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Rating: 
Summary: An interesting period piece but a failure as a mystery
Review: Hilda Johansson, a young servant in 1900 South Bend, is gutsy, clever and determined to solve a murder so that an innocent person doesn't get blamed. Dams makes her and the Indiana city come alive with meticulous research involving Notre Dame, Swedish Lutherans and even Decoration Day parades. Hilda lets nothing stand in her way, not even her well-meaning sisters and her "young man", Patrick. With her fellow servant, Norah, at her side, Hilda gets to the bottom of the crimes with a few surprises along the way. I enjoy Dorothy Martin, Jeanne Dams' other series character, but I like Hilda even more. I could see her coronet braids and hear her Swedish accent - that's what good writing is all about.
Rating:
Summary: Farfetched and disappointing
Review: I loved Jeanne Dams' Dorothy Martin series and looked forward to reading about her new heroine Hilda Johansson. Unfortunately, I found Hilda an unsympathetic and unbelievable protagonist. The plot has Hilda, a Swedish servant in a well-to-do household, investigating the death of a relative of the prominent family next door. Hilda, with sixteen years of a Swedish upbringing and only three years in America (which according to my calculations makes her all of nineteen) is found entering into such wildly diverse activities as rescuing another immigrant wrongly accused of the murder, planting stories in the press, and of course outwitting the police, all while cleaning house. The book is well-researched in terms of the lives of the servant class in the year 1900 but I think Ms. Dams seems more in control of her material when writing about the middle years of her widowed and remarried expatriate Dorothy Martin.
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTING
Review: I'm a fan of Jeanne Dams and her Dorothy Martin mysteries. I've read all those and looked forward to starting on another of her series featuring Swedish servant Hilda Johansen. The story takes place around the turn of the century and I was execting a lot of period detail. Well, there was but unfortunately not much else. The plot is rather contrived, the characters rather wooden and unappealing and the setting of South Bend, Indiana pretty dull (no offense to South Bend intended but it's not New York or Chicago)The character of Hilda is also a big problem. She's rather stilted and uninteresting,not a good thing when the plot develops around her. This book did not even begin to compare with Dams'work in her other mystery series. I really was disappointed in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A stretch
Review: The previous reviews have summed up the plot fairly well. They've also disagreed on the merits of the story itself, and surprisingly enough, I agree with all of them. The mystery IS weak, with an annoying loose end or two never tied down. But I found Hilda to be a charmer, perhaps too progressive for the day, but a young lass of wit and determination. Will her romance with Patrick Cavanaugh go any further? (Swedes and the Irish did not really mix socially.) She faces a tremendous handicap in her detective work, as servants essentially needed permission to even leave the house, much less ask questions and do whatever footwork needs to be done. So Hilda is also resourceful, and I'm anxious to see how she fares in her next adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed Beginning to New Series
Review: This is the first entry in a new series by Dams featuring Hilda Johansson, a Swedish immigrant to 1900 South Bend, IN. Hilda works as a maid in the home of one of South Bend's scions. As she is returning from a day spent with her friend, Patrick, they discover the body of the sister of the next door neighbor, Judge Harper, in the bushes. Hilda knows that the police will not try to find the real killer, but will take the easy route and try to pin the blame on a fellow immigrant. She wants to prevent this, and begins investigating the murder herself with the help of Patrick, her sister, and fellow servants.Dams has written a very good historical mystery. It will, however, anger some purists because she gave no clear-cut clues as to who the real killer was. That is less a problem than Hilda's obsession with saving a police suspect - she continually puts not only her job in jeopardy, but the jobs of those helping her - this after saying how difficult it would be to obtain another position if she were dismissed from the one she has. Her obsession makes no real sense, does not advance the story, and has little to do with the plot. Dams' has a real talent for capturing the cadence of the characters' speech. The reader will find that Patrick's Irish lilt begins ringing in her head whenever he speaks and Hilda's English takes on the rhythm of her native language. The setting, while unusual, does not overwhelm the story nor does the history that Dams imparts. If you do not like Dams' other series featuring Dorothy Martin and have been reluctant to read this one, try this one, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable characters but an uninteresting mystery
Review: This is the first of a series of mysteries involving Hilda Johannson, a young Swedish immigrant who works in the largest mansion in South Bend, Indiana. Her two sisters and a brother also work in the town and she is courted, somewhat reluctantly, by Patrick, a charming Irish fireman. Her employers are kind, though the butler Mr. Williams is a bit of a tyrant, and things are generally good until Hilda and Patrick discover a murdered woman near the mansion. There were a lot of things I liked about this book. Hilda is an intelligent young woman who manages to work successfully in an oppressive environment, but she also has character flaws, like a stubborn streak and a bad temper, and that makes her believable. Her friends and family are interesting, and Patrick is an admirable partner. The mystery, however, was neither interesting nor explained well, though I trust other reviewers who like the author's work, and would give this series another try.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable characters but an uninteresting mystery
Review: This is the first of a series of mysteries involving Hilda Johannson, a young Swedish immigrant who works in the largest mansion in South Bend, Indiana. Her two sisters and a brother also work in the town and she is courted, somewhat reluctantly, by Patrick, a charming Irish fireman. Her employers are kind, though the butler Mr. Williams is a bit of a tyrant, and things are generally good until Hilda and Patrick discover a murdered woman near the mansion. There were a lot of things I liked about this book. Hilda is an intelligent young woman who manages to work successfully in an oppressive environment, but she also has character flaws, like a stubborn streak and a bad temper, and that makes her believable. Her friends and family are interesting, and Patrick is an admirable partner. The mystery, however, was neither interesting nor explained well, though I trust other reviewers who like the author's work, and would give this series another try.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: This would never have been published as a first novel. I had read and loved earlier books by Jeanne Dams and was looking forward to reading this book. But the plot was almost nonexistent and the protagonist, young Helda, unbelievable and not very likeable. You had to do more than suspend disbelief with this book, since everything about the book was so improbable.
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