds herself drawn into the investigation. She knows the school, she knows Frana and her friends, she knows everyone involved. And of course, she is filled with imagination and curiosity that won't let her let go of it. And the deeper she goes in her investigating, the more the tensions at home and at work increase and threaten to come to a crisis that will force her to make major life decisions--if she doesn't become the next victim.
The characters are all compellingly drawn, not least Edna Ferber herself. Ifkovic set himself a risky task, making his viewpoint character and protagonist a young woman who will herself be the most famous and successful woman novelist of the first half of the 20th century, and he's pulled it off. I believe in Edna, her family, co-workers, and friends, and the little midwestern town they live in. Escape Artist works both as mystery and as historical novel, and is a delight to read.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Then Appleton's homegrown international celebrity, Ehrich Weiss, better known as Harry Houdini, comes home for a visit. Through a combination of luck and initiative, Edna scores the interview that Houdini originally didn't intend to give to either local paper. Boon's hostility is ratcheted up even further. Meanwhile, Edna can't escape from the stresses at work by going home, because she's in near-constant constant conflict with her sister Fannie, and her mother Julia is resentful and angry over husband and father Jacob's blindness which has forced Julia to take over running the family store, My Store.
When a beautiful young German-American girl, Frana Lempke, disappears from the high school and is found dead two days later, Edna finds herself drawn into the investigation. She knows the school, she knows Frana and her friends, she knows everyone involved. And of course, she is filled with imagination and curiosity that won't let her let go of it. And the deeper she goes in her investigating, the more the tensions at home and at work increase and threaten to come to a crisis that will force her to make major life decisions--if she doesn't become the next victim.
The characters are all compellingly drawn, not least Edna Ferber herself. Ifkovic set himself a risky task, making his viewpoint character and protagonist a young woman who will herself be the most famous and successful woman novelist of the first half of the 20th century, and he's pulled it off. I believe in Edna, her family, co-workers, and friends, and the little midwestern town they live in. Escape Artist works both as mystery and as historical novel, and is a delight to read.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
March 22, 2016
It's 1904 and a 19-year-old Edna Ferber, who's our first-person narrator, is shocking her one-horse Wisconsin hometown by being simultaneously a female and a reporter on the local rag. Most of the time she's stuck doing reports on social events and gardening shows, but when famed escapologist Harry Houdini, who was born here, comes back to town for a visit, Edna runs into him in the street and, because he likes her on sight, gets an exclusive interview from him.
One of the teenagers at the town's high school goes mysteriously missing and later is found murdered. The first conundrum is how she could have managed to leave the school without being spotted; Houdini helps solve what's essentially a variant on the locked-room mystery. The solution is an extraordinarily simple one. At first the simplicity rankled with this particular John Dickson Carr fan, but then I realized it was actually realistic -- and very much in keeping with Houdini's character. The second stage is of course identifying the murderer, and here it's Edna herself who does the sleuthing.
It took me a little while to come to terms with what I assume is a good pastiche of Ferber's writing style (to my shame I've never read anything by her), but once I'd done so I began to enjoy this novel a lot. The solution of the mystery is a good and satisfying one; the resolution of the plot (which isn't quite the same thing) is also satisfying in a rather grimmer, more thoughtful way.
This isn't a book that'd survive well if read in a few-pages-here-few-pages-there fashion; it demands, I think, a proper immersion so you can start appreciating the cadences of the narrative style. In other words, it's a book where the joy lies at least as much in the writing as it does in the plot.
One of the teenagers at the town's high school goes mysteriously missing and later is found murdered. The first conundrum is how she could have managed to leave the school without being spotted; Houdini helps solve what's essentially a variant on the locked-room mystery. The solution is an extraordinarily simple one. At first the simplicity rankled with this particular John Dickson Carr fan, but then I realized it was actually realistic -- and very much in keeping with Houdini's character. The second stage is of course identifying the murderer, and here it's Edna herself who does the sleuthing.
It took me a little while to come to terms with what I assume is a good pastiche of Ferber's writing style (to my shame I've never read anything by her), but once I'd done so I began to enjoy this novel a lot. The solution of the mystery is a good and satisfying one; the resolution of the plot (which isn't quite the same thing) is also satisfying in a rather grimmer, more thoughtful way.
This isn't a book that'd survive well if read in a few-pages-here-few-pages-there fashion; it demands, I think, a proper immersion so you can start appreciating the cadences of the narrative style. In other words, it's a book where the joy lies at least as much in the writing as it does in the plot.
January 13, 2024
I am getting to know the work of Edna Ferber, a Jewish Midwestern novelist and screenwriter who was famous a century ago but is now nearly forgotten, and that reminded me of this series, in which she is the sleuth.
I wrote about the first book in this series that it left me unsatisfied because it did not really tell me who Ferber was. This book more than makes up for that omission. Edna is a wonderful character, but here, she is only 19 and still living with her family in her hometown. It’s a flashback, from the perspective of the first book.
If the series were going to spend more time in Appleton, Wisconsin it would make sense for so many of her neighbors to be introduced. They could play a role in future mysteries. It’s clear at the end of this book, however, that she is headed out. The title not only refers to Erich Weiss aka Harry Houdini, another Jew who leaves Appleton to achieve fame—he has an important role in solving the locked room part of the mystery—but to Ferber herself. So, enjoy the setting for its own sake or not at all.
As for the whodunnit, it hangs together, and I liked the double twist at the denouement, but it is exceptionally sad.
I wrote about the first book in this series that it left me unsatisfied because it did not really tell me who Ferber was. This book more than makes up for that omission. Edna is a wonderful character, but here, she is only 19 and still living with her family in her hometown. It’s a flashback, from the perspective of the first book.
If the series were going to spend more time in Appleton, Wisconsin it would make sense for so many of her neighbors to be introduced. They could play a role in future mysteries. It’s clear at the end of this book, however, that she is headed out. The title not only refers to Erich Weiss aka Harry Houdini, another Jew who leaves Appleton to achieve fame—he has an important role in solving the locked room part of the mystery—but to Ferber herself. So, enjoy the setting for its own sake or not at all.
As for the whodunnit, it hangs together, and I liked the double twist at the denouement, but it is exceptionally sad.
December 12, 2017
I spent the first part of this book thinking “I’m not the target audience for this”, but I was entertaining enough to keep me going. By the middle of the book it didn’t matter. I was having a good time. Edna Ferber is not your average young lady of 1904. Nor is she so exaggerated a character that you can’t suspend disbelief. She is an interesting growing character that you can get behind and root for her success. Houdini plays a minor roll in the book. He is present and contributes in an interesting way, but Edna is the star. The mystery itself is decent and fits the story well. All in all I will probably pick up another Edna Ferber mystery again down the road.
April 29, 2019
Another wonerful entry in the Edna Ferber Mystery collection. What struck me about this was the American experience at the turn of the century, The midwest being populated by first generation Europeans - hungry - Germany - etc and a collection of religions - Catholic, Jewish, etc.
Houdini was basically a supporting character. Worth the read.
Houdini was basically a supporting character. Worth the read.
April 7, 2019
The book’s strengths are describing life in early 1900s Appleton, Wisconsin and describing the frustrations a young Edna Ferber feels with the limitations of the time and place. The mystery, on the other hand, is less interesting and the cast of suspects underdeveloped.
September 30, 2019
Cute mystery, but it needs an editor. Too much detail and description had me skipping paragraphs, and then whole pages, desperate to get to the action.
April 7, 2011
The sleuth in this mystery is Edna Ferber during her early years in Appleton Wisconsin before she had started her career as a novelist (Show Boat, So Big, Giant) and become a member of the Algonquin Round Table. You might want to read this mystery in honor of Elizabeth Taylor, whose stunning performance with James Dean in Giant arises out of Ferber’s novel of the same name.
Ferber’s novels emphasized independent women who made an impression on the world through character not beauty, and Ifkovic styles his mystery in a similar fashion. Ferber riles the town and her family with her unconventional job as “girl reporter.” When Houdini returns to his home town for a visit, she snags an interview with him, much to the annoyance of her domineering editor who hates the idea of women in the news business. The boundaries set for Miss Ferber in her small town life are clearly busting at the seams, a situation Houdini helps her recognize. Confronting the murder of one of her school friends further erodes her well-being in her old life. With some “magical” help from Houdini and the disapproval of everyone else, she tries to solve the murder. This is both a coming of age story and a murder mystery.
The book has some charms. Small town life at the beginning of the twentieth century is vividly portrayed, down to the gossip at the general store, the influence of German immigrants on the town’s life, the narrowly defined roles for women, the fashions and foods. You’ll like Edna with her irrepressible search for the facts, her quick tongue, and her love of flowery language. There’s a nuanced portrayal of Houdini, his arrogance and bravado balanced by an endearing protectiveness toward Edna and hints of his insecurities. You may also find yourself wishing the book would move along faster. If you read a mystery for the way a plot grabs hold of you rather than the descriptive details, this book may let you down. On the other hand, if you love a leisurely portrait of a period and character along with your story, this book will please you.
Escape Artist is due out from Poisoned Pen Press in June 2011.
For more mystery reviews go to www.judithstarkston.com
Ferber’s novels emphasized independent women who made an impression on the world through character not beauty, and Ifkovic styles his mystery in a similar fashion. Ferber riles the town and her family with her unconventional job as “girl reporter.” When Houdini returns to his home town for a visit, she snags an interview with him, much to the annoyance of her domineering editor who hates the idea of women in the news business. The boundaries set for Miss Ferber in her small town life are clearly busting at the seams, a situation Houdini helps her recognize. Confronting the murder of one of her school friends further erodes her well-being in her old life. With some “magical” help from Houdini and the disapproval of everyone else, she tries to solve the murder. This is both a coming of age story and a murder mystery.
The book has some charms. Small town life at the beginning of the twentieth century is vividly portrayed, down to the gossip at the general store, the influence of German immigrants on the town’s life, the narrowly defined roles for women, the fashions and foods. You’ll like Edna with her irrepressible search for the facts, her quick tongue, and her love of flowery language. There’s a nuanced portrayal of Houdini, his arrogance and bravado balanced by an endearing protectiveness toward Edna and hints of his insecurities. You may also find yourself wishing the book would move along faster. If you read a mystery for the way a plot grabs hold of you rather than the descriptive details, this book may let you down. On the other hand, if you love a leisurely portrait of a period and character along with your story, this book will please you.
Escape Artist is due out from Poisoned Pen Press in June 2011.
For more mystery reviews go to www.judithstarkston.com
June 20, 2011
Single sentence summary: The year is 1904 and Edna wants to be a reporter, which isn't seen a very feminine goal for a girl but when finds herself caught up with Harry Houdini and a high school girl has gone missing she might get her lucky break and become a real reporter.
I enjoyed this historical mystery. I found the characters engaging and believable. Edna wants more for herself that being a housewife and believes herself to be too plain to attract a man's attention anyway. She runs into Harry Houdini who is visiting friends in her little town. Soon afterward a young girl from the high school turns up missing and Edna asks Houdini to help her figure out how she left the high school without anyone seeing. Escape Artist had an interesting setup with a variety of characters that I founding engaging.
I wasn't sure what I would make of this book. I've read books with women in the 1900-1950s and the male character tend to be written at the same. They are overbearing, egotistical jerks but this book presented only one character that way. Instead, the male characters were varied and while I felt that sometimes they behaved in a way to humor Edna, they also behaved in a believable and practical manner. Edna writes about the social things going on her little town without touching on crime or politics, which worked for me. Politics may not have been ladylike but reporting on someone woman's fund raiser or something seemed reasonable to have a young female reporter write on.
I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book and it kept me guessing for a quite a while. I thought this was a great book overall and looking forward to reading more about Edna's adventures (if there are more). 4.25 Stars.
I received a copy of this as an ebook from the publisher via netgalley.
I enjoyed this historical mystery. I found the characters engaging and believable. Edna wants more for herself that being a housewife and believes herself to be too plain to attract a man's attention anyway. She runs into Harry Houdini who is visiting friends in her little town. Soon afterward a young girl from the high school turns up missing and Edna asks Houdini to help her figure out how she left the high school without anyone seeing. Escape Artist had an interesting setup with a variety of characters that I founding engaging.
I wasn't sure what I would make of this book. I've read books with women in the 1900-1950s and the male character tend to be written at the same. They are overbearing, egotistical jerks but this book presented only one character that way. Instead, the male characters were varied and while I felt that sometimes they behaved in a way to humor Edna, they also behaved in a believable and practical manner. Edna writes about the social things going on her little town without touching on crime or politics, which worked for me. Politics may not have been ladylike but reporting on someone woman's fund raiser or something seemed reasonable to have a young female reporter write on.
I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book and it kept me guessing for a quite a while. I thought this was a great book overall and looking forward to reading more about Edna's adventures (if there are more). 4.25 Stars.
I received a copy of this as an ebook from the publisher via netgalley.
June 1, 2011
A pretty good mystery novel set in 1904 Wisconsin with real-life character Edna Ferber.
Edna is 19 years old, and working at the Crescent as a reporter. She meets many roadblocks from her family for doing so. Many people think it scandalous that a young woman is going around asking people so many questions on her own.
There's nothing much to report in Appleton, Wisconsin until a former classmate of Edna's - Frana Lempke - seems to have disappeared. While everyone thinks that she ran off with a older man, the case soon turns to murder.
Edna becomes wrapped up in the case, meeting more roadblocks from her sexist editor. However, with the help of Harry Houdini, who is in town for a short while, she becomes dangerously close to finding out who killed Frana.
I loved the characters of Edna and Houdini, who were both, of course, real live folks. The rest of the characters didn't connect with me. Most of them were annoying; none were real likable.
The flow of the story was good. We got a good sense of what Appleton was like back then and what kind of people lived there. Sometimes Edna went off on tangents about things that had nothing to do with the story, and I really didn't like how she seemed to resent girls who were prettier than her, including her own best friend.
A side note: Edgar Allan Poe's name was spelled wrong. I forgot why the name was brought up, but Allan was spelled Allen. It's a pet peeve of mine, because people often misspell his name that way. It might be fixed in the final copy, seeing as how I read from a galley, so who knows.
Overall, a satisfying read.
Edna is 19 years old, and working at the Crescent as a reporter. She meets many roadblocks from her family for doing so. Many people think it scandalous that a young woman is going around asking people so many questions on her own.
There's nothing much to report in Appleton, Wisconsin until a former classmate of Edna's - Frana Lempke - seems to have disappeared. While everyone thinks that she ran off with a older man, the case soon turns to murder.
Edna becomes wrapped up in the case, meeting more roadblocks from her sexist editor. However, with the help of Harry Houdini, who is in town for a short while, she becomes dangerously close to finding out who killed Frana.
I loved the characters of Edna and Houdini, who were both, of course, real live folks. The rest of the characters didn't connect with me. Most of them were annoying; none were real likable.
The flow of the story was good. We got a good sense of what Appleton was like back then and what kind of people lived there. Sometimes Edna went off on tangents about things that had nothing to do with the story, and I really didn't like how she seemed to resent girls who were prettier than her, including her own best friend.
A side note: Edgar Allan Poe's name was spelled wrong. I forgot why the name was brought up, but Allan was spelled Allen. It's a pet peeve of mine, because people often misspell his name that way. It might be fixed in the final copy, seeing as how I read from a galley, so who knows.
Overall, a satisfying read.
May 22, 2011
Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic
Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
241 pages
Mystery; Historical
4/5 stars
Source: Received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to read this mystery because I saw that the sleuth was Edna Ferber, renowned author of Show Boat, Giant, and other American classics and that it featured magician Harry Houdini, who played a role in a Molly Murphy mystery by Rhys Bowen.
Before the mystery is even revealed, several interesting threads are presented. Edna Ferber is a girl reporter in the early twentieth century (1904); besides the prejudices she receives due to gender, she is also Jewish and receives various anti-Semitic slurs too. Then there is her family life with a blind dying father, domineering mother, and conflict with her older sister who disapproves of Edna's unfeminine profession. Furthermore Edna wants more out of life than her small town (she's like Belle!) and she bristles when her plainness is overlooked for the beauty of other girls.
Needless to say, the mystery is not always the main focus as a rich historical fabric is woven for the reader, skillfully juggling the main threads. I didn't know much about Ferber beyond her authorship of Giant nor do I know this time period so it was easy to lose myself in the flow of Ifkovic's writing and set my mind to deducing the murderer (which I was unsuccessful at doing but so what?)
Overall: I would classify this as more of a historical novel that happens to feature a mystery because of the long sections that don't focus on the mystery; for the lover of historical fiction, though, this is quite a delight.
Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
241 pages
Mystery; Historical
4/5 stars
Source: Received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to read this mystery because I saw that the sleuth was Edna Ferber, renowned author of Show Boat, Giant, and other American classics and that it featured magician Harry Houdini, who played a role in a Molly Murphy mystery by Rhys Bowen.
Before the mystery is even revealed, several interesting threads are presented. Edna Ferber is a girl reporter in the early twentieth century (1904); besides the prejudices she receives due to gender, she is also Jewish and receives various anti-Semitic slurs too. Then there is her family life with a blind dying father, domineering mother, and conflict with her older sister who disapproves of Edna's unfeminine profession. Furthermore Edna wants more out of life than her small town (she's like Belle!) and she bristles when her plainness is overlooked for the beauty of other girls.
Needless to say, the mystery is not always the main focus as a rich historical fabric is woven for the reader, skillfully juggling the main threads. I didn't know much about Ferber beyond her authorship of Giant nor do I know this time period so it was easy to lose myself in the flow of Ifkovic's writing and set my mind to deducing the murderer (which I was unsuccessful at doing but so what?)
Overall: I would classify this as more of a historical novel that happens to feature a mystery because of the long sections that don't focus on the mystery; for the lover of historical fiction, though, this is quite a delight.
July 31, 2016
This was a nice mystery, clear writing and interesting characters. A senior has gone missing, but no one saw her leave the school. Did she walk through the wall?
The addition of Houdini was a plus. He discovers how she got away without being seen. It was not magic.
This is Appleton, Wisconsin, small town America, with very strict religious conformity.
Edna just does not fit well into this situation, so she is constantly battling with the norms and her need to be what she feels she was destined to be, a reporter.
She is also stressing over the ill health of her father. She knows she needs to move on, but she is reluctant to do so, thus leaving him behind with her mother and sister.
I am interested in reading her next story, apparently in Milwaukee.
I borrowed a copy of this book from the library for my mystery reading group in August.
The addition of Houdini was a plus. He discovers how she got away without being seen. It was not magic.
This is Appleton, Wisconsin, small town America, with very strict religious conformity.
Edna just does not fit well into this situation, so she is constantly battling with the norms and her need to be what she feels she was destined to be, a reporter.
She is also stressing over the ill health of her father. She knows she needs to move on, but she is reluctant to do so, thus leaving him behind with her mother and sister.
I am interested in reading her next story, apparently in Milwaukee.
I borrowed a copy of this book from the library for my mystery reading group in August.
July 8, 2011
Just out of high school, Edna Ferber is living with her family in Appleton, WI and working for a local newspaper. Unfortunately, the new city editor doesn't like women or, apparently, Jews. Edna dreams of escaping from her difficult family, but how can she leave the seriously ill father who takes pleasure in her company? When a local girl mysteriously disappears from what seems to be a locked room, it's Edna who thinks of asking Harry Houdini, visiting his home town, how it happened. Despite family and social disapproval, Edna gets more involved in solving the crime. Since this is narrated by Edna, in the throes of her love-affair with ornate language, you'll find the diction rather old-fashioned, appropriate for a book set in 1904.
March 6, 2012
Although it took me a bit to get "into" this book, I did like it. I probably will not read other books by this author, though. He adds more background details than I think is necessary for the story. However, if you are looking for a book that is a light read, I'd recommend it.
March 30, 2016
Not much for murder mysteries usually but thought I'd try one for a change. It was good, just not really my cup of tea. Not a very sophisticated murder mystery. A period piece and I enjoyed that part of it.
July 31, 2011
A beach read. But it got me curious about Edna Ferber.
November 29, 2011
1904 - a young Edna Ferber - an appearance by Houdini. Not enough to make this book interesting.
July 10, 2013
A simple mystery story ... nothing fancy. An easy read.
June 25, 2014
I liked this book much more than I thought I would and am looking forward to reading more of this author.
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November 20, 2018I thought it would have been better. It was kind of boring, but some parts were good.
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