Ladies, do you ever get upset when people do not take you seriously or do not think you will understand the importance of something? This book is the telling of how the real Kate Warne used that kind of thinking to her and our country’s advantage. It is nice to have another piece of “herstory” out in front of young boys and girls.

The year is 1856, Kate Warne is a young widow who wants to work for the United States’ first detective agency, the Pinkertons. Kate explains to Mr. Pinkerton, ” Men liked to brag about their adventures and women encouraged them to talk by pretending to be impressed. Women she said, could also worm out secrets in places where male detectives couldn’t go.” (3) Kate was hired.

Kate often wore disguises. She would attend society parties. There Kate would talk with wives who would talk about their husbands’  careers. Kate would gain their confidence by saying her husband was in jail or she might be in the disguise of a fortune teller. Either way, Kate was able to gain valuable information.

After Lincoln’s election in 1860, “a plot to attack Lincoln as he passed through the city” of Baltimore on his way to Washington D. C., by train, was discovered.  Lincoln was disguised, put on an earlier train, then into a sleeper car, saved for him by Kate. Lincoln arrived safely in Washington D. C., but Kate stayed behind in Baltimore to listen for other plot rumors.

Kate continued on with Pinkerton agency through the Civil War and afterward.

Illustrator Valentina Belloni gave the characters simple yet expressive faces. Belloni has given the clothing the rich elegant designs of brocade fabrics against the much simpler time period backgrounds.

One small error between text and illustration exists.  The tombstone in the near final illustration has Kate’s year of birth incorrect, if she was thirty-eight when she died, as stated in the author’s Note.