Whistler in the Dark

This is book 16 in the History Mysteries series, and is about 12-year-old Emma Henderson's adventure with her mother when, in 1967, they move to a tiny Colorado town to start a newspaper.

There is apparently opposition to having a woman run a newspaper, as things go from nasty notes to destruction of the newpaper offices as someone is carrying out a plan to drive Emma and her mother out of the town.

There are a couple of mysteries going on at the same time. First, of course, is the question of who is trying to get rid of Emma and her mother. The second, though, is a strange whistler that Emma hears, someone who whistles a song that her father used to before he was killed in the Civil War. Emma doesn't know whether the person is a friend, or someone out to hurt her.

The book also examines a good bit about just what kind of prejudice there was against women who, basically, tried to fulfill “a man's” job in the west. Women were expected to keep their place, and their place was in the home.

The story is one of the best of the series, especially in that the mystery portion is stronger than it is in the usual novel in the series. The book, though, might be somewhat hard to find if the library doesn't have a copy.

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