The Heart’s Choice

Ten-year-old Rebecca Whitman witnesses a murder in a Chicago alleyway and knows the police arrested the wrong man. A drive for justice inspires her to become a court stenographer—an unusual career path for a woman at the turn of the 20th century. Her new job takes her to Kalispell, MT, a town barely removed from its Wild West days and full of new money, community pride, and women suffragists. Kalispell’s brand-new Carnegie library is led by Mark Andrews, a prominent rancher’s son whose father threatens to disown him if he pursues this intellectual career. When murder comes to town, Rebecca and Mark team up to find the truth. This is a valuable author partnership merging Peterson’s (“Love on the Santa Fe” series) attention to historical detail with Woodhouse’s (“Secrets of the Canyon” series) cozy-mystery acumen. Strong themes of justice and redemption shine through a somewhat predictable plot.