Kopp Sisters Series

In 1914, collisions between motor cars and horse-drawn carriages are an everyday occurrence on the streets of Paterson, New Jersey. But when an out-of-control driver smashes into a buggy driven by Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp, their lives change forever. Constance, the oldest, demands payment for the damages, but quickly realizes that she is dealing with a madman - Henry Kaufman, a silk manufacturer with a drinking problem and a dangerous group of associates. Soon the Kopp home is under siege. The sisters face threats of arson, kidnapping and white slavery. Bricks come flying through their windows, and shots are fired at their house late at night. Even the sheriff can't solve the case on his own. He issues revolvers to the Kopp sisters, posts guards at their house, and enlists Constance's help in catching Kaufman. In the process, Constance finds herself pulled into an underworld of abused factory workers, missing children, and dirty dealings. Her attempts to help another woman in trouble forces her to confront her own past and imagine a different future for herself and her sisters. Before the collision, she was just a bored thirty-five year-old woman living at home with her sisters in the New Jersey countryside, stuck in a life she didn't want but couldn't escape. But the minute Constance is issued a gun, she finds her calling. Set against the backdrop of the famous Paterson Silk Strike and based on actual events, Girl Waits With Gun is the first in a series of novels based on the real life adventures of Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp. Drawing on extensive research into newspaper reports, courthouse files, genealogical archives, letters, and photographs, this intriguing story remains true to the historical record. The Kopp sister's long-forgotten exploits, as told in the series, actually did make headlines nationwide in their day. The case against Henry Kaufman opened the door to a life of crime-fighting and mystery-solving for the Kopp sisters. In the fifteen years following the incident, Constance would serve as one of the nation's first female deputy sheriffs, perform intelligence work during World War I, and run a detective agency with her sisters through the 1920s- all of which will be the subject of future books in the series. Amy Stewart is a four-time New York Times' best-selling author (THE DRUNKEN BOTANIST, WICKED PLANTS, WICKED BUGS, and FLOWER CONFIDENTIAL). She came upon this story when researching THE DRUNKEN BOTANIST and it took hold of her and didn't let go.

"«Constance Kopp, la enérgica heroína de Una chica con pistola, está hecha de la misma pasta que los grandes personajes de las novelas policiacas. Una mujer formidable, tan capaz de empuñar sin miramientos el revólver para atrapar a un criminal, como de soltar un exaltado alegato en favor de la condición de las mujeres». Washington Post Cuando Amy Stewart se topó con un artículo de 1914 que contaba cómo el coche del propietario de una fábrica había embestido la calesa en la que viajaban las hermanas Constance, Norma y Fleurette Kopp, y la manera en que la disputa por los daños causados había derivado en una escalada de amenazas y disparos, que terminaría con Constance convertida en ayudante del sheriff, este captó de inmediato su interés. La absoluta falta de información sobre sus protagonistas se convirtió en un incentivo más para que la autora, tras bucear en un intrincado universo de certificados de nacimiento, testamentos y escrituras, percibiera enseguida que las lagunas de esa fascinante historia pedían a gritos escribir una novela. Y así lo hizo."

"Amy Stewart vuelve a la carga con otra inolvidable aventura protagonizada por las aguerridas hermanas Kopp. En 1915, nadie esperaba que una mujer persiguiera a los fugitivos de la ley por las calles de Nueva York, pero Constance Kopp no hizo nunca lo que los demás esperaban de ella. Tras salir en todos los periódicos cuando, junto a sus dos hermanas, plantó cara al dueño de una fábrica y a sus matones, el honorable sheriff Heath decidió nombrarla su ayudante, convirtiéndola así en una de las primeras oficiales de policía del país. Pero cuando las tretas de un timador empiezan a cuestionar su capacidad para estar a la altura del puesto, poniendo así en peligro su sueño de una vida mejor, Constance tendrá que redoblar los esfuerzos para demostrar su valía, aunque para ello tenga que amenazar a su jefe con encerrarle en su propia cárcel... Basada en la historia real de las hermanas Kopp, Una chica con pistola acercó las vidas de las inimitables Constance, Norma y Fleurette a miles de entregados lectores. Esta segunda novela de la serie, que rezuma aún más frescura y optimismo que su predecesora, nos presenta las nuevas y emocionantes peripecias de unas mujeres excepcionales que, a fuerza de desafiar con valentía todas las convenciones de la época, consiguieron labrarse su propio y singular destino."

The best-selling author of Girl Waits with Gun returns with another adventure featuring the fascinating, feisty, and unforgettable Kopp sisters. After besting (and arresting) a ruthless silk factory owner and his gang of thugs in Girl Waits with Gun, Constance Kopp became one of the nation's first deputy sheriffs. She's proven that she can't be deterred, evaded, or outrun. But when the wiles of a German-speaking con man threaten her position and her hopes for this new life, and endanger the honorable Sheriff Heath, Constance may not be able to make things right. Lady Cop Makes Trouble sets Constance loose on the streets of New York City and New Jersey--tracking down victims, trailing leads, and making friends with girl reporters and lawyers at a hotel for women. Cheering her on, and goading her, are her sisters Norma and Fleurette--that is, when they aren't training pigeons for the war effort or fanning dreams of a life on the stage. Based on a true story, Girl Waits with Gun introduced Constance Kopp and her charming and steadfast sisters to an army of enthusiastic readers. Those readers will be thrilled by this second installment--also ripped from the headlines--in the romping, wildly readable life of a woman forging her own path, tackling crime and nefarious criminals along the way.

The best-selling author of Girl Waits with Gun and Lady Cop Makes Trouble continues her extraordinary journey into the real lives of the forgotten but fabulous Kopp sisters. Deputy sheriff Constance Kopp is outraged to see young women brought into the Hackensack jail over dubious charges of waywardness, incorrigibility, and moral depravity. The strong-willed, patriotic Edna Heustis, who left home to work in a munitions factory, certainly doesn't belong behind bars. And sixteen-year-old runaway Minnie Davis, with few prospects and fewer friends, shouldn't be publicly shamed and packed off to a state-run reformatory. But such were the laws-and morals-of 1916. Constance uses her authority as deputy sheriff, and occasionally exceeds it, to investigate and defend these women when no one else will. But it's her sister Fleurette who puts Constance's beliefs to the test and forces her to reckon with her own ideas of how a young woman should and shouldn't behave. Against the backdrop of World War I, and drawn once again from the true story of the Kopp sisters, Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions is a spirited, page-turning story that will delight fans of historical fiction and lighthearted detective fiction alike.

"Tras Una chica con pistola y Mujer policía busca problemas, LA NUEVA AVENTURA DE LAS HERMANAS KOPP. «Amy Stewart da una patada a la novela policiaca clásica y acerca al lector la vida de la primera mujer ayudante del sheriff: una novela como excusa para subrayar el discurso reivindicativo femenino y un ejemplo encuadernado de lo que aún queda por hacer». EDURNE PUJOL, El Español Tras conseguir por fin la placa que la acredita como ayudante del sheriff, Constance Kopp está lista para enfrentarse a cualquier cosa. En la cárcel de Hackensack, le horroriza ver que muchas mujeres son acusadas de dudosos cargos de conducta incorregible o de moral depravada, como Edna Heustis, que se fue de casa de sus padres para trabajar en una fábrica de armamento, o Minnie Davis, la chica de dieciséis años a quien no corresponde enviar a un reformatorio estatal. Pero así eran la ley y la sociedad en 1916... Convencida de que esas desdichadas no deberían estar entre rejas, Constance recurrirá a la autoridad que le otorga su nuevo puesto para hacer lo que nadie más está dispuesto a hacer: investigar sus casos y ponerlas en libertad. Cueste lo que cueste. Narradas sobre el trasfondo de la Primera Guerra Mundial y basadas en la documentación sobre la historia verídica de las hermanas Kopp, estas Confesiones son un emocionante y valeroso relato de hermandad y justicia que hará por igual las delicias de quienes disfrutan con la narrativa histórica como de todos los amantes de la novela detectivesca."

In the fifth installment of Amy Stewart's clever and original Kopp Sisters series, the sisters learn some military discipline-whether they're ready or not-as the U.S. prepares to enter World War I. It's the spring of 1917 and change is in the air. American women have done something remarkable: they've banded together to create military-style training camps for women who want to serve. These so-called National Service Schools prove irresistible to the Kopp sisters, who leave their farm in New Jersey to join up. When an accident befalls the matron, Constance reluctantly agrees to oversee the camp-much to the alarm of the Kopps' tent-mate, the real-life Beulah Binford, who is seeking refuge from her own scandalous past under the cover of a false identity. Will she be denied a second chance? And after notoriety, can a woman's life ever be her own again? In Kopp Sisters on the March, the women of Camp Chevy Chase face down the skepticism of the War Department, the double standards of a scornful public, and the very real perils of war. Once again, Amy Stewart has brilliantly brought a little-known moment in history to light with her fearless and funny Kopp sisters novels.

Trailblazing Constance's hard-won job as deputy sheriff is on the line in Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit, the fourth installment of Amy Stewart's Kopp Sisters series. After a year on the job, New Jersey's first female deputy sheriff has collared criminals, demanded justice for wronged women, and gained notoriety nationwide for her exploits. But on one stormy night, everything falls apart. While transporting a woman to an insane asylum, Deputy Kopp discovers something deeply troubling about her story. Before she can investigate, another inmate bound for the asylum breaks free and tries to escape. In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But the fall of 1916 is a high-stakes election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath's future-and her own. Although Constance is not on the ballot, her controversial career makes her the target of political attacks. With wit and verve, book-club favorite Amy Stewart brilliantly conjures the life and times of the real Constance Kopp to give us this "unforgettable, not-to-be messed-with heroine" (Marie Claire) under fire in Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit.

Split apart by the war effort, the indomitable Kopp sisters take on saboteurs and spies and stand up to the Army brass as they face the possibility that their life back home will never be the same. The U.S. has finally entered World War I. Constance, the oldest of the Kopp sisters, is doing intelligence work on the home front for the Bureau of Investigation while youngest sister and aspiring actress, Fleurette, travels across the country entertaining troops with song and dance. Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location in France, Norma oversees her thwarted pigeon project for the Army Signal Corps. When her roommate, a nurse at the American field hospital, is accused of stealing essential medical supplies, the intrepid Norma is on the case to find the true culprit. Determined to maintain their sometimes-scratchy family bonds across the miles, the far-flung sisters try to keep each other in their lives. But the world has irrevocably changed—when will the sisters be together again? Told through letters, Dear Miss Kopp weaves the stories of real-life women a century ago, proving once again that “any novel that features the Kopp sisters is going to be a riotous, unforgettable adventure” (Bustle).

Life after the war takes an unexpected turn for the Kopp sisters, but soon enough, they are putting their unique detective skills to use in new and daring ways. Winter 1919: Norma is summoned home from France, Constance is called back from Washington, and Fleurette puts her own plans on hold as the sisters rally around their recently widowed sister-in-law and her children. How are the four women going to support themselves? A chance encounter offers Fleurette an exciting, lucrative solution: clandestine legal work for a former colleague of Constance’s. On the sly, she becomes a “professional co-respondent,” posing as the “other woman” in divorce cases so that photographs can be entered as evidence to procure a divorce. When one client’s suspicious behavior leads Fleurette to uncover a much larger crime, she finds herself in the family business and in the unlikely position of amateur detective. In Miss Kopp Investigates, Amy Stewart brilliantly captures the women of this era—their ambitions for the future as well as the ties that bind—at the start of a promising new decade and once again provides “smart, fun, staunchly feminist entertainment” (Kirkus Reviews).