No Job for a Lady by Carol McCleary, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Nellie Bly, a real historical figure, travels to Mexico to be the first female foreign correspondent for the Pittsburgh Dispatch in No Job for a Lady, the fourth mystery in this series by Carol McCleary.

Nellie is tired of covering the fashion section and other women's pages of the newspaper, and asks to be given a "real" assignment. The paper's editor refuses, so Nellie embarks on a journey to Mexico promising to send back dispatches to demonstrate she's more than capable of doing work equal to that of a man. Her mother accompanies her as far as El Paso, but takes ill there leaving Nellie to continue on alone. But what a journey it will prove to be for the intrepid 21-year-old reporter.

The books in this series seem to be written out of chronological order, as the events in No Job for a Lady are among the first of Nellie Bly's career. This fictional story is written in the style of a memoir and interspersed with quotes from the character's actual book covering her journey — Six Months in Mexico, published in 1888 — and extensively footnoted with clarifying remarks. It's a little slow going at first; indeed, the first half of the book merely covers the train ride from El Paso to Mexico City. It is most certainly not uneventful but then again it's not all that mysterious or suspenseful either. The action and intrigue kick up a notch in the second half, which seems to be more fanciful fiction than fictionalized history, but in the end this is a book for readers who simply want to sit back and enjoy accompanying a determined and resourceful Nellie Bly on an adventure-filled journey and not necessarily for those seeking a more traditional novel of mystery or suspense.

Acknowledgment: Forge Books provided a copy of No Job for a Lady for this review.

No Job for a Lady

A Nellie Bly Mystery by Carol McCleary