Throughout time women have worked, and worked hard. Here are a few more mysteries set in another time and place, and one non-fiction book to prove my point. ;-)

A favorite series of mine is the Gaslight Mystery series from Victoria Thompson. Much to the dismay of her 'society' parents, Sarah Brandt has defied them, married a doctor, and become a midwife. Even when her husband dies, she insists on remaining a midwife and helping the poorer members of society. Returning characters include a policeman, an orphan, and an abandoned child. The most recent one I've read, Murder in Chelsea, adds an interesting twist to the story line. I'm glad I won't have to wait long for the next book! Wonderful period settings and descriptions. Start with Murder on Astor Place.

Murder in the Telephone Exchange, by June Wright, first published in 1948 is now available as a reprint. It is set in Australia, and was so popular there it outsold Agatha Christie! When a coworker is murdered with a buttinsky, Maggie decides to find the culprit. Lots of period detail, interesting characters, great read!

Ariana Franklin writes mysteries set in medieval times and fills them with unusual characters. In Mistress of the Art of Death (the first in a series) that includes a woman medical examiner, an Arab, and a Jew, sent to Cambridge where several children have been murdered. Add to them the townspeople, knights home from the Crusades, nuns, monks, and one very smelly dog. Wonderful detail gives the reader a great feeling for the time period, but be warned .... that detail also includes the deaths, savage attacks, battles and so forth. This is one of those books I meant to skim so I could include it in a blog post and ended up reading it through all over again. :-)

Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II, by Penny Colman and illustrated with photographs, is a well written history for children. I wish I could have read something like this when I was young, it explains so much! When the men were off to fight there were thousands of jobs, ('unladylike' jobs) that needed doing. Some companies hired women on at once, for others it took a government order. Women were found in all those once 'male only' jobs ... in hospitals, factories, building planes, even playing in symphony orchestras. Photos include women at work as well as posters that recruited them, including, of course, Norman Rockwell's famous one of Rosie. He made a mistake (he realized it too late to do anything about it). Can you spot it?

Reading Hermit With Dog