Cordelia Gray: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

A young woman in her twenties, Cordelia Gray found herself in the unusual position of inheriting a detective agency from her employer, Bernie Pryde, upon his death. The burden of running such a business single-handedly might have been enough to persuade most young women to sell it off and pursue a less daunting line of work, but Cordelia eagerly rose to the challenge -- well aware that her youth and inexperience, not to mention her gender, might undermine her credibility with prospective clients. But with the help of her loyal if overprotective office assistant, Edith Sparshott, Cordelia has managed to make a go of it. A year into her new career, business isn't exactly booming, but her reputation as a tenacious and discreet investigator is drawing more clients through her office door.

As if keeping a struggling -- and sometimes dangerous -- business afloat isn't enough, Cordelia now faces a new responsibility: impending motherhood. The father of her unborn child is out of the picture, and Cordelia has resigned herself to the life of a single mother, a role for which she's not quite prepared, in Edith's view. But Cordelia, as fiercely independent as ever, is determined to prove her assistant wrong. And catch a few bad guys into the bargain.

The preceding is an excerpt taken from the book,
MYSTERY!: A Celebration, by Ron Miller
(published by KQED Books).
For more information, visit Shop.