| Title | : | Miss Kopps Midnight Confessions (Kopp Sisters, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 054440999X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780544409996 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 374 |
| Publication | : | First published September 5, 2017 |
| Awards | : | RUSA CODES Reading List Historical Fiction (2018) |
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.
Miss Kopps Midnight Confessions (Kopp Sisters, #3) Reviews
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E-galley generously provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Edelweiss and Author, Amy Stewart for an honest review. To be published September 5, 2017.
The Kopp Sisters are back in this new historically based romp. There’s just enough spunk to rank this series above a cozy but vanilla enough for readers seeking a gentler read.
Constance Kopp, Deputy Sheriff, has her hands full this outing with her female prisoners accused of dubious crimes by a relentless prosecutor resulting in their lockup at the Hackensack jail. As matron of her charges, Constance finds unique ways to bring about prison reform and justice. Her personal challenges involve her sister Fleurette’s desire to join a traveling theater group of China Dolls, and Norma’s overbearing involvement in both her sister’s lives.
Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions can be enjoyed on its own but don’t miss the prior two, as they are also delightfully outstanding. The Kopp Sisters Series is smart, well researched fiction with characters that have earned their place in my reading heart.
Regarding the actual Kopp Sisters, Amy Stewart has included Historical Notes and Sources for fact checking of history and events. -
Irons bars. Jingling jailhouse keys. A shiny badge and a hidden gun.
Constance was not a woman who was troubled by the idea of shoving a man.......
Have mercy! The Kopp Sisters are back in the third book of this rough and tumble series by Amy Stewart. Constance, a newly appointed sheriff's deputy in Hackensack, New Jersey, is like the snap and pop that you get out of a freshly chewed chunk of bubblegum. Quick and clever, she knows only too well the daily barricades placed in front of women as the tides flow closer to World War I.
Constance's duty involves being the matron of the female section of the jail. And in this era women have such sculpted crimes of their own: waywardness, co-habitating without marriage, suggestiveness, and refusing to stay under her parents' roof. The judge usually threw the book at her with a long stay in the confines of a reformatory with a soiled reputation and smudged records. And marriage in the future? As Tony Soprano would say: "Forget about it!"
But Constance has her hands full with the likes of sixteen year old Minnie Davis. Minnie has slammed the door on her family home with a loud bang and taken to residing with Tony Leo who keeps a fake marriage license application in his pocket. It appears that tantalizing Tony will slip between the cracks and Minnie is looking at spending time in that afore-mentioned reform school.
Constance is going to get in the middle of this cracklin' case for sure. But our lady deputy will have her hands full with a family matter sizzling like hotcakes on a stove. Ironically, youngest sister, Fleurette, with starry-eyed dreams of being on stage runs away with a traveling theater show. Both Constance and sister Norma are shocked. Norma will be hot on Fleurette's trail with Constance hiding her own 6 foot frame in confined phone booths in hotel lobbies. And what's to become of Fleurette?
Amy Stewart has raised the stakes in this one with more humor, shady life styles of the time period, and multi-layered storylines. Stewart has based her story on the real-life Kopp sisters' characters while adding a few embellishments along the way. The author's notes at the end of the book are rich with interesting details. Although the ending was a tad abrupt, it leads the reader to believe that there's a wide open door with more to come in the lives of these sizzlin' sisters. And we'll certainly stay tuned for more Hackensack adventures.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and to Amy Stewart for the opportunity. -
I am so enjoying this series.Constance Koop is a marvellous woman, completely bucking the system at a time when American women were absolutely second class citizens and everything was against them being independent individuals.
In
Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions Constance starts to stand up for the human rights of the girls in her care. She understands that it is possible to rehabilitate some of them and not send them all off to the reformatory, prison or the asylum.
I am very concerned now that she may lose her job when the current Sheriff completes his term in office. I may have to jump straight into the next book to see what happens. -
I love this series for the strong female characters, particular Constance the lady cop (technically in this book she is the deputy sheriff) who is big and strong and smart and doesn't fit nicely into a phone booth or a trolley bench. You can enjoy the story by itself, but I think it is most remarkable knowing how much of this is based on historical fact. Amy Stewart has done her research, from the characters to the scenarios to the legal situation. Young women are thrown in jail because their moral characters are in question, when it is more that they have decided to leave their parents' home and are daring to work and live alone. But they don't have many rights or access to counsel. Constance Kopp has been assigned to work directly with the women in jail, and is able to help them and advocate for them. Then her youngest sister leaves without permission to pursue her career on the stage, and her sisters are confronted with their beliefs.
I received a review copy of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It lingered on my Kindle for a while and came out in the meantime, in early September 2017. -
Set around 1916 with World War I looming, this historical novel has a strong theme of righting the injustices done to young women. Constance Kopp, a deputy sheriff, was in charge of the women in the Hackensack, New Jersey jail. Young women were arrested for waywardness when they left home without their parents' permission to seek jobs in the city. The women could not afford defense attorneys and faced a possible sentence to years in a reformatory. Constance stepped up to the plate, investigating the charges and the women's home situations, and fighting for their rights.
Her younger sister, Fleurette, also reached age 18 and left the Kopp's home to work in a vaudeville show. Constance's emotions are torn--she's worried about her safety, but knows it's time to let Fleurette follow her dreams.
Constance has been the subject of newspaper stories since it's unusual for a woman to do police work. Letters with proposals of marriage come from all over the country, adding humor to the book, since the men are looking for a tough workhorse rather than promising love and romance.
The Kopp sisters and many of the other characters were real people who lived in the early 20th Century. The author's note in back gives the reader some interesting background history. -
I LOVED this book! I just cannot say enough good things about it. The characters are simply outstanding – many of them based on real people – and so much fun to read about. Constance is my favorite, and Amy Stewart has graced her with so many fabulous and often cleverly hilarious lines. In Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions, the author has created two plot lines that dovetail together perfectly. In her role as a female deputy sheriff in 1916, Constance is grappling with young independent women being charged with waywardness and moral depravity simply because their parents do not want them leaving home. Sadly, the penalty for such charges was quite steep with many of these poor souls ending up sentenced to years in a reformatory where conditions were brutal and even at times sterilized (how horrific is that?!?). Constance works to protect these women and find solutions that will benefit the women charged while pacifying their parents. Meanwhile, Constance’s youngest sister Fleurette is eager to set out on her own and tests Constance’s beliefs that young women should be allowed to leave home and pursue their own dreams. The conflict between the two story lines is set up perfectly and plays out authentically and at times comically.
One of my favorite subject matters is the U.S. entertainment industry in the 1910’s through the 1940’s. I was delighted that early vaudeville was included in Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions and loved learning about May Ward. I spent considerable time looking up pictures of Ward and her “girls” and really enjoyed that portion of the story. I also loved the references to Edith Wharton, Birth of a Nation, and the Callot Soeurs and the subsequent inclusion of the true life details in the Author’s Note. Stewart has clearly researched both the time period and Constance Kopp’s life very extensively, and the result is quite an outstanding book.
Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions is a must-read for any mystery and/or historical fiction lover. I didn’t read the first one, I liked the second one, and this third one is absolutely fantastic. Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. -
4★
“It irked Fleurette that her sister – she of the pontoon-sized feet and the figure of a telephone booth – enjoyed the romantic attentions of men she’d never met.”
Of course it would! Miss Kopp, the cop (deputy) is receiving marriage proposals from ranchers and farmers who want a strong mate to cook, clean, raise their motherless children, “strong as a horse and pretty as one, that’s all I ask. If I don’t suit you, there are a dozen other fellows who will.”
Miss Constance Kopp has no thought of leaving her home and job, not to mention Norma and Fleurette. Poor Fleurette is busting to get out, though. She’s 18, gorgeous, a talented seamstress, and dying to get on the stage. She’s a hit in her hometown, and when a new troupe sweeps through, holding auditions (pay $5 and try out), she goes along. Needless to say, the two older Kopps are fearful.
Eldest sister Norma Kopp, is the broad, plain ruler of all she surveys and is the one who manages the family finances on their small holding. She also attends to answering Constance’s fan mail, now that Constance Kopp has become something of a local celebrity working with the sheriff and catching criminals.
She’s in charge of the female inmates and often spends the night in her own little cell (it’s a long walk home) and finds the girls and women open up to her at night. She is a large, comforting presence for a lot of them, and she is determined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
There are several threads and cases running through this book, the main one being the Mann Act. There are a couple of young girls, under 18, who are discovered not in their home states, one working and paying rent, and one living with a man as a married couple.
“’It means he took her from New York to New Jersey. The idea is to jail him for transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. . .
Everyone in law enforcement had an opinion about the Mann Act, which made it a crime to do exactly what the sheriff had just described. Some were of the opinion that any man and woman who drove, took a train, rode a bicycle, or walked across a state border together must surely be acting with immoral intent and deserved the most severe (and public) prosecution. Others – and Constance counted herself among this group – believed that the Mann Act was only meant to put a stop to kidnapping and forced prostitution.”
Her sheriff is sympathetic to the view, but his term in office is winding up and his rival is running a hard law-and-order campaign to basically lock ‘em all up. The local matrons are scandalised by any young unmarried woman not living with her parents. What might happen to her?
This is a conversation between Constance and a (real) female police officer in Paterson, New Jersey.
“‘I had her sent to the state home on a charge of social vagrancy.’
. . .
‘Some of them never meant to do wrong. Don’t you think they can be saved?’
‘Saved for what? . . .They’ll never marry. No employer would have them. There’s no telling what social diseases they might be spreading among the men in this county, just before we’re about to send our boys to war? . . . Besides, we don’t want a child born to a morally degraded mother. We’d have an entire generation of degenerate and feeble-minded children.’”
So what if young Fleurette breaks loose? What if Constance and Norma lose whatever control they have? And what about these boys (and girls!) waiting impatiently to go to war? (The United States didn’t enter until April 1917.)
There is just as much warmth and humour in this as in the previous books in the series, but I have to say that I’m really enjoying the author’s attention to detail. The people and cases are based on as much information as the author can find. She has footnotes at the back with references and explanations of where she has embellished or where she has quoted material.
There are many examples of curious historical facts, but I’ll share just this one, because I can’t resist. A visitor to the Kopp household warns them not to buy a refrigerator because it’s ammonia-cooled and it stinks. Also, bugs are attracted to it! She knows, because her sister got one.
��‘Would you believe they insulate these refrigerators with cattle hair? The bugs adore it. They chew right through it, and the next thing you know, you reach in for the eggs and butter, and come away with a handful of beetles instead.’”
Times were certainly different then! The Kopp sisters, like many, have only a horse and cart, but there are more automobiles on the roads, which means interstate travel will be easier all the time. I pity all those poor single girls and their reputations!
I love the series. My reviews of the first two books are here:
#1
Girl Waits with Gun
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#2
Lady Cop Makes Trouble
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... -
This was another entertaining episode in this series based on the real Constance Kopp, the first female deputy sheriff. In 1916 she has finally been given her deputy's badge after being in the job for over a year. In her role of deputy sheriff she is also matron of the jail in Hackensack and responsible for the care of the female prisoners. A number of her current cases involve girls caught up in the morality laws of the time and charged with waywardness or immorality simply by leaving home to find work. A young man is also charged with being a white slaver because a girl willingly ran away with him across state lines. Both Sheriff Heath would prefer to see such girls left to lead their own lives if they are safe or if they have been immoral, sent back to relatives or to a safe place so they can get their lives back on track. However, the prosecutor wants to see them locked up in a state reformatory until they are 21, so Constance has her work cut out trying to help them keep their freedom.
As well as the insights into the morality laws of the time (mostly regarding women), there is a lot of underlying humour in the book. Particularly through the characters of Constance and her sisters Norma with her passion for homing pigeons and Fleurette with her eyes on a career on the stage. Constance has also become an interesting figure to the press and there is much amusement to be had from quotes of actual news reports about her and the many letters proposing marriage (and usually a lot of hard work) that resulted from the publicity. I do hope Ms Stewart will continue to write many more books about Constance and her sisters. -
3.5 stars
The Kopp Sisters series is going to end all too soon for me, I am sure.
Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions is the third book of the series and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Based on the real life of Constance Kopp, this fictional series is informative of the time, humorous in it's tone and both warm and spirited in it's story line.
Moving back in time to when the female was still owned and an object of the time, this series recalls the beginning of the female detective. Well ahead of her time, force to always defend herself, Constance Kopp was the first female detective in Hackensack New Jersey. Well liked by the Chief of Police, but not his wife, Kopp did her job well. She was an advocate for the female 'criminal' - knowing that females were harassed, and jailed, for petty incidents that men did on a daily basis. Standing up for the female population, that she tended in her section of the jail, was first and of foremost importance to Constance.
However this book dealt more with Constance's own family. Being the oldest of 3 sisters, at least in appearance, Constance goes very easy on the youngest, Fleurette, who wants to be a vaudeville singer and dancer. Disappearing in the night Flaurette becomes the thorn in the side of her sisters and Constance is forced to track her down, against her better judgement.
Amy Steward has a great series going. Her characters are well developed, her research is impeccable, and her story line is warm, humorous and lively. -
I'm starting to wonder if
Girl Waits with Gun was a one-off stroke of brilliance. I loved the first novel in this historical fiction series based on the life of one of the first female deputy sheriffs in the U.S., but its sequel,
Lady Cop Makes Trouble, didn't quite live up to the high bar Stewart had set for herself. I had higher hopes for
Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions at first, but I think I ultimately wanted to like this more than I did.
The premise of this novel is the most interesting to me of the three. Set in 1916, just before the U.S. entered World War I, women are having to take up the slack of men who are leaving to go abroad - taking factory positions and leaving the house more often to aid war efforts. This was a difficult pill for some of these young women's parents to swallow, and many of them reported their daughters to the police for wayward behavior, which is an interesting and frustrating piece of history that I ended up learning a lot about. I just wish the narrative had been on the same level as Stewart's impeccable research.
While I was initially prepared to praise this novel for having more narrative cohesion than its two predecessors (the cases that Constance is investigating end up dovetailing with her personal life), I thought the execution was somewhat unwieldy. One of the characters does something that I felt was solely for the sake of furthering the plot, and really incongruous with her characterization. And while I enjoyed spending more time with Norma and Fleurette than we had in
Lady Cop Makes Trouble, the relationship between the three sisters - easily the best thing about the first novel - always felt rather secondary to whatever else was going on.
I loved the new characters who were introduced, Edna especially, and I enjoyed reading about her time involving herself in the war effort. But I still thought that there were too many subplots here, and the way it all came together in the end was a little ham-fisted.
It's more of a 3.5 than a 3, and certainly an improvement on
Lady Cop Makes Trouble. But I'm still waiting for Stewart to really tap into the magic that she was able to achieve with
Girl Waits with Gun. I'm undecided if I'll continue this series if Stewart writes more. On the one hand, I'm rather invested in Constance Kopp at this point, but on the other, I have a nagging feeling that this series peaked with its first novel.
Thank you to Netgalley, Houghton Mifflin, and Amy Stewart for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. -
This is the third novel by Amy Stewart about Constance Kopp, America’s first woman Deputy Lady Sheriff. It’s the third historical fiction novel that Stewart uses actual facts about Kopp. Stewart uses the many newspaper sources to write her story, as Kopp was great fodder for newspaper writers at that time. The newspaper sources are the bones of Stewart’s story, and her fantastic creativity fills the story. This can be read on it’s own, although it’s a third in a series. Great series are those in which the reader can read each one independently of each other.
In this novel, it’s 1916 with the backdrop of WWI. Also at the time in New Jersey, where Kopp works, and in New York there is a political push on purity and morality. At the time, families were using the court system to tame their women, be it daughters, wives, or sisters. Constance Kopp is responsible for the women prisoners in her Hackensack jail and is generally outraged at the questionable charges of waywardness, incorrigibility, and moral depravity that her prisoners are charged with. She spends some of her time investigating the charges and thereby helping to get the women released from the doubtful charges. Stewart uses documented jailed women in the novel. What’s more, Steward delves into reformatory schools for girls and the hopelessness for those girls who get stuck there. Stewart proves that she researches this time period and deftly uses facts.
Constance is one of three Kopp sisters, and Stewart writes them delightfully. The sisters’ personalities add so much fun to the novel. This is an enjoyable read that has the reader in that time period, while allowing the reader to savor one of the best female protagonist in historical fiction. -
Awesome! I adored book 1, gobbled book 2, but book 3 is quite the standout. I love that the sisters are more developed and Stewart's eye for historical detail. If you've only ever read her nonfiction (if you haven't, you should), you know the author is a wonderful storyteller, fiction gives her an even wider stage. This novel is absolutely delightful.
*Disclosure: I work for HMH, but I do not review HMH titles unless I feel extremely strongly about them as a reader. They have to be something special if I'm going to review them. This is one of those very special ones. -
Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions is the third book in the Kopp Sisters series by NYT best-selling American author, Amy Stewart. As Deputy Sheriff and Matron of Hackensack jail, Constance Kopp deals with several so-called morality cases where young girls, often runaways, are arrested for Waywardness or Illegal Cohabitation. Detective Courter and Paterson’s only female police officer, Mrs Belle Headison, are of the opinion that these girls need to be sent to the reformatory until they attain 21, while Constance and Sheriff Heath believe they can be rehabilitated with the right support, in such cases where the arrest is not actually on entirely frivolous grounds.
Edna Heustis is one such young lady whom Constance manages to have released with a clever defence, and then finds herself informally appointed, through a casual remark from the presiding judge, as a probation officer of sorts. But not all the cases are quite so innocent and Constance learns some facts of life that may see an unfortunate girl in regrettable circumstances. Minnie Davis looks headed for the Reformatory but, when Constance sees that place first hand, she is determined to prevent it.
Meanwhile, young Fleurette is champing at the bit for more freedom, her current wish being a place in May Ward’s popular vaudeville troupe. What Fleurette wants has Constance re-examining her own beliefs on appropriate behaviour for a young lady. Norma’s distrust of strangers reaches new heights and sees her taking unprecedented action, with some unexpected consequences. In trying to realise her fondest desire, Fleurette learns that the reality is not only disappointing but also rather tedious.
In this instalment, Constance: finally gets her Deputy’s badge; can’t escape the voracious press and their highly inaccurate reporting; is consequently plagued by letters offering marriage, clever rejections to all of which are produced with great alacrity by Norma; and is dismayed to hear that the coming elections will furnish her with a new Sheriff, possibly the man who is currently the bane of her life, Detective Courter.
Stewart’s Historical Notes and Sources are interesting and informative, revealing that Constance Kopp and her sisters were real people, much as described, as are quite a few of the other characters. Many of the events that form the plot also occurred, if not always when stated. Stewart takes the known historical facts and fleshes them out into a marvellous tale.
Stewart effortlessly portrays the characteristics of everyday life of the early twentieth century and clearly demonstrates how different life was over a hundred years ago, including the utter dependence and powerlessness of women at this time in history. The letters proposing marriage, and the replies drafted by Norma provide some wry humour, as does the dialogue. Excellent historical crime fiction that will have readers seeking out the fourth book, Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit. -
"Kopp is always a cop, no matter where she goes and what she does. Isn't that right, Sheriff?"
Constance Kopp has just been officially named the first female Sheriff's Deputy of Hackensack, New Jersey. Having been working alongside Sheriff Heath since her case against Henry Kaufman, this is quite a novelty. Among her main duties is to be matron of the female sector of the jail. Deputy Kopp is troubled to constantly receive girls and women on charges of waywardness and moral depravity. Roughly translated: they left home and their parents/guardians do not approve or they are paying for a mistake that their male counterparts are easily absolved of. Without intending to, Deputy Kopp becomes an advocate for these women. The real test, however, is at home. Her youngest sister Fleurette has dreams of being a performer and no one, not even her Deputy sister, is going to stop her.
Having read the previous two books, I can confidently say I love this series and even more so because they are based on real events and people. Constance Kopp, despite her hard work and achievements, still does not get the recognition she deserves and all because she is a woman. Sheriff Heath is one the few that publicly endorses her, hence why he names her deputy. Constance is aware that women get a subpar deal because she manages the female sector of the jail and many, do not deserve to be there. While this book was not as dynamic as the other two, the focus sure is one that caught my eye. Deputy Kopp has inmates reported by parents that simply disliked the fact that they left home to work and be independent. There was little to no represention for these women. If convicted (and they were more often than not) they were sent to a home for "troubled" girls. Morality laws were the rage at the time. Constance became their voice and did manage to come to aid these girls. Her believes, though, were to be challeged by none other than her sister Fleurette. A vivacious 18-year-old that has aspirations of traveling with the theater, she was the one that really was going to test how much Contance believed in what she preached.
I like that this installment included more of the other two sisters, Norma and Fleurette. No Kopp sister conformed to society and each has such a distinct voice and strong personality. Norma, in particular, is described as heavily opinionated and stubborn. While Fleurette was more impulsive and realxed. I would not want to be caught on Norma's badside, that all I will say about that. The narrative had humour and levity as well as a more thoughtful prose thanks to the interactions between the sisters. I wanted to learn more about the Kopp sisters but liitle seems to be available. I did learn that Constance lost her job when Sheriff Heath stopped being sheriff and there seems to be no further information of what she did after that. Regardless, her contributions to the law and and women are something to be admired. And even if her career was short-lived, it was incredible. I am glad that Stewart brought her story to the forefront, where it definitely deserves to be. -
I'm on a roll with this series! It's tough to put down because I love the combination of historical fiction/cozy mystery. The characters are fun and familiar now and any time a woman is punished for something ridiculous, I have this extreme girl power moment where I'm like, "Hellllllll no. Well, obviously Constance won't put up with this!"
The book opens with Constance settling in to her job now that she's officially a deputy. She's in charge of the female inmates and is tired of seeing young women charged with waywardness/moral depravity. Any time these ladies decide to leave home to earn a living or escape a hard home life they're publicly shamed and often sent to a reformatory until the age of 21.
Using her new authority, Constance investigates two young ladies who find themselves accused of waywardness.
Edna is a good girl trying to make an honest living and support the war effort. Her mother would rather see Edna publicly shamed and sent back home to help her out.
Minnie is a sixteen year old running away from an unloving family and finds herself with few opportunities.
While Constance is working these cases, a similiar story is playing out in her own home. Her young sister Fleurette performs on the small local stage and earns money as a seamstress. Her hopes of becoming famous are elevated when the well-known vaudeville performer May Ward holds open auditions in search of a new chorus girl.
Fleurette's hopes are quickly dashed when she realizes that the auditions were simply a way for Ward to make a quick buck. Unwilling to let go of her dream of a glamourous stage life, she offers to join Ward and her chorus of Dresden Dolls on tour ...as their seamstress.
Fleurette leaves without telling her sisters Constance and Norma, only sending a postcard afterward to let them know where she is. Norma is frantic but Constance decides she must treat Fleurette's situation the same as the cases she's been working and allow Fleurette to make her own decisions.
I enjoyed this book focusing on Fleurette and her aspirations and how she dealt with expectation versus reality. Grumpy Norma and her reaction to Fleurette's absence was hilarious and I loved Constance for getting caught up in Norma's reaction but still keeping a level head and treating Fleurette as an adult. The relationship between these sisters continues to feel genuine and heartfelt.
In the end Constance is able to help Edna, put Minnie on the right track, and by introducing the girls a friendship begins.
By allowing her sister to make decisions for herself, Fleurette returns home at the end of the tour, a dreamer slightly humbled by her experience.
Life is changing for the Kopp sisters and now Constance will turn her attention to the future of her career now that Sheriff Heath, her biggest supporter, may be headed to Washington at the insistence of his wife.
Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions is another entertaining story loosely based on actual people and events featuring strong female characters fighting for their independence and changing society's view of women one case at a time!
For more full reviews, visit
www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com -
This was another excellent installment in the Constance Kopp series! I really enjoyed that Stewart moved a little outside the Kopp family for the plots woven together in this book, though at the same time, I missed the charming back-and-forth between the sisters that was so much an integral part of the first book. Even though I realize that Edna Heustis's situation is meant to show Constance that it's time to let Fleurette fly the nest, I found it a little difficult to swallow that Constance would have stepped back quite so much. I feel as though she would have perhaps found a happy medium.
That said, I enjoyed the side plots to this story very much. It's important to remember that we women haven't had the vote for even 100 years yet, and that parents and husbands could have women and girls locked up (in prisons, in insane asylums) for no better reason that they didn't obey, or that they may have wanted something better for themselves. We women have so much more freedom today. I can't imagine calling the police on my daughter when she's 18, living on her own and providing for herself, simply because I wanted her back home with me.
I really hope that the New Jersey newspapers of the early 1900s have more stories on Constance Kopp because I'd love to see this series continue, especially through the First World War and afterward, with all the social changes that came about. I also want to learn more about Edna Heustis and whether she's able to continue to influence Minnie in a positive way.
Highly recommended. -
I am enjoying these Kopp Sisters books more and more. This is the third in the series and based on the real life of Constance Kopp, the first deputy female sheriff in New Jersey. This book is set in 1916 and women do not have the right to vote yet. It reminds us that we have not even been able to vote for a hundred years.
This story involves the local authorities locking up young women in reformatories if they decide they don't want to live at home any more (even after 18) and hand off every cent of their paychecks to their families. They often work at low paying and back breaking factories for less than a man because as one girl was told, "You don't want to take away money from a man who is supporting a family, do you?" Of course this is a struggle that continues to this day.
Constance decided this is horrible and starts helping young women who have left their homes to make a life for themselves. Her sister, Norma, is quite an eccentric and is working on a project to get the White House to use carrier pigeons to carry messages. Fleurette, Constance's supposed sister but actually is her daughter, leaves home to join a dance troupe and makes Constance practice what she preaches.
I love this series and a look at the life women lived 100 years ago and how little or far we've come. I especially like it because it's based on a real person and everything sounds so authentic and real. This was a joy to read.
Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book. -
This is such a fun series based on true characters. It's quite a history lesson on how women used to get arrested for "morality" - leaving home to find work and mom wants her daughter back at home to help with housework -- or living together before marriage. The way women are treated is marginally better today! I love to read the exploits of Constance Kopp and the end is so great with Amy Stewart's historical notes. This is just the book/series to read when you need a break from heavy/dark fiction.
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★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at
The Irresponsible Reader.
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Without meaning to slight Girl Waits with Gun or Lady Cop makes Trouble, this is the best constructed novel in this series. There's a unity of theme, stories that complement each other, and a level of (honest) introspection from the characters that we haven't seen before. That said, I don't think I enjoyed it nearly as much as I did the others. So it's a little bit of a trade-off.
We are treated to three stories of young women, one sixteen year-old and two eighteen year-olds, who leave home for various reasons. They all want something more than they can have at home -- meaning, a job, excitement, freedom, and maybe something more. One girl did everything right, but sill was arrested for waywardness. One was pretty foolish, and did some illegal things, but was really arrested for the foolish mistake. The third was Constance's little sister, Fleurette. Constance went to bat for all three -- interceding with the law (when applicable), with family (when she could), trying to give them the ability to live the life they wanted to -- and each of them pressed Constance's ability, job and standing as she did so.
While this is going on, Constance is making headlines across the nation -- making her both a distraction to her friend the Sheriff, as well as a voice for social change. I know she regrets the former, and I'm not convinced she relishes the latter. If she had her druthers, I think Constance would prefer just to do her job and be left alone. But she is learning how to use her notoriety -- or at least her relationship with members of The Press -- to help her accomplish her goals.
Constance begins to come to terms with some very unfortunate realities of her life, and begins to grasp what the future may hold for her, both professionally and personally. In some way (I think), she thought she could keep the life she had and just add on her job on top of it. But between her fame, the time she spends away from the home, Fleurette's aging and getting ready to leave the nest, and everything else going on around the sisters, that's no longer possible. Her old life is gone, and the new one is too in flux for her to get a handle on it. Assuming that there are more Kopp Sister novels to come, watching Constance figure out what her life will be -- and hopefully she gets a hand in shaping it -- will be the key to the series as it progresses.
On the whole, this one didn't work as well for me as the previous books did. But several of the individual elements I found compelling and wanted more of -- I wish we got more of the story about Edna Heustis (I don't need to know what happened over the rest of her life, I just want a clearer picture of the next few months) or her roommate. I'd have liked more interaction between Constance and her boss -- we just didn't get enough of them -- and an honest conversation about the future would've been nice. I did think the ending of the Fleurette story was handled perfectly -- I don't think I'd change a thing about that whole storyline, really. Still, this novel was somehow less than the sum of its parts, for me -- but I can easily see where I'll be in the minority for thinking that. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, I just should've enjoyed it more.
Strong characters, some strong themes (ones you usually don't see in Detective fiction), and a tumultuous time period (for several reasons) combine to deliver another satisfying entry in this series that'll please existing fans and probably pick up a few more.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for this post -- thanks to both for this. -
Constance Kopp is not like most women. It is 1916 and she is one of the first female deputy sheriffs in the country. And when she is dealing with her female charges at the Bergen County Jail, Constance questions the conventional thinking of the times.
The story focuses on two young women who left home for varying reasons, ended up working in factories, and were brought to the jail on vague “morality” charges that could keep them locked up for years. But Constance is not willing to give up on these young women. As she investigates and tries to find a reasonable way to get each one released, a personal drama within her own family becomes intertwined with their cases.
Constance and her sisters are independent-minded and richly developed characters in this fascinating fact-based historical series. But it is Constance’s quiet power and perspective on the subject of justice that really shine in this latest novel from the talented Amy Stewart.
Many thanks to the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader. -
This is the third and final book in the Kopp sisters adventure stories. Set in 1916, Deputy Sheriff Constance Kopp comes to the rescue of young women who have been locked up in her jail on alleged morality charges. Constance is the only person who will stand up for their rights. But her modern beliefs are tested when her youngest sister Fleurette secretly runs off and joins a travelling dance company. Readers will really enjoy this light-hearted detective story.
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This is not a detective story, despite the fact that it’s one in a series of historical novels about New Jersey’s first female deputy sheriff (and apparently the first anywhere to carry a gun). Nor is it a thriller or even especially suspenseful. Instead, Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions is a tale of crime and law enforcement. And the laws in question are the morality laws in force in much of the United States during World War I. Those laws subjected women to the unwelcome attention of the police and the courts for “crimes” so innocent as simply leaving the straightjacket of rigid parental control at age eighteen to seek a job and an independent life.
THE STATE’S FIRST FEMALE DEPUTY SHERIFF WAS BORN FOR THE JOB
Constance Kopp was the Under Sheriff of Bergen County during World War I for two years. She served under Sheriff Robert Heath of Hackensack, New Jersey, until a Republican was elected to replace him in November 1916. The man was a bitter enemy who fired her upon gaining the post. Wildly exaggerated stories about her and her exploits appeared in newspapers throughout the United States. She was an imposing figure, six feet tall and stocky, at a time when the average American male was 5’8″. And “she knew how to put her size to an advantage.” Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions and the other books in the series focus on Constance as the protagonist, but her two “sisters” also play major roles in the stories. (One of the “sisters” was, in fact, her daughter, Fleurette.)
THREE STRANDS OF THE STORY
Three strands make up the skein of the plot, two involving “criminals” charged under the morality laws and the third centered on Constance’s daughter, Fleurette.
EDNA HEUSTIS
Edna Heustis is a serious, hardworking young woman who leaves home at eighteen to find a life of her own. She lands a job in a DuPont munitions factory in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, and a furnished room in a boarding home for other young women who work there. Suddenly one morning, the police turn up and arrest her on a charge of “waywardness,” which the law treats as a criminal offense. Her mother had complained to the authorities that she had run away from home. The cops take her to jail in Hackensack, New Jersey, where Constance Kopp, as the state’s first and only female deputy sheriff, is the matron. Working around the law and accepted practice rather than through it, Constance finds a way to get Edna out of jail and keep her there.
MINNIE DAVIS
Sixteen-year-old Minnie Davis craves romance and excitement. She runs away from her strict and unloving parents to New York City. There, she persuades an attractive young man to pick her up. Tony works as a card dealer on a riverboat. The two set up house in a small, furnished room above a bakery in New Jersey, posing as husband and wife. When police discover Minnie living alone there, they suspect Tony of “white slavery” and arrest them both. Minnie is sent to jail in Hackensack as a witness—a common practice at the time—but also faces a possible charge of “illegal cohabitation.” Constance spends weeks untangling the truth.
FLEURETTE KOPP
At eighteen, Fleurette is a gifted seamstress, but she dreams of a life on the stage. When a famous vaudeville actress comes to the nearby town of Paterson advertising auditions for a chance to join her show, Fleurette jumps at the chance. It’s a money-making scam operated by the actress’ husband and manager. They have no intention of selecting anyone who auditions, but young women flock to the theater and pay the $5 fee to perform. Fleurette’s “sisters,” Constance and Norma, know all this, but the girl insists. And shortly after the audition, Fleurette disappears. Constance and Norma suspect she’s joined the vaudeville troupe and set out on a frantic search to find her. Constance may be New Jersey’s first female deputy sheriff, but she is also a mother wracked with worry.
“MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS” THAT REVEAL PERVASIVE SEXISM
Amy Stewart deftly weaves these three strands together. In the process of following each of the three stories, we encounter again and again the misogyny that permeated American life and the legal system just a century ago. Constance Kopp’s “midnight confessions,” her late-night conversations with the inmates under her care in the Hackensack jail, reveal just how difficult it was for most young women in the World War I era to live independent lives. Constance “couldn’t think of a single one who’d been found innocent of the charges and released.” And she does all in her power to change that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wikipedia describes Amy Stewart as “an American author best known for books on horticulture and the natural world.” Her most widely read book is The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World’s Great Drinks. However, as of 2021, she has also written seven novels in the Kopp Sisters series. -
I really enjoy Amy Stewart's series featuring Constance Kopp, who was the first under Sheriff in Bergen County, New Jersey in the 1910s and I am not sure why this took me so long to finish. It was on my ereader which is NOT my favorite way to read; I am much better reading paper. I plowed through the last 80% of this story in a couple of days. In this episode, Constance is dealing with a couple of girls who have left their dreary farm lives and come to Bergen County to work in factories preparing goods for the upcoming war. Their parents file complaints and want the girls back and they are arrested and sent home or to a reformatory. It was a very dreary existence for the working class poor; these girls had no financial means and were expected to marry a neighbor or family friend. There was no college in their future and it was illegal for them to live alone and get a job (although they had the same problems we have today, with wages not keeping up with the cost of living, especially among younger people, so that they really could not afford an apartment). Constance works to help these girls as back in the 1910s, if you were arrested, you were not guaranteed the right to counsel. As well, the youngest Kopp sister has run off with the Eight Dresden Dolls, a vaudeville troupe. So Constance's personal life and professional life are both dealing with the same issue of women's rights to the same freedoms as men. I love this series as Amy Stewart really writes in depth about the time period prior to World War I and I have learned so many details about a time in history that has not been written about widely.
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Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions is the first of Amy Stewart's Kopp Sisters series that I've read. I didn't feel that I needed an orientation to the Kopp Sisters that wasn't provided by Amy Stewart in this book. So for me Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions could stand alone.
I really liked Constance Kopp's intervention to restore freedom to young women who had been condemned as "wayward". This is based on the concept that women are property who couldn't have aspirations or ambitions of their own. This idea had persisted for centuries and was widely believed in 1916 when Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions took place.
Readers who are interested in early 20th century law enforcement, and how it impacted women who'd been stigmatized as "wayward" will be interested in reading the latest Kopp Sisters novel.
For my complete review see
http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2018/... -
Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions is a cozy historical crime fiction (think cozy mystery without the mystery).
Despite being the third book in the series, Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessionals reads well as a standalone. The main characters come with baggage but there's enough backstory included in the present day setting that the reader doesn't feel lost with what's happened in the previous books.
Constance is an interesting character and the author ensures she gets page time not only in relation to the passages involving the crimes but also in her personal setting, notably when her daughter runs away to join a stage show and the ensuing hunt to track her down. I did like the somewhat humorous aspect to this side show.
Set in 1916, the book provides insight into the laws of the time which seem ridiculous by modern standards, in particular two cases of young women who are charged for waywardness, incorrigibility and moral depravity. Whilst not much happens in this space from a crime perspective, the book delivers on character and charm.
My rating: 2.5/5, it was ok. I found the book more interesting than entertaining but that's more to do my reading tastes rather than the book itself. -
El más flojito de los tres de esta serie, sin duda. Aunque está muy bien para ver lo avanzado a lo largo de los años en cuanto a los "delitos morales" y la situación de las mujeres que querían ser independientes. Cualquier mujer que quisiera tomar las riendas de su vida podía ser denunciada por sus padres y ser llevada a la cárcel o a un reformatorio sin poder defenderse, pues aún no existía la justicia gratuita.
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I loved this blue cover. After reading Girl Waits With Gun I just had to read Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions. Following the true story of Constance Kopp, one of America's first female deputy sheriffs and her two remarkable sisters.
The part I liked the best was what was in a paper.
THE LADY SHERIFF RIGHT ON THE JOB
NEW YORK Constance A. Kopp, the lady sheriff bustled into police headquarters last night and said she had a warrant for a man for white slavery and wanted assistance of the New York authorities.
Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp were real people. The books are based as much as possible on the real events in their lives. I loved the way that Amy Stewart does rely on fiction to fill in the gaps in the historical record.
I wanted to know more about the Kopp's sisters so I visited Amy Stewart's website.
For anyone who like to read more about the Kopp's sisters visit amystewart.com -
My wife and I disagree about this one. My three stars are due to the likable cast of characters, but plotwise, I found this one lacking. It felt like it was designed to teach readers about how morality laws affected women, instead of to entertain us with the Kopp sisters' antics.
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Terza puntata della serie dedicata a Constance Kopp, figura realmente esistita: fu una delle prime donne poliziotto (nell'originale deputy sheriff, per la precisione), nel New Jersey dei primi anni del Novecento. La sua vicenda di donna che lavora e fa un mestiere "da maschio" è usata ovviamente dall'autrice per trattare in modo intelligente temi (ancora oggi al centro del dibattito) quali l'emancipazione femminile, le diverse aspettative e ruoli di genere imposti, la difficoltà per una donna di ricevere il rispetto dovuto in un ambiente di lavoro.
In questo romanzo siamo nel 1916 e Constance si trova ad occuparsi di casi di giovani ragazze arrestate per "vagabondaggio" o "immoralità", accuse che spesso e volentieri servono solo per mettere un freno a ragazze troppo indipendenti o decise per i gusti delle loro famiglie. Constance è indignata da questo andazzo e si impegna a evitare che finiscano in riformatorio o in prigione, anche se le vicende che affronta finiscono per toccarla anche personalmente, visto che pure lei a casa ha a che fare con la vivace sorella minore Fleurette, cui comincia a stare assai stretta la vita in fattoria con le 2 sorelle più vecchie Constance e Norma (in realtà, come il lettore sa fin dal primo romanzo, Constance . Questo importante risvolto della storia è frutto della fantasia dell'autrice e non è basato sui fatti reali).
Lettura al solito gradevole, il cui punto di forza è come sempre l'accuratezza nel descrivere e ricreare il periodo storico: mi piace che, come spiega l'autrice stessa nella postfazione, lo spunto per i casi narrati e i personaggi venga da fatti realmente accaduti (a volte le tracce sono minime, e ovviamente molto è completato con la fantasia), e questo traspare nei tanti documenti autentici o lievemente rimaneggiati inseriti nella storia (articoli di giornale, lettere, opuscoli, manifesti, programmi teatrali e testi di canzoni). Nei casi di Fleurette e Minnie (una delle ragazze arrestate), inoltre, emerge bene, e in modo duro e per nulla "addolcito" dalla finzione romanzesca, la contrapposizione, viva soprattutto nelle donne, e nelle donne della generazione più giovane, tra l'aspirazione a una vita diversa, luccicante, varia, intravista nella vicina e sfavillante New York o nelle pagine dei rotocalchi, sognata ma per lo più irraggiungibile, e quella di duro lavoro-matrimonio-figli-altro lavoro che assai più probabilmente le attendeva, in un mondo che meno del nostro poteva offrire grandi opportunità.
A fronte di questi pregi, in questo terzo libro l'aspetto di "indagine poliziesca" è assolutamente inesistente, non c'è alcun crimine e Constance non deve fare alcuna vera indagine (se non andare a parlare con la famiglia di questa o quell'altra ragazza), tutto anzi si risolve quasi "da solo" e (fin troppo) facilmente alla fine (il primo libro della serie poteva contare sulla novità dei personaggi e del contesto, il secondo su un'indagine più avvincente e movimentata, qui sarà tutto realistico ma non è molto divertente), tanto che alla fine la sensazione è che la trama sia stata trascinata per le lunghe più come una scusa per introdurre vari quadri, in sé interessanti e istruttivi come il regime del riformatorio, le iniziative di volontariato promosse da donne per dare il proprio contributo agli sforzi bellici, ecc. Anche i dialoghi e le scenette fra le tre sorelle Kopp sono simpatici ma cominciano a essere un po' posticci, ma soprattutto non mi piace un certo rigido schematismo, in particolare nei personaggi principali o ricorrenti, nella contrapposizione tra Constance e lo sceriffo suo superiore, buoni e illuminati e impegnati a fare il bene, e tutti gli altri che invece sono bastardi ignoranti e retrivi che vogliono solo mettere loro i bastoni fra le ruote (mi dà particolarmente fastidio il personaggio , che è l'anti-Constance: la persona è esistita realmente, ma l'autrice confessa che su di lei non sa nulla a parte il nome, per cui tutto il "personaggio" e il suo carattere sono assolutamente fantasiosi).
Sono rimasta un po' perplessa nello scoprire che ci saranno anche un quarto e un quinto libro, generalmente sono scettica verso le serie che si trascinano troppo per le lunghe, ma penso che andrò avanti perché comunque sono libri abbastanza veloci, scritti bene e, appunto, fatti con un accurato lavoro di ricerca e con aderenza alla realtà storica.
Una cosa carina è che l'autrice nel suo sito personale ha una sezione con immagini, notizie ecc. relativi ai fatti e alle persone che le hanno ispirato questi libri: qui ad es. alcune foto della vera Constance e di altri personaggi, articoli, luoghi e altro
https://www.amystewart.com/characters/
https://www.amystewart.com/photos/ -
Under-deputy Constance Kopp is outraged when an innocent young woman is arrested at the request of her mother because she got a job and left home, even though she is legally able to do so. She is also miffed when another young woman is arrested and publicly shamed for lack of morals but the same charges aren't brought against the man she was living with, although an ambitious prosecutor wants him charged with white slavery.
While dealing with this, her youngest sister (we all know she's actually Constance's daughter born after she was seduced as a teen by a travelling sewing machine salesman) has gone off without a word to travel with a vaudeville troupe in hopes of being on stage. This tests her ideals since it lands rather close to home. Norma, naturally, is outraged and wants to have the police sent after her.
Once again this is better than the first book of the series, and the audiobook presentation is excellent.
