Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Lack of Temperance | 2012 | Clara McKenna | Buy |
| 2 | Anything But Civil | 2013 | Clara McKenna | Buy |
| 3 | A Sense of Entitlement | 2014 | Clara McKenna | Buy |
| 4 | A Deceptive Homecoming | 2015 | Clara McKenna | Buy |
| 5 | A March to Remember | 2016 | Clara McKenna | Buy |
Clara McKenna’s Hattie Davish Mystery series, originally published under the pen name Anna Loan-Wilsey, follows a resourceful traveling secretary through 1890s America. Hattie Davish works for prominent figures in different cities, and each new assignment brings her face to face with a murder that local authorities can’t – or won’t – solve. Starting with A Lack of Temperance, the series sends Hattie from one historic American town to the next, with each book rooted in the real events and social tensions of the decade.
McKenna researched the 1890s in detail, and it shows in the settings, social customs, and political backdrop of each story. Hattie is a working woman in an era that didn’t make that easy, and the books explore what it meant to be independent and educated during the Gilded Age. The mysteries themselves are tightly plotted, with clues woven into the historical fabric of each location.
The series ran for five books between 2012 and 2016, wrapping up with A March to Remember.