The Strange Files of Fremont Jones Review

The Strange Files of Fremont Jones
by Dianne Day
Bantam Crime Line, Feb., 1996.
Paperback, 244 pages.
ISBN: 055356921X.
Ordering information: Amazon.com

It is 1905 and Caroline Jones is chafing at the restraints that polite society puts on a young woman. Yearning for independence and adventure she leaves her family in Boston to move to San Francisco to start her own business as a "type-writer". Taking the name of her famous adventurer cousin, she becomes Fremont Jones and begins her new life. After adjusting to the strangeness of a new city and a new office, an odd assortment of clients begin to trickle through her door: the mysterious Edgar Allan Partridge with his true tales of horror who leaves a manuscript and promptly disappears, the handsome lawyer who seems to have more on his mind than typewriting services and the ancient Chinese gentleman who is mysteriously murdered after having Fremont type an important document. Never one to let a mystery pass her by, Fremont sets out to investigate the whereabouts of the missing Mr. Partridge and the death of her elderly Chines client who may have been much more than he seemed. Her investigations and a side foray into romance will take her up the California coast and into the depths of Chinatown with danger as her constant companion. Fremont is determined to experience life -- and that's exactly what she does.

The Strange Files of Fremont Jones won the Macavity Award for best first mystery novel and it is easy to see why. Dianne Day excels at creating the authentic atmosphere of turn of the century San Francisco. Fremont is a unique, independent and thoroughly charming heroine who never loses her sense of humor -- even in a tight spot. With excitement, intrigue and a fascinating and endearing amateur sleuth, The Strange Files of Fremont Jones is an exhilarating journey to a charming world you won't want to leave.

Return to the April 1998 issue of The IWJ.