No Job for a Lady

Set in 1886, McCleary’s solid fourth Nellie Bly mystery (after 2012’s The Formula for Murder) takes the real-life newspaper reporter from El Paso, Tex., to Teotihuacán, Mexico, on her maiden voyage outside the United States. The independent Nellie is furious that her editor has refused to let her take on a foreign correspondent assignment because it was too dangerous for a woman, so she’s decided to freelance on her own. While she has no particular story in mind, run-ins with such characters as Roger Watkins, with whom Nellie ends up chastely sharing a train compartment, and Harry “Sundance” Longabaugh, a frisky, gun-toting cowboy, guarantee that her journey will produce no shortage of newsworthy adventures. The plot meanders and lags as it moves south of the border, but Nellie’s distinctive narrative voice, very much of its time, ensures that readers keep turning the pages. Agent: Harvey Klinger, Harvey Klinger Inc. (June)