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Dot and Amelia Mystery #1
A Case for the Ladies
Amid Prohibition, Irish gangs, the KKK, and rampant mistreatment of immigrant women, intrepid private investigator Dorothy Henderson and her pal Amelia Earhart seek justice for several murdered young women in 1926 Boston. As tensions mount, the sleuths, along with their reporter friend Jeanette and Dot’s maiden aunt Etta. experience their own mistreatment at the hand of society and wonder who they can really trust.
This novel brings a pre-fame Amelia Earhart to life in 1926, when she lived in a Boston suburb and worked as a teacher and social worker at a settlement house founded to help immigrant women. After Amelia meets fictional lady PI Dot Henderson, and more than one young immigrant woman is found murdered, the two put their heads together to seek justice for the less powerful. Meanwhile, Etta Rogers, a founder of the settlement house and a Wellesley professor, works with reporter Jeanette Colby to investigate the Irish gangs who are not only running illicit liquor but also seeking to take over the settlement house real estate.
This novel brings a pre-fame Amelia Earhart to life in 1926, when she lived in a Boston suburb and worked as a teacher and social worker at a settlement house founded to help immigrant women. After Amelia meets fictional lady PI Dot Henderson, and more than one young immigrant woman is found murdered, the two put their heads together to seek justice for the less powerful. Meanwhile, Etta Rogers, a founder of the settlement house and a Wellesley professor, works with reporter Jeanette Colby to investigate the Irish gangs who are not only running illicit liquor but also seeking to take over the settlement house real estate.
443 pages, Paperback
First published February 21, 2024
About the author
Maddie Day
30 books1,636 followersMaddie Day is a pseudonym for Agatha Award-winning mystery author Edith Maxwell.
As Maddie Day, Edith writes the Country Store Mysteries, from Kensington, set in southern Indiana. Maddie lived in the area some years ago and loves writing the adventures of Robbie Jordan, a country store owner and chef in South Lick, Indiana.
She also writes the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, with bike shop owner Mackenzie Almeida and her cozy mystery book group solving murders in a fictional Cape Cod village.
Her new Cece Barton Mysteries series, set northern California wine country, releases in fall, 2023
Please see Edith Maxwell's author page for more information about her other mystery series and her award-winning short stories.
As Maddie Day, Edith writes the Country Store Mysteries, from Kensington, set in southern Indiana. Maddie lived in the area some years ago and loves writing the adventures of Robbie Jordan, a country store owner and chef in South Lick, Indiana.
She also writes the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, with bike shop owner Mackenzie Almeida and her cozy mystery book group solving murders in a fictional Cape Cod village.
Her new Cece Barton Mysteries series, set northern California wine country, releases in fall, 2023
Please see Edith Maxwell's author page for more information about her other mystery series and her award-winning short stories.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 28, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. I usually always enjoy books by Maddie Day/Edith Maxwell, but I have to say that her historical mysteries are especially good. I love the history, the attention to detail, and the fact that the author is so good at setting the stage, really taking you to the time and place. Like her Quaker Midwife series, I love that you can really see and feel how women lived during this time period. There are great characters in this book, Dot, our main character, her Aunt Etta, a college professor, her friend Jeanette, a writer for the Boston papers, and one Amelia Earhart, who taught and coached immigrant women, while waiting for every opportunity to fly! The mystery is complex. Who is killing young women from many of the neighborhoods, housing people new to the country? When Etta's housekeepers niece is found murdered after recently arriving from Jamaica, Dot, who is a private investor, decides to find closure for her. With her reporter friend and the fearless Miss Earhart, Dot dives into some dicey areas to find answers. This is a multilayered mystery that is a little darker than your average cozy, but well worth your time.
March 5, 2024
A CASE FOR THE LADIES by Maddie Day
Dot is determined to bring justice for women, immigrants, and all who face mistreatment. She’s smart and brave, but not foolhardy. She can’t bring back the victims of crime, but she can work for justice, joining efforts with Aviatrix Amelia Earhart and journalist Jeanette Colby, and Dot’s Aunt Etta Rogers and others at the settlement house in Boston. Treating all with respect, and expecting respect in return, these determined women gather information, encourage action, and help newcomers find their way.
Historical details of the era were fascinating: Prohibition, early airplanes, cars and horses sharing the roads, clothing trends (women could wear trousers, but should wear hats and skirts to be taken seriously). A bit of time travel, dangerous adventure, suspense.
I wanted to make this book last, but I couldn’t slow my reading down, even waking to read more in the middle of the night. Yes, that good, and there’s a hint of more adventure coming . . . another book? Please??
Dot is determined to bring justice for women, immigrants, and all who face mistreatment. She’s smart and brave, but not foolhardy. She can’t bring back the victims of crime, but she can work for justice, joining efforts with Aviatrix Amelia Earhart and journalist Jeanette Colby, and Dot’s Aunt Etta Rogers and others at the settlement house in Boston. Treating all with respect, and expecting respect in return, these determined women gather information, encourage action, and help newcomers find their way.
Historical details of the era were fascinating: Prohibition, early airplanes, cars and horses sharing the roads, clothing trends (women could wear trousers, but should wear hats and skirts to be taken seriously). A bit of time travel, dangerous adventure, suspense.
I wanted to make this book last, but I couldn’t slow my reading down, even waking to read more in the middle of the night. Yes, that good, and there’s a hint of more adventure coming . . . another book? Please??
May 19, 2024
A Case for the Ladies is the first book in the Dot and Amelia Mystery series written by Maddie Day. This is a different kind of story for Maddie to write and she executed it beautifully.
In A Case for the Ladies Dorothy Henderson, also known as Dot is visiting her aunt Etta in Boston. While there she becomes fast friends with Amelia Earhart who is just beginning her flying experience and Jeanette Colby who is a photographer and journalist. The three begin investigating together when there are a number of immigrant young women murdered in the area. And Dot finds out that one of the murdered girls is the niece of her aunt's housekeeper and the girl was only nineteen years old .... this drives her to use her private investigating skills and jump right into the cases.
Unfortunately before they can get anywhere with the cases, there are more deaths including a close male friend of Jeanette's. The three women soon learn that there are two main gangs that control the areas and are fighting for territory. Why they are targeting immigrant young women is a puzzle to them. Plus trying to get anyone to identify any of the men in the gangs is becoming impossible.
Before they know it they find themselves in way over their heads when Amelia is kidnapped and Dot needs to find her. Also there is something going on with Jeanette but she is being too secretive about it ....
Fans of Edith Maxwell and Maddie Day will instantly fall in love with this new story. Just when you think you know an author, they throw a new and different book out there for fans to devour !! Maddie definitely keeps readers on their toes with this story. And hopefully future books will be just as entertaining !!! And knowing Maddie as we do, future books will be just as good, if not better !!!!
In A Case for the Ladies Dorothy Henderson, also known as Dot is visiting her aunt Etta in Boston. While there she becomes fast friends with Amelia Earhart who is just beginning her flying experience and Jeanette Colby who is a photographer and journalist. The three begin investigating together when there are a number of immigrant young women murdered in the area. And Dot finds out that one of the murdered girls is the niece of her aunt's housekeeper and the girl was only nineteen years old .... this drives her to use her private investigating skills and jump right into the cases.
Unfortunately before they can get anywhere with the cases, there are more deaths including a close male friend of Jeanette's. The three women soon learn that there are two main gangs that control the areas and are fighting for territory. Why they are targeting immigrant young women is a puzzle to them. Plus trying to get anyone to identify any of the men in the gangs is becoming impossible.
Before they know it they find themselves in way over their heads when Amelia is kidnapped and Dot needs to find her. Also there is something going on with Jeanette but she is being too secretive about it ....
Fans of Edith Maxwell and Maddie Day will instantly fall in love with this new story. Just when you think you know an author, they throw a new and different book out there for fans to devour !! Maddie definitely keeps readers on their toes with this story. And hopefully future books will be just as entertaining !!! And knowing Maddie as we do, future books will be just as good, if not better !!!!
October 18, 2024
The Ladies Solve the Case
This book follows a couple of short stories Maddie Day wrote about a pair of private investigators she based on her grandmothers. In this book, Dorothy "Dot" Henderson is on her own in Boston visiting her Aunt Etta when she's asked to look into the death of a young Jamaican woman whose Aunt cooks for Aunt Etta. Dot is joined in her investigation by new friends aviator Amelia Earhart and journalist Jeanette Colby as more bodies turn up and Irish mobs get in their way.
While this book is darker than Maddie Day's cozy mysteries, it does include close female friends and a supportive community. The women come up against prejudice against immigrants, people of color and LGBTQ people, along with political and police corruption as they try to bring murderers to justice. A young Amelia Earhart who works at the settlement house run by Aunt Etta while taking her airplane up as often as possible enjoys the excitement of the investigation while Dot and Jeanette take the danger more seriously. All three of the women are attacked at different points in the narrative as they refuse to give up, they find a couple of honest police officers who are willing to listen respectfully to their concerns and evidence, and several members of the immigrant community provide assistance along the way.
This is another great book from Maddie Day and is a great read for fans of mystery and historical fiction.
This book follows a couple of short stories Maddie Day wrote about a pair of private investigators she based on her grandmothers. In this book, Dorothy "Dot" Henderson is on her own in Boston visiting her Aunt Etta when she's asked to look into the death of a young Jamaican woman whose Aunt cooks for Aunt Etta. Dot is joined in her investigation by new friends aviator Amelia Earhart and journalist Jeanette Colby as more bodies turn up and Irish mobs get in their way.
While this book is darker than Maddie Day's cozy mysteries, it does include close female friends and a supportive community. The women come up against prejudice against immigrants, people of color and LGBTQ people, along with political and police corruption as they try to bring murderers to justice. A young Amelia Earhart who works at the settlement house run by Aunt Etta while taking her airplane up as often as possible enjoys the excitement of the investigation while Dot and Jeanette take the danger more seriously. All three of the women are attacked at different points in the narrative as they refuse to give up, they find a couple of honest police officers who are willing to listen respectfully to their concerns and evidence, and several members of the immigrant community provide assistance along the way.
This is another great book from Maddie Day and is a great read for fans of mystery and historical fiction.
March 25, 2025
Great Characters Firmly Established in the Roaring 20s
Dot Henderson bops around Boston hunting the killer of young women and one gay man. Witty, bouncy, and action packed.
Dot Henderson bops around Boston hunting the killer of young women and one gay man. Witty, bouncy, and action packed.
March 5, 2024
"A Case For The Ladies: A Dot And Amelia Mystery" by Maddie Day.
"Amid Prohibition, Irish gangs, the KKK, and rampant mistreatment of immigrant women, intrepid private investigator Dorothy Henderson and her pal Amelia Earhart seek justice for several murdered young women in 1926 Boston. As tensions mount, the sleuths, along with their reporter friend Jeanette and Dot’s maiden aunt Etta. experience their own mistreatment at the hand of society and wonder who they can really trust.This novel brings a pre-fame Amelia Earhart to life in 1926, when she lived in a Boston suburb and worked as a teacher and social worker at a settlement house founded to help immigrant women. After Amelia meets fictional lady PI Dot Henderson, and more than one young immigrant woman is found murdered, the two put their heads together to seek justice for the less powerful. Meanwhile, Etta Rogers, a founder of the settlement house and a Wellesley professor, works with reporter Jeanette Colby to investigate the Irish gangs who are not only running illicit liquor but also seeking to take over the settlement house real estate."
My thoughts:
Maddie Day has outdone herself with this book. Set in 1926 Boston, the core characters are both believable and well defined. The vivid descriptions of the time period easily transports the reader back to a time when women had little rights and immigrants had even less. Blatant racism, injustice, corruption, the KKK and bootleggers are all in the mix. The women who dared to stand up for themselves and those less fortunate were often targeted.
While PI Dot Henderson is visiting her Aunt Etta, a number of murders occur but for the most part, the police don't really seem to be doing much to solve them. Dorothy, Amelia and their friend Jeanette step up to try to find justice for the victims and their families.
This is a far deeper and more complex story than Ms. Day usually tells but it is clearly done with great research and respect to the time period and those who lived through that time.
Details of fashion, transportation, the newness of home telephones and attention to both common and slang language of the day add to the authenticity of the time period.
Reading the details of life for the immigrants and how horridly they were often treated is heartbreaking. The closed minded ignorance of the killers and gangs is reprehensible.
Though this is a fictional story, it also made me shudder at the poor treatment and shed a tear for those who died. At the same time, I also cheered on Dot, her friends and her aunt who didn't back down.
As tempting as it my be, do NOT skip over reading the Authors Note at the beginning of this book. Ms. Day gives a brief but insightful look at how deeply researched this book is. Accurately depicting life in 1926 Boston was a major undertaking. Melding the realities of the time period with the fictional is not an easy task. Her crafting that info along with various characters - real and fictional - into a page turning read is masterful!
Brava Maddie Day!
"Amid Prohibition, Irish gangs, the KKK, and rampant mistreatment of immigrant women, intrepid private investigator Dorothy Henderson and her pal Amelia Earhart seek justice for several murdered young women in 1926 Boston. As tensions mount, the sleuths, along with their reporter friend Jeanette and Dot’s maiden aunt Etta. experience their own mistreatment at the hand of society and wonder who they can really trust.This novel brings a pre-fame Amelia Earhart to life in 1926, when she lived in a Boston suburb and worked as a teacher and social worker at a settlement house founded to help immigrant women. After Amelia meets fictional lady PI Dot Henderson, and more than one young immigrant woman is found murdered, the two put their heads together to seek justice for the less powerful. Meanwhile, Etta Rogers, a founder of the settlement house and a Wellesley professor, works with reporter Jeanette Colby to investigate the Irish gangs who are not only running illicit liquor but also seeking to take over the settlement house real estate."
My thoughts:
Maddie Day has outdone herself with this book. Set in 1926 Boston, the core characters are both believable and well defined. The vivid descriptions of the time period easily transports the reader back to a time when women had little rights and immigrants had even less. Blatant racism, injustice, corruption, the KKK and bootleggers are all in the mix. The women who dared to stand up for themselves and those less fortunate were often targeted.
While PI Dot Henderson is visiting her Aunt Etta, a number of murders occur but for the most part, the police don't really seem to be doing much to solve them. Dorothy, Amelia and their friend Jeanette step up to try to find justice for the victims and their families.
This is a far deeper and more complex story than Ms. Day usually tells but it is clearly done with great research and respect to the time period and those who lived through that time.
Details of fashion, transportation, the newness of home telephones and attention to both common and slang language of the day add to the authenticity of the time period.
Reading the details of life for the immigrants and how horridly they were often treated is heartbreaking. The closed minded ignorance of the killers and gangs is reprehensible.
Though this is a fictional story, it also made me shudder at the poor treatment and shed a tear for those who died. At the same time, I also cheered on Dot, her friends and her aunt who didn't back down.
As tempting as it my be, do NOT skip over reading the Authors Note at the beginning of this book. Ms. Day gives a brief but insightful look at how deeply researched this book is. Accurately depicting life in 1926 Boston was a major undertaking. Melding the realities of the time period with the fictional is not an easy task. Her crafting that info along with various characters - real and fictional - into a page turning read is masterful!
Brava Maddie Day!
August 11, 2026
It is so rewarding to be able to dive eyes in first to any new mystery book by one of mu favorite authors: Ms. Maddie Day a/k/a Edith Maxwell.
A CASE FOR THE LADIES was especially intriguing to me, because I had read about all the research Ms. Day has done to ensure the accuracy of this historical mystery featuring Amelia Earhart was incontestable.
I also knew that she had dedicated the book to her grandmother whose nickname was "Dot", so she named the protagonist after her. It was wonderful and most interesting to read the Author's note at the beginning of the book.
This book is "unputdownable", if that would be a word. From the first sentence I was hooked, and I read and read with such gusto that when I finished it, I was forced back to reality.
The plot is intriguing, believable and engaging, as were all the characters. Ms. Day surely knows how to tell a story brilliantly, and I hope there will be more books featuring adventurous Dot and Amelia!
This is one of those books that every mystery lover will enjoy, so I strongly urge you to get it and read it. You are in for quite an enjoyable ride!
I thank Maddie/Edith fir selecting me as the winner of one of her generous giveaways that she offers from time to time in the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog to which I subscribe and thoroughly enjoy all the recipes featured by her and her fellow author members.
Thank you for all the joy you bring to us "readereaters"!!!
A CASE FOR THE LADIES was especially intriguing to me, because I had read about all the research Ms. Day has done to ensure the accuracy of this historical mystery featuring Amelia Earhart was incontestable.
I also knew that she had dedicated the book to her grandmother whose nickname was "Dot", so she named the protagonist after her. It was wonderful and most interesting to read the Author's note at the beginning of the book.
This book is "unputdownable", if that would be a word. From the first sentence I was hooked, and I read and read with such gusto that when I finished it, I was forced back to reality.
The plot is intriguing, believable and engaging, as were all the characters. Ms. Day surely knows how to tell a story brilliantly, and I hope there will be more books featuring adventurous Dot and Amelia!
This is one of those books that every mystery lover will enjoy, so I strongly urge you to get it and read it. You are in for quite an enjoyable ride!
I thank Maddie/Edith fir selecting me as the winner of one of her generous giveaways that she offers from time to time in the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog to which I subscribe and thoroughly enjoy all the recipes featured by her and her fellow author members.
Thank you for all the joy you bring to us "readereaters"!!!
June 3, 2024
Not Maddie Day's best work
This was a disappointing read for me. I have enjoyed Maddie Day's country story series a lot, but this new mystery series felt very stilted and forced. The focus seemed more on describing stereotypes of the day rather than a good storyline. Dot was too "tough", drinking her illegal booze and chain smoking her " ciggys", Amelia too "wild in her driving and flying", the Irish all bad, etc. The tying together of the crimes also didn't make sense, or maybe there were just too many for one book. I couldn't even read the whole book, it bored me with repetitive details that didn't add to the story.
This was a disappointing read for me. I have enjoyed Maddie Day's country story series a lot, but this new mystery series felt very stilted and forced. The focus seemed more on describing stereotypes of the day rather than a good storyline. Dot was too "tough", drinking her illegal booze and chain smoking her " ciggys", Amelia too "wild in her driving and flying", the Irish all bad, etc. The tying together of the crimes also didn't make sense, or maybe there were just too many for one book. I couldn't even read the whole book, it bored me with repetitive details that didn't add to the story.
March 20, 2024
A Case for the Ladies deserves 10 out of 5 stars. The research is spot on. The difficulties of being a female, let alone a female PI are raised. Plus bringing in Amelia Earhart to sleuth with Dot and Jeanette was a great stroke of genius. I have followed Amelia since I was in 6th grade.
The characters are still in my head and heart after finishing this book. I took longer than usual to read this, so as to savor all the cases and the bravery of the many women.
Thank you for this excellent book.
The characters are still in my head and heart after finishing this book. I took longer than usual to read this, so as to savor all the cases and the bravery of the many women.
Thank you for this excellent book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews