Karen Maxwell, recently divorced mother of two pre-teens, is tired of performing all the thankless jobs that keeps her messy brother’s private investigations business running. She longs for an opportunity to do some investigating on her own. When he offers her the chance to go undercover as a soccer mom in search of a thief, she leaps at the chance. Even if pretending to be a soccer mom doesn’t take a very creative effort to portray.

Karen jumps into her work assuming the role of a volunteer at the 1776 House, the scene of the crime. She soon discovers that the other volunteers are struggling over the authenticity of notes penned on a leather chair seat and the house’s claim to fame. These notes were supposedly written by George Washington and are the very item that has been stolen.

Karen discovers the undercover assignment isn’t as easy as she’d hoped and figuring out who took the notes is no easy task. Many of the volunteers believe the notes are a fake and want them removed from the house. Any one of them could have taken the prized possession. Oh, and one of the volunteers, handsome blacksmith Brian Kieffer, could have stolen the Taj Mahal as far as Karen is concerned as she is struggling to see beyond his good looks.

This is the first book in the Karen Maxwell Mystery series by K.D. Hays, and am I glad it’s only the first so I have a few more adventures with the quirky, clumsy Karen in her investigating adventures. Hays has penned a very likeable, funny character in Karen, and mixed suspense with an enjoyable romance. The family dynamic between Karen and her children is so realistic it is priceless. And if this isn’t enough reason to read George Washington Stepped Here and the following sequels, once you meet the cheating ex-husband, you’ll definitely want to read on in the hopes that he gets his due.

 

Karen Maxwell has gone to work for her brother after her divorce. She is officially his secretary but is necessary for all the work that Dave doesn’t want to do. Still, when Dave offers her a chance to do investigative work, Karen jumps at the chance. Until she learns that the assignment is a rather iffy one.

The local historical society has claimed that their most treasured artifact seems to have been stolen. The artifact is actually a piece of leather that some claim that George Washington wrote battle plans on, but the society itself is divided on the issue. Some claim that there is no proof that George Washington was ever in the area. And others insist that he had been quite good friends with the taverns owner and stayed there several days.

To get to the bottom of the investigation, Karen volunteers at the museum. Of course, she has dual motives. In addition to finding out who took the artifact, Karen also wants to find out more about the blacksmith. Now, to convince her two kids to go along with the plan?

George Washington Stepped Here is book one of the Karen Maxwell Mysteries. Since the cozy mystery collection by Heartsong has been discontinued, anyone interested in this book or series will have to look for the book, which will have all three stories about Karen Maxell in it.

I enjoyed reading this story. It brought back found memories of taking my children to reenactments and historical museums when we lived in the Grand Rapids area. There is a lot of valuable history to be learned at these reenactments, and I think Karen Maxwell discovered this in the story as well. Not only that but she got to know some interesting people as she delved into the mystery. I did figure out who-dun-it fairly early in the story, but the telling was so interesting I had to keep reading-to see if I was right, and to see if the budding romance had a chance.