It's not that opium is illegal in 1880s in the US. It's that criminals don't want to pay the hefty import duty on the drug. So the illegal drug business is big money for importers on America's West Coast. One of these smuggling hot spots is Port Townsend in the territory of Washington.
Alma Rosales was a Pinkerton agent who used to investigate crimes like smuggling. But she made some bad mistakes and ended up unemployed. And that is when she met Delphine, the woman she loves and who led Alma into a life of crime.
Alma was a tomboy. She even learned to box and likes to dress as a man. She comes to Port Townsend, summoned by Delphine, who runs a criminal enterprise there, fueled mainly by smuggling opium. Her front man in Port Townsend is Nathaniel Wheeler and she wants Alma to size him up and to discover why so much of their illegal opium is going missing. It must be someone inside the operation, but Delphine doesn't know if Wheeler is part of the thefts.
Alma first meets Wheeler dressed as herself but then enters his organization disguised as her male alter ego, Jack Camp, a small, feisty man who fears no one. Wheeler is fooled at first but quickly catches on and acts disgusted by her charade. Alma senses he is turned on by her crossdressing act and she likes that. She is very attracted to Wheeler, but her infatuation with Delphine rules her life.
These are not nice people. Unreliable, double dealing, out to get what they can, violent and unpredictable, including Alma. She doesn't seem to have any qualms about switching from law enforcement to law breaker. She also doesn't seem to have any qualms about murder. She is not a good person.
I had no sympathy for anyone in this book. They are scum. It hard to like a book where you hate all the characters. And I didn't like this book. But I paid for it, so I finished reading it. It is unforgettable, true, but like a disaster is unforgettable.
See also, a review by Publishers Weekly.
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