Lucy Pinkston and the Lost Mine (Lucy Pinkston Mysteries (Story Girl Press) Book 1)

It's 1875, and life is good for Boston’s Pinkston Detective Agency. It suits 18-year-old Lucy Pinkston less so. As the only daughter of the famous Pinkston patriarch, Lucy detests needlepoint and every other proper feminine pursuit. Relegated to a life of domestic drudgery, what she really desires is the opportunity to join her brother, Jack, in the family business.

Lucy thinks she gets her chance when Jack is hired to find Robert Scruggs, a wealthy pharmaceutical magnate who vanished without a trace in the California prospecting country. His untimely disappearance leaves his heir in a lurch, as an sizable family fortune hangs in the balance. It doesn’t take long for gold fever to overtake the case, as rumors swirl on whether Robert Scruggs found a gold mine before he went missing.

Yet instead of turning to his sister for assistance, Jack engages an old school friend—the mysterious James Smith. Determined to prove herself and get the better of the male duo, Lucy enlists the support of a chaperone and bodyguard, Mr. Farouk. With his assistance, she departs for San Francisco determined to uncover what really happened to Scruggs and the truth behind the lost mine.