In 1890, in the juvenile town of Montaña Roja, in New Mexico Territory, the growing railroad is bringing businessmen, provisions — and girls. Young women in search of a steady job and a bit of adventure sign up to become Harvey Girls. Fred Harvey opened dozens of his eponymous Houses along the train routes out west. They offer hearty (and predictable) food, comfortable lodging, and safe, respectable employment for hundreds of women.
Clare Wright isn’t a Harvey Girl, though. She’s only pretending. Her real job is with the Pinkerton Agency, and she will have to work undercover to catch whoever is robbing trains and stealing supplies bound for Fort Union.
Smart and observant, Clare lives the life of a kitchen assistant and waiter at the busy Harvey House. Like the other girls, she spends 12 hours, or more, on her feet each day, rushing to and fro across the dining room. She also makes considerable notes about the townspeople and traveling businessmen who come through. A drunk sheriff, who is reluctant to interrupt a crime in progress. A ridiculously wealthy founder with a new mansion outside of town. A ne’er-do-well gunslinger. A ingratiating supervisor. And good ol’ Bat Masterson and Mark Twain put in a couple of amusing appearances.
The Mexican grandee Clare had waited on at Gowan’s table stalked in and surveyed the company down a nose that seemed to elongate in the process. He strode over to Gowan and tried to engage him in conversation. Gowan raised a hand, forestalling him, as he continued to talk to a matron in an eye-stinging chartreuse dress with an enormous bustle and what looked like an entire stuffed great blue heron on her hat. ~Loc. 1684
The film The Harvey Girls, and its famous song “Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe” makes a lot more sense to me now. This is a great addition to the new Western genre with a female heroine, perfect for fans of the Kopp Sisters books. It brings together Pinkerton lore, an interesting investigation, American expansionism, Gilded Age robber barons, and legends of literature.
My thanks to Rachel at Bloomsbury for the review copy.
Publisher: Head of Zeus — an Aries Book
Publication date: March 3, 2026
Print length: 272 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 1035916665