Front Page Murder by Joyce St. Anthony

Available March 8, 2022

Irene Ingram is in her early twenties, she's engaged to the son of the police chief and works for her father doing household and fashion columns for her father's newspaper when the United States enters World War II. Suddenly her fiancé, Bill, and her father, Pete, are gone and Irene is left in charge. In a time where women were seen as "the weaker sex," Irene is one of many women proving that there's nothing weak about them!

Irene is dealing with many issues as she takes on her new role at the newspaper office, most importantly one of her reporters, Moe, goes missing and turns up dead at the bottom of his basement stairs. When cleaning out Moe's desk Irene finds a note he's left for Irene telling her if he turns up dead it was no accident. But what might have happened to him? Irene tries to hunt down clues but everything she learns just leads to more confusion and she doesn't know who she can trust. Another of the many changes in Irene's life is giving up her bedroom to make room for a boarder, Katherine Morningside. Katherine is glamorous and mysterious and leaves Irene wondering about her background and how she connects to the odd things that are happening in Progress, Pennsylvania.

At the beginning of the story, Irene hears a lot of "aren't you awfully young to be a newspaper editor?" But by the end of the story her authority is no longer in question. It's fun to see her grow into her new role and earn the respect of people in Progress. I loved the emphasis on the strength of the women who were faced with a completely different life than they'd ever dreamed of and met the challenge with grace and enthusiasm. We also get to see tidbits of life during that time, people taking in boarders who've come to work in the factories, towns building community victory gardens, and the people banding together to do anything they can to help win the war. It was a simpler time where people were less self-centered and more willing to help others and contribute to things that didn't directly benefit them. People were willing to make sacrifices and they were grateful for what they had.

I really enjoy anything that takes place during this time, books or movies, and I thought this book perfectly captured the things I find most interesting about the time. I look forward to continuing this series!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.