A Girl Like You

The Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series

By: Michelle Cox

Narrated by: Jayne A Entwistle

Henrietta Von Harmon works as a 26 girl at a corner bar on Chicago's northwest side. It's 1935, but things still aren't looking up since the big crash and her father's subsequent suicide, leaving Henrietta to care for her antagonistic mother and younger siblings. Henrietta is eventually persuaded to take a job as a taxi dancer at a local dance hall - and just when she's beginning to enjoy herself, the floor matron turns up dead.

When aloof Inspector Clive Howard appears on the scene, Henrietta agrees to go undercover for him - and is plunged into Chicago's grittier underworld. Meanwhile, she's still busy playing mother hen to her younger siblings, as well as to pesky neighborhood boy Stanley, who believes himself in love with her and keeps popping up in the most unlikely places, determined to keep Henrietta safe - even from the Inspector, if need be. Despite his efforts, however, and his penchant for messing up the Inspector's investigation, the lovely Henrietta and the impenetrable Inspector find themselves drawn to each other in most unsuitable ways.

©2016 Michelle Cox (P)2017 Michelle Cox

Sex and the Single Girl?

When I saw the description I requested a copy of this [AUDIO] book and am delighted to be able to provide this review. Narrator Jayne A Entwistle provided the perfect voicing for taxi dancer Henrietta, her various cohorts, and the criminal coterie controlling Chicago. Beautifully noir, our perspective is the heroine's, which is unusual in and of itself. But coupled with a complex plot that includes a few twists of its own, we have an excellent, fun novel with little romance on the side as we travel in time to the roaring . . . thirties, that time of economic dark despair (but at least you could drink legally again).

Great!

Fantastic mystery with great narration! I really enjoyed this story!


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. The fact that I was gifted this book had no influence over my opinion of it

Not for me

The story was pretty good. I’m not a fan of “poor me” characters. The ending was something I would have loved when I was 13. However I’m 60 and the ending was fantastical and not in a good way.

Excellent historical mystery

Loved getting to know Henrietta and Inspector Howard. Intriguing mystery and many complex and interesting characters which made for an excellent historical listen that was hard to put down. The narrator did an amazing job of bringing the characters and story to life. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see where this series goes next! I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

terrible writer; great reader

This writer desperately needs an editor. I can overlook the hackneyed plot, the repetitive meandering narrative, and the dimensionless characters. What I couldn't overlook was the poor use of language, inappropriate idioms, mixed metaphors, confusion between similar-sounding words, and awkward sentence construction. English 100 recommended.

The reader is one of the best, perhaps even *the* best I've come across. I listened to the whole thing solely for the pleasure of her voice.

More to it than the title implies

Since I had this book in my Audible library, I decided to give it a listen and review for this book blog tour.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. Honestly, based on the book title and book cover, I was expecting a light, somewhat silly romance set in a 1930s historical fiction. I’m so glad this story was much more than that. In fact, I would say this book is 90% historical fiction & mystery, with a touch of romance thrown in.

1930s Chicago is still recovering from the financial difficulties of several years ago and WW1. It’s the perfect place where lots of desperate people are willing to do dubious things for a steady pay check. And that’s exactly how we meet Henrietta. She’s the oldest child of a single parent and she’s had to grow up quick. All of her earnings go towards feeding, clothing, and housing her family. Her mom is a pill, the kids (like 8 of them!) range in ages, a younger brother is constantly in minor trouble, and then there’s work.

Henrietta’s mom doesn’t approve of her work (as a 26 girl at a bar) but it’s save enough with the owner setting the tone of professionalism. But then she takes a job as a taxi dancer (and can’t tell her mom about it). One of then things I loved about this book is that I had never heard of these two professions (at least not referred to by these names), so right off the bat I was learning a few bits of historical trivia.

While dancing, she meets Inspector Clive Howard and shortly after that, things get dangerous. With a dead body and a few missing ladies, Howard decides to take a chance on Henrietta. She’s in the perfect situation to help the police get to the bottom of these mysteries. She’s excited to do so, but both the inspector and I worried that she didn’t fully understand the danger she was putting herself in.

The story has plenty of interesting characters and mystery. I was kept guessing about the bad guys. In fact, at one point I thought one of them was actually a police plant (but turns out I was wrong). The romance element is a small part of the story and is sprinkled throughout the book so I never got tired of it (I have a low tolerance for romance usually). All together, I really enjoyed this story. I hope Book 2 becomes available in audiobook format. 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Jayne Entwistle is always a favorite to listen to. She’s got the perfect voice for 17 year old Henrietta, who is enthusiastic about life and full of determination. I also liked her wizened voices for the older ladies at the various places Henrietta works. They sound like they’ve been smoking and drinking and bedding for years. Entwistle’s male character voices sound like men and her little kid voices are spot on. There were no tech issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

A really good read

I think that the research behind the story is exceptional, the characters are very well drawn (even the truly irritating), and the plot is different from the ordinary even though it lacked the urgency often found in many mysteries. The publisher's blurb is somewhat informative and there is no need for spoilers, but the writing is better than indicated, and that's what makes this worthwhile.
I requested and received a free copy through AudioBookBOOM.
I think that Jayne Entwistle was an excellent choice for narrator!

Nostalgic and Sweet

I really enjoyed listening to this book. To me it felt like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn meets a risqué Nancy Drew. The plot was intriguing and the characters very good. I loved the innocence of Henrietta, it was very endearing. I can’t wait to read A Ring of Truth. Although I wish it was on Audible too.

Wonderful view of 30's Chicago, excellent mystery!

This book is wonderful start to a great series -- The Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series. The attraction between the couple is adorable from the get-go, and Michelle Cox gives us a wonderful insight into what it must have been like to live in 1930's Chicago!

I lapped this and all the other books in the series up. Jayne A Entwistle does a wonderful job of voicing the characters throughout the series -- especially that of Henrietta, as she becomes more "refined" and discovers that she is of a more refined lineage than she had previously suspected!

Don't hesitate to purchase this book, either in audio or kindle format -- it's got all the wonderful moments that make a mystery combined with a romance series worth reading!! It's also filled with tons of period detail and you can tell that the author did a lot of research in crafting this series!

A Promising Start for a New Series

A Girl Like You is the first novel in the best selling Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series of romantic mysteries set in mid-1930s Chicago by award-winning author Michelle Cox. Gifted with a superb writing style and the necessary talent to wrap the listener in complete immersion from the first words, Michelle Cox tells us a beautiful, but at times dramatic story of love, innocence, murder, hard life and mystery.

The story in A Girl Like You follows Henrietta Von Harmon, a 17 years old teenager trying to do her best as the sole member of her large family capable to keep food on the table, after a tragic event deprives them of their hard-working father. But, when someone is found dead at Hen's workplace, a murder investigation ensues, and this is when we also meet the charming Inspector Howard. With the two main protagonists on the scene, we are pulled into a world filled with dark secrets, fragile lives and ruthless villains.

What I loved the most about this book is how real all the characters, locales and events felt to me. Painted in vivid colours by the author and brought to life in a fantastic performance by award-winning actor and narrator Jayne A Entwistle, A Girl Like You is a labour of love to both ladies involved...

This is the first time that I listen to Jayne A Entwistle performing an audiobook and I can say that I enjoyed her narration very much. She perfectly captures the listener's imagination with her bubbly , happy, innocent voice, and makes this audio production one to be completely unforgettable.

So, if you want a nice, cosy romantic mystery, driven by strong characters and with a few surprises hidden along the way, A Girl Like You by Michelle Cox and lovingly read by Jayne A Entwistle is a perfect start for a promising series.

I'll return with more reviews as I intend to make my way through the series in the upcoming months. I am curious to find out what more interesting adventures will follow these lifelike characters.

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