In A Girl Like You by Michelle Cox, Henrietta Von Harmon has been working as a 26 girl at a local bar in 1935 Chicago. However, she is barely making enough money to support her mother and seven other siblings, since her father killed himself when the Great Depression caused him to lose his job. Thus she makes a big decision to change jobs, one that would scandalize her rigid mother immensely if she found out about the new job. She becomes a taxi dancer, a woman whom men pay to dance with them. Henrietta frequently finds herself visited at work by Stanley, a boy her younger sister’s age who is obsessed with Henrietta, and he becomes a real nuisance.
But then one night, a new man comes to dance with her, Clive Howard, and his mysterious airs intrigue Henrietta. She fools him into thinking that she is much more experienced in life than she is. Then the woman who manages the club gets murdered, and Henrietta learns that Clive is actually a police inspector. When she further learns that the sister of her good friend Polly has gone missing, Clive gets Henrietta to agree to go undercover to the Marlowe Theater men’s club. It seems that a string of women have disappeared from this place, and Clive needs a woman to help get to the truth.
A Girl Like You is a little grittier than I would usually prefer to read, but it still has a compelling plot. I did find myself tempted to skip over sections as it got a little slow sometimes, but I didn’t allow myself to do that. Readers feel immersed in Depression-era Chicago and the world of the mob, with authentic 1930s’ language and vivid depictions of the clothing. We also get a strong image of the level of poverty experienced by so many and the extent to which young women sometimes had to go in order to support their families. The book also contains a significant romance plot. I wasn’t fully convinced of the start of the romance, as the people meet and immediately start fantasizing about each other. However, the romance added an extra layer to the mystery plot.
I should issue the precaution that this book has some sexual violence, though the actual violence itself goes on behind closed doors. Instead, we hear talk about it as the perpetrators anticipate their crimes or discuss it later.
I give this book 3.5 stars.
