Dorie works with aging detective Amos Haddan, who still carries a fair amount of baggage from the first Great War. Their latest assignment is keeping tabs on Iris Jackson, whose married boyfriend, Georgie Tarraciano, thinks may be cheating on him. One night, as Dorie follows Iris from a former speakeasy to a bridge over a river, she arrives just in time to see Iris leap to her death. Thinking that this is the end of the job, Dorie is surprised to learn that Georgie wants her to continue investigating Iris, and is even more surprised when his wife Marilyn engages her to do the same.

When a murder occurs, and Amos is held as a suspect, Dorie steps up her investigations, feeling that the two deaths might be connected and a twist, not entirely unexpected, takes Dorie down a much different and more dangerous road than she expected.

One O'Clock Jump is a gritty private eye novel set against the swing era going strong at the time in Kansas City. There are plenty of argots and jargon used in the dialect, giving it a good flavor of the times, but once in awhile, it seems overdone.

Dorie's supporting cast includes Amos, who spends most of his time languishing in a prison, a new love interest, newsman Harvey Talbot, who does not come across as a man who will be able to keep up with Dorie and keep her, as she is too strong-willed. An eccentric, eclectic bunch at the boardinghouse where Dorie lives does serve to lighten the mood. Even though Dorie is a strong heroine and even though holding back her past and private life is part of her personality, she still comes across as wooden much of the time.

The historically accurate period details fully immerse readers in this colorful era of US history. Many readers will be intrigued by Dorie and be curious about what has brought her to where she is today in what appears to be start of a new series and will be curious enough to look for her next outing.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry