Dandy Detects: A Victorian San Francisco Story

By M. Louisa Locke

In the fall of 1879, San Francisco swelters under a heat wave while Barbara Hewitt, a reserved school-teacher, uncovers a mystery with the help of her son's dog, the Boston Terrier, Dandy.

This short story, which comes chronologically after Maids of Misfortune, is set in the 19th century, gas-lit world of Annie Fuller and her O'Farrell Street boarding house, which Locke writes about in her Victorian San Francisco Mystery series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M. Louisa Locke
• Release date: Sep 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497767867

M. Louisa Locke

M. Louisa Locke, a retired professor of U.S. and Women’s history, has embarked on a new career with her best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, which is based on Dr. Locke's doctoral research on late 19th century working women. Maids of Misfortune, the first in this series, features domestic service, and Uneasy Spirits, the sequel, explores women and 19th Spiritualism. Her third book, Bloody Lessons, focuses on teachers working in the San Francisco public schools in 1880. She has also written four short stories that are based on characters from the novels, and they can be found in this collection, Victorian San Francisco Stories. Her next book in the series, Deadly Proof, about women in the San Francisco printing industry, will be available early in 2015.Go to http://mlouisalocke.com/ for more about M. Louisa Locke and her work, including information about the historical research behind these books. Word of mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. Therefore, if you enjoyed Maids of Misfortune, please consider writing a review. Dr. Locke is on the Board of Directors for the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative and an active member of the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Book preview

Dandy Detects

DANDY DETECTS

A VICTORIAN SAN FRANCISCO STORY

M. LOUISA LOCKE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Copyright 2010 by Mary Louisa Locke

All rights reserved.

Cover design Copyright 2010 by Michelle Huffaker

All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

Dandy Detects

Other Works by Author

About the Author

DANDY DETECTS

San Francisco, September 1879

Barbara Hewitt sat by the open window, drinking in the faint breeze that barely touched the flame of the candle sitting on the table in front of her. While it was nearly eleven at night, her attic bedroom refused to release the accumulated heat of the day. While it was only her second September in the city of San Francisco, she was already familiar with the odd habit the weather had of producing the first searing temperatures of summer just in time for the fall school term.

Today, her students at San Francisco Girls High had wilted under the requisite five layers of clothing that female modesty dictated, and she had noted that none of them had been willing to forgo the newly fashionable polonaise wool dresses that had clearly been specially tailored for the start of school. She smiled to herself as she thought of the dampness of their knitted brows as they struggled over their first English literature essays--essays that she was trying to finish grading by candlelight so that she could return them in the morning.

A raised voice and a sharp sound shattered her reverie, and she looked out the window into the illuminated back room on the top floor of the house across the alley. A lit oil lamp revealed in stark detail the tableau of a man and a woman and a dog. The shaggy black dog was clutched in the arms of the woman, who