Beginning ~ with a long line

No Job for a Lady ~ by Carol McCleary, 2014, fiction (Mexico)

I bite my upper lip, a terrible habit when I'm nervous.  This time it's the long line for tickets at the train station causing the chewing.  The ticket counter is an opening in an outside wall of the station house, leaving those of us in line to endure the cool of the evening as night falls.  A line this long, this late, isn't a good sign.  The insane trip I set out on has already taken more than one wrong turn, and I don't need anything else to go sour.

The prologue started with a description of Teotihuacan, Mexico, and why it's such a scary place. It sounds scary, all right, but I'd have to share several paragraphs to show why SHE was scared.  So I gave you the first few lines of chapter one.  Here's a summary of the novel:

History, mystery, and murder are the traveling companions of Nellie Bly, the world's first female investigative reporter.  Nellie defies the wrath of her editor and vengeful ancient gods while setting out to prove a woman has what it takes to be a foreign correspondent in dangerous Victorian times.  Pyramids, dark magic, and dead bodies are what the intrepid Nellie encounters when she takes off for Mexico after her editor refuses to let her work as a foreign correspondent because "it's no job for a lady."  It's 1886 and Mexico has not cast off all its bloodthirsty Aztec past.  Nellie is stalked by ruthless killers seeking Montezuma's legendary treasure and an ancient cult that resorts to the murderous Way of the Aztec to protect it.  And there's the mysterious Roger Watkins, who romantically and physically challenges Nellie's determination to be an independent woman in a man's world.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.