Set in New Orleans in 1875, this is
the story of Maddie Grande, raised in a “tribe” of street urchins, taught to be
thieves by Dexter Grande, the man who
reigned over them all. Maddie doesn’t recall a time before Grande and doesn’t
know her real name or where she came from. Once on the streets, she now lives
in the bayou with her twin tribe “brothers” where she has learned to fish and
trap muskrats. She longs for another life but despairs of ever having enough
money to escape.
When the twins kidnap the daughter of a wealthy man and
force Maddie to hide the eight-year-old, involving Maddie in their crime, she
thinks to return the girl and claim the reward, but Pinkerton agent Tom Abbott,
sent to New Orleans to find a missing woman, begins to work the kidnapping case,
too. He believes Maddie is one of the kidnappers. But now the child has
escaped.
In a journey that takes them to Baton Rouge, a mutual
attraction develops, but Tom and Maddie do not trust each other. She knows he
wants to send her to prison and he thinks she is a consummate actress.
This is a well-told story that brings you into the bayou and
then the streets of New Orleans. The tension between Maddie and Tom grows as
both search for the lost child who has run away. But the child, an intelligent
girl, sees their growing chemistry between the two and tells them they like
each other. Penelope is a great character and adds much to the story.
