Wow, what a wonderful historical mystery novel! Zig Zag Woman, by Roberta Tracy, hit all the right chords for me. First, it’s an exciting, fun story, well-written, with numerous exciting twists and misdirections. And her historical research is impeccable and artfully utilized to make the characters and events pop out of the book. But what really did it for me were all the social justice themes she subtly weaves into her narrative. And she does it in a way that feels authentic and natural.
The setting is Los Angeles, 1910. The protagonist, Margaret Morehouse, is LAPD’s second woman officer. The department hired Alice Stebbins Wells, their first female officer, earlier that same year. So, right off the bat we have a strong woman character, a trailblazer in a misogynistic world. But make no mistake, LAPD was no bastion of progressive thinking. It was a department under fire from the public for its excessive use of force and brutality. And for sexual harassment of women in its jails. Captain Clarke believed the best way to avoid further accusations was to have women officers with “unassailable reputations” be the ones to question female suspects. So, he hired Wells and Morehouse to avoid further scandal.
Margaret Morehouse is no paper cutout of a first-wave feminist. In fact, she probably wouldn’t even have described herself as one. However, she does take inspiration from the work of Jane Addams. Margaret is married to a minister and is fairly strait-laced and socially conservative by today’s standards (e.g., concerned with “keeping up appearances”). Yet she is also independent and capable, with a desire for excitement and passion, which is lacking in her marriage.
She is also more than willing to bend social norms in order to achieve her goals. For example, in order to solve a murder case, she goes undercover as an actress at the famous Pantages Theater, in spite of the dishonor it would create for a woman of her standing to dress as provocatively as she must for this job. Her husband, who is forward-thinking, gives his consent. However, he insists that she have a male chaperone to keep an eye on her. This escort is their family servant, Cushman, whose fascinating backstory slowly unfolds over the course of the novel. Cushman’s special talents, and his discretion, become indispensable to Margaret as she carries out her investigation, which take her from Los Angeles to Chicago, and to the boom town of San Bernardino, California, and even more so when she discovers another murder mystery within in her own family.
All this is set against a backdrop of labor unrest, and the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building. In reference to contemporary media coverage of the bombing, which was universally blamed on labor activists, Cushman says, “Twenty-one people lost their lives and mark my words, no matter who is responsible, it’ll be union men who pay.” This was precisely what happened repeatedly throughout that era, including IWW organizers Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings, falsely convicted for San Francisco’s 1916 Preparedness Day Bombing; the anarchists falsely convicted for the 1886 Haymarket Bombing; and Western Federation of Miners organizer Big Bill Haywood, who was falsely accused of assassinating former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg in 1905.
Overall, Roberta Tracy’s Zig Zag Woman is a gem. A fantastic first novel. I can’t wait to see what comes next!