Another great installment in this series. Constance Kopp, who is based on a real person, is a likable, strong character. Her sisters also are well fleshed out in this third book. This story takes place right before World War II and involves runaway girls and morality laws. A historical fiction/mystery at its finest.

I love historical fiction and cozy mysteries yet this could not get past the sixth chapter of this book despite trying. I found issues with its pacing and feeling any empathy for its characters.

I have been a fan of the Kopp sister's stories from word one in the first book! these characters are deep, well-developed, and relatable. I am always ready to read another tale and each book has been almost impossible to put down, this one is no different.!

Constance Kopp is at it again. This time in addition to new opportunities with her job as a Deputy Sheriff, Constance has to deal with troubles at home - one each from both of her sisters. Fleurette's issues parallel those in Constance's work.
The series is still well-written and often makes me laugh or shake my head. Reading the e-ARC did have me surprised by the ending. I thought there were going to be a few more pages. I will still look forward to a follow-up.

Short Summary: When Bergen County, New Jersey begins to see a rise in young women being wrongly arrested for morality charges, Constance Kopp takes it upon herself to investigate because no one else believes that these girls should be doing anything but staying home and keeping house. But the real test comes when her youngest sister Fleurette moves out to travel with a vaudeville show and Constance is torn between wanting to see her home and safe and out living her life how she chooses.

Thoughts: This installment definitely lacked a certain excitement and intensity that were present in the previous two novels, however, the stories of the Kopp sisters are far from dull.

Verdict: The continued focus on women’s rights in the early 1900s is eye-opening and informative and the fact that this is all based on a real individual makes it even better.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I just love this character and her family. Constance Kopp is smart, gutsy and feminist at a time when the word didn't exist. Her and her sisters are so much fun to read about. Amy Stewart tackles a little known period of history in this novel when families were able to get their daughters arrested on moral grounds if they chose to leave home and find opportunities elsewhere. The story focuses on two girls who are charged for the same crime, under very different circumstances; Edna is eighteen, responsible and driven and Minnie is sixteen, rebellious and independent. They both want something more from their lives than home provides, and it's Constance's job to find out more about them. Constance has her hands full already with her younger sister absconding with a vaudeville company and hilarity ensures. I really do hope we hear more from Constance - she's a humdinger of a heroine.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
This is book 3 in this series about the Kopp sisters. 3.5 stars.
Set in the early 20th century, it is based on the true story of Constance Kopp who is the first woman to become a sheriff's deputy. This book spends a lot of time filling us in on the lives of the quirky sisters all of whom I dearly love. It also delves deeply into the struggle for women to become independent as many of the women in Constance's jail have been arrested after their families have filed charges simply because they left home and got jobs. I enjoyed the read.

I love these books about the Kopp sisters by Amy Stewart. The three sisters are such a trip to read about. Constance, being the first female deputy, Norma, always incorrigible, and Fleurette, the youngest with stars in her eyes.

This book deals with families, mothers, fathers, husbands, whoever, having girls put in jail because they are "out of control". One mother had her daughter arrested who was over 18, had a job and a place to live, because she needed her back at the house. There was just too much work for her to do by herself. SMH

While there are some serious issues going on and being dealt with in this book, I had a lot of laughs as well. Constance is forever getting marriage proposals when the papers write about this "new woman deputy". Some of the letters are downright hilarious.

A fun, interesting and highly entertaining read for me.

Thanks to Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Miss Kopp”s Midnight Confessions

by Amy Stewart

Amy Stewart has taken the real story of three sisters in the U.S. in 1916 and fleshed it out as a fictional tale based on her research. The rights of women are so limited in this book that is it hard to conceive of it in the twenty-first century.

Constance Kopp is the first female deputy sheriff in New Jersey and one of the first in the U.S. Many of the problems she deals with involve moral issues which can result in very stiff penalties, especially for women. As the U.S. prepares to enter World War I (1917), girls and women are starting to be employed outside the home working long hours under difficult conditions in factories where they are paid much less than men for the same work. One indicator of the status of women’s rights is that the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920.

With this setting in mind, know that there is nothing pedantic about Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions. It is composed of very short chapters that make you want to turn the page and keep reading. It deals with cultural and social issues of the time and demonstrates that there can be flexibility, based on reasonableness and sensitivity, within the law. Deputy Sheriff Constance Kopp encounters young women with various problems; she must view them through the prism of the potential for similar issues in her own family.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Historical Fiction

Notes: #3 in the Kopp Sister Novel Series, but can be read as a standalone

Publication: September 5, 2017—Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Memorable Lines:

Whatever discomforts she might endure, they couldn’t compare to the hardships of a trench in the Argonne. The idea stayed with her, as she grew more accustomed to the tedium of a factory job, the long hours on her feet, her red and swollen fingers, and the dull ache behind her eyes from staring at those spinning threads all day. Her brothers were eager to go overseas and endure far worse. Surely she could bear it for their sake.

She was such a slight, mousy girl, with so little to say, but a steel cable of resolve ran through her. The notions of duty and service and country came as naturally to her as breathing.

Edna had an endless reservoir of determination, and all the high ideals in the world, but she didn’t know how to bluff, or play a trick, or talk her way into a room where she wasn’t invited. She was constitutionally unable to lie or cheat or hide anything—money, jewels, the truth. Minnie could do all of that, and while she didn’t know much about war, she was fairly certain that something in that line might be called for.

If you enjoy the other Kopp novels, you will enjoy the continuation of their story. While it's not the most thrilling story, it's an enjoyable read for fans of the series.

One of my first reviews was of the first Kopp sisters novels. I was fascinated by the way Stewart took the past and intertwined it into her stories. So, naturally, I was very excited about the next novel in this series.

33413882Unfortunately, book number three had something missing for me. The underlying crime-solving element seemed muted in this novel as the sisters face their own drama. Instead of the whimsical, but historical crime-solving tale of a female cop, we heard more about the sisters themselves. I know Stewart is planning on continuing the series and this novel is definitely helpful for developing characterization. Don’t get me wrong, I will add the future novels to my TBR pile as this is still a very fun and light read. And the Kopp sisters are entertaining.

**I received my copy via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher for this opportunity.**

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.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Book 3 of the Kopp Sisters find Constance in the middle of another delicate situation. She is outraged to see young women brought into the Hackensack jail over dubious charges of waywardness, incorrigibility, and moral depravity. Constance uses her authority as deputy sheriff, and occasionally exceeds it, to investigate and defend these women when no one else will.

I wanted to like this more but I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two, the sisters were more of the subplot than what the subplot was.

3.25 ☆

As fun as the first two books in the Kopp sisters series. Hoping for a fourth.

Is it weird to say that I devoured the first two books in this series? It’s based on Constance Kopp, the first female Sheriff in the United States and her two other sisters. I love getting to see these glimpses into their lives and learn more about this woman who I never knew existed. I have read this book and I’m not sure if it’s my favorite of the three, but the ending was left pretty open for a fourth book, so I’m hoping that this wasn’t the last we’ll see of Constance. If you’ve read the other books in the series though, you need to pick this one up as well.

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.

I didn't or couldn't get in to this story. Seemed the pace was too slow.

First line: On the morning of her arrest, Edna Heustis awoke early and put her room in order.

Summary: In the third book of the Kopp Sisters series, Constance, the first lady deputy, strives to find justice for the women that are brought to the jailhouse. These women were arrested on morality charges but Constance is out to prove that these women are just trying to provide for themselves and have a little freedom. At the same time she has to find her sister, Fleurette, who runs away to join the stage show of May Ward and her Dresden Dolls.

Highlights: I love that this is based on true stories. As I was skimming through the historical notes at the end of the book, I saw that the news articles about Constance Kopp appeared in the Wichita Beacon. As the first woman deputy, she had to fight the constant backlash from the people that believed a woman should not and could not be a deputy. She proves them wrong. Norma makes me laugh with her straightforward speech and tough demeanor.

Lowlights: I feel that the story is slow moving with multiple storylines intertwined. The story could have been condensed and made a little shorter.

FYI: Check out the libraries database, Newspapers.com, and search for Constance Kopp. It’s very neat to see the real life woman and her stories.

This story takes place pre-ww1, and Constance Kopp an unmarried deputy is looking into the crimes women and girls can be unfairly charged with. Great characters, you will want to read the entire series.

The idea of this book which seems to me to be a female crime detective sidling into looking to right the wrongs done to young women who seek independent lives is great ... but it all feels stodgy to me, like expectations are being undermined in worthy feminist considerations but less attention to an exciting story! It reads like a series of events. But what a great idea!