Denver Doll
Created by: Edward Lytton
Wheeler & Joseph Lovece
Characters
Denver Doll (The Queen of
Detectives)
Walt Christie
Yakie Strauss
Chug
John McParland (Road Agent)
“Yankee” Eisler (A Rounder)
Crystal Carrol (Dora Eisler)
Charles Pygmalion Jones (Bumbling
Reporter)
Valentine Verner (Town Crook)
When one of Denver Doll’s
three sidekicks discover what they think is a murdered woman and a crying baby,
they bring the child to their mining camp at Shining Bar. Upon returning for
the woman’s body they discover it is missing. The case gets more complicated
when someone steals the baby from them.
Denver Doll is one of the
original – if not the first – female detectives in fiction, appearing in the dime novels beginning in 1882, original
written by Edward Lytton Wheeler, the author of the popular Deadwood Dick series.
Joseph Lovece has rewritten the novel with a modern sensibility for current
readers, bringing her back after 132 years. Denver Doll, the Queen of
Detectives, is known as a tough gal, not afraid of anything, and can whip most
men; she’s also a master of disguise. The young woman has presence and
charisma. She is slightly taller than average, lean, but with feminine curves.
Her face is fair and expressive and can change from pleasant to stern in an
instant. Although older, she looks 18, and at times has the vivacity and
immature romp of a 14-year old girl. Her rich brown hair fell in rippling waves
half way to her waist She wore a white, plumed slouch hat, an elegant gray suit
and patent leather top boots. Her boiled shirt was diamond-studded. She appears
civilized and wild simultaneously.
Her three pals are also
something of a curiosity. Walt Christie is a black man of African descent,
while Yakie Strauss is of Dutch-German descent. And then there’s Chug, a
Chinaman; these three provide the comedy element to the story – think Three
Stooges or Bowery Boys, and you’ll be close. There were only four Denver Doll
novels originally published in the dime
novels.
Only one novel has been
rewritten to-date:
“Denver Doll: The Detective Queen”
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