Everything glittered

Seventeen-year-old Gertrude "Gertie" Pound comes from a socialite family during the Prohibition era, attends an all-girls finishing school, and has the rest of her life planned out by her domineering mother. Ravenous to experience life, Gertie and her two friends (and love interests), Milly and Clara, sneak out of their seminary to visit a speakeasy. What should be a night of levity turns into devastation. After a scuffle at the bar from the dry squad, they return to school only to learn their beloved headmistress is dead. Aware of the unreliability of the "coppers," the girls decide to do their own sleuthing to uncover Mrs. Rose's murderer. As the story progresses, Gertie wonders whom to trust and questions whether she can learn to be honest about her true feelings. In this historical mystery, Talley explores the fears of being queer during the 1920s. Readers will appreciate the sapphic bond among the trio as well as the importance of being an ally. A thrilling and romantic read about challenging the status quo.

In 1927, 17-year-old Gertie Pound lives a cloistered existence in Washington Female Seminary, learning to be a proper society lady by day and sneaking out to speakeasies with her best friends and classmates Milly Otis and Clara Blum by night. Though Gertie's family expects nothing more from her future than a rich and well-connected marriage, young and unconventional headmistress Mrs. Rose pushes Gertie to question societal expectations and examine what she wants out of life. But when Mrs. Rose is found dead under suspicious circumstances, the society rumor mill churns with speculation about her mysterious and potentially scandalous past. Seeking to clear her mentor's name and prevent the seminary from shutting down, Gertie and her friends launch their own investigation, which plunges them deep into the seedy underbelly of Prohibition-era Washington, D.C. Talley (The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre) examines intense queer longing and self-discovery through a well-realized jaunt into Gilded Era high society, juxtaposing suffocatingly stiff etiquette with an undercurrent of misogyny and homophobia. Though twists occasionally feel underdeveloped, tender explorations of Gertie's burgeoning awareness of her queer identity drive this glitzy murder mystery. Characters cues as white; Clara is Jewish. Ages 14--up. Agents: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Sept.)

A Prohibition-era murder mystery with queer coming-of-age themes. Gertie is a senior at the Washington Female Seminary, a finishing school for the daughters of political bigwigs located in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle. One night, alongside her friends Milly and Clara, Gertie sneaks out to a speak-easy, which is promptly raided by officers from the dry squad. The girls escape, and when they return to the seminary, they find that their beloved headmistress, Mrs. Rose, is dead, reportedly from consuming liquor tainted with poisons by federal agents to discourage drinking. Now the seminary may be closed due to the scandal, and Gertie is determined to clear Mrs. Rose's reputation and save her school. The streets of the nation's capital in 1927 come alive through Talley's well-researched descriptions. Gertie and her friends navigate streetcars, cabs, and wintry walks while trailing a slew of mysterious characters across historic neighborhoods. Amid these investigations, Gertie often finds herself distracted; she can't help contemplating the behaviors of certain speak-easy patrons, the so-called pansies and violets. Perhaps more distracting are Milly and Clara, the friends Gertie has suddenly realized are both quite alluring. Fans of Talley's lesbian histories will enjoy her latest, and the page-turning mystery will appeal to new readers. Most characters are white; the story explores Clara's Jewish identity in a predominantly Christian environment. A compelling mystery grounded in a well-developed setting.(Historical mystery. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.