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Even though female reporter Diana Spaulding hasn't seen or spoken to her parents for a number of years after her disastrous first marriage, when she hears that her mother Elmira has been accused of murdering her father, William Torrence in Denver, she sends a short note to the man she had just decided to marry, Dr Ben Northcote, putting their nuptials off until she finds out the truth. Her ex-boss, the editor of the New York Independent, tells her that it is too dangerous for a woman to travel alone to Denver to investigate, but Diana resolves to go anyway. She wants to find out what has happened to her parents. She knows that her father was a ruthless businessman, but is certain that her mother would be the last person to have killed him. Arriving in Denver, she discovers that her parents had divorced years ago and that her mother was left to make her way in the world with only the ownership of a hotel as her source of income. When the 'hotel' turns out to be a brothel, Diane is a little put off but is still determined to find the truth. After the murder was discovered, the police found a bloody glove that her mother owned and decided that she was the murderer. Upon hearing that, her mother went underground and no one has seen or heard from her since, not even a rich criminal, who has voiced his desire to marry Elmira. The minute Diana enters town she finds she is in danger, but from whom she cannot tell. Can she trust the man who had been her friendly neighbor when she was a child, but whom her father had ruined years later? Can she trust the women of the hotel, including her mother's secretary, who all seemed to respect her mother, but are all fallen women at best? But the biggest question is still to be answered. If her mother did not do it, who did kill her father? Did his new young wife do it, or could it have been his business associates or is it someone who had a personal problem with him? And will her beloved Dr Ben Northcote decide that Diana is not the type of woman to be his wife, now that the truth about her mother is public knowledge? Writer Kathy Lynn Emerson has captured the feel of late 19th century Denver perfectly. She describes the wild town, including the brothels, the rough mining rich man who are used to getting their way in a lawless new city, the fallen women who use laudanum regularly and the opium dens, apothecaries and laundry shops in the Chinese section of town. Well written, FATAL AS A FALLEN WOMAN supplies the readers with plenty of suspects. And in as much as we can't tell who really wishes Diana well or ill, the tension remains high. It's just the story for people who like historical mysteries.
Reviewed by A. L. Katz, May 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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