An Artful Dodge - by Karen Odden (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

TK

London, 1878: twenty-year-old Kit Jimeson is a lifelong member of an infamous all-women thieving gang south of the Thames. She and her dodge partner, Mary, have fingers so nimble they can nick a necklace off a neck in broad daylight without raising any alarm. Kit was born into this life--her mother, who died when Kit was twelve, had been a thief before her--but Kit has been saving up her earnings so her younger sister, a maid for a wealthy London family, might have a shot at respectability.

Kit is very close to leaving the life entirely when Maggie O'Connell brings her plans to a halt. A former thief, beautiful, charismatic Maggie has come back to town to reclaim leadership of the ring. But after twenty years in a brutal Australian penal colony, Maggie desires more than mere wealth or power; she longs for revenge against those who put her there. Old dark secrets come to light as Maggie threatens Kit's sister, coercing Kit to carry off a jewelry heist that will demand every skill she possesses.

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Karen Odden received her PhD in English from New York University. Starting with her bestselling historical mystery debut, A Lady in the Smoke, Odden's novels have brought Victorian England to life, garnering two New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards for historical fiction and mystery, an Oprah Daily Pick, and nominations the Lefty, Anthony, and Agatha Awards for Best Historical. Her short story "Her Dangerously Clever Hands," out of which An Artful Dodge grew, was chosen for the 2025 edition of Best Mystery Stories (edited by John Grisham). Odden serves on the national board of Sisters in Crime. The recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and of the Friends of Scottsdale Library's annual Spirit of Literacy Award for her community outreach, Karen divides her time between Arizona and Utah, where she loves plotting murder while hiking the desert and mountains.