Adventurers whose gold rush fantasies have been crushed. A prim whorehouse madam whose strict rules are readily adhered to by her girls and patrons. Two hookers with hearts of steel. 

In Pulitzer Prize-Winning author Jane Smiley’s historical mystery, A DANGEROUS BUSINESS, two ladies of the night—sweet but stoic Eliza Ripple and her feisty pants-wearing sidekick, Jean—must chase down a serial killer on the loose in the hills of 1850s Monterey, California. 

Jane and I discuss how the story came to her: How she researched this town that is near and dear to her heart; and how she’s sustained a writing career by making each of her novels different, but with the same result: compelling plots, realistic dialogue, and great characters — and in the case of A DANGEROUS BUSINESS, With the addition of a stomach-churning mystery that you’ll want as your next great read.

Jane Smiley’s latest novel, the mystery A DANGEROUS BUSINESS, is in bookstores now.