I received this First Reads book in the mail as I was finishing Maisie Dobbs--a light mystery about a WW1 nurse. Bess Crawford, the heroine of this novel, is also a nurse during the the First World War and a very brave and dashing young woman for her era.

If I had not just completed the Maisie Dobbs book I think I would have enjoyed this book in a different way. It is interesting for me to read these fictional first-person battlefield accounts of the brutality and hardships of the war. This book seemed less original only because I had just read a mystery with a very similar character, set in the exact period.

The concept of early 20th Century women breaking new ground socially and professionally is interesting and this novel is adept at showcasing the pride and the strain felt by the heroine's parents to see her leave home for the war in France (only to return to immerse herself in a murder case).

The historical and social context of the book is well done and my criticism of the book is based on the suspension of disbelief required to imagine a young woman (of any period) putting her career aside to obsess about the murder of a stranger. That was an obstacle for me, but not one that kept me from enjoying the "first read." I appreciated the opportunity to be among the first to read this book.