The year is 1901 and Mary MacDougall has a rather improbable ambition-to become a consulting detective. With her nose in mystery novels and crime memoirs, Mary MacDougall dreams of bringing villains to justice-despite the disapproval of her wealthy father and almost everyone she knows. A Mary MacDougall Duet features the two cases that establish her as a force to be reckoned with. In the first novella, A Pretty Little Plot, Mary's painting instructor is charged with kidnapping two of his students. She not only uncovers the hidden facts of the case, she discovers secrets deep in her own heart. Mary MacDougall is not as immune to the laws of attraction as she had thought. Her imprisoned teacher has awakened a longing within her. Will she help to exonerate him? Or condemn him to prison? The second novella, The Stolen Star, follows Mary as she unpeels layers of deceit and duplicity in her hometown of Duluth. It's the holiday season and Mary is volunteering for the 1901 Gala Christmas Musicale, starring the opera diva Josie Borrell. But when the Star of the North sapphire that Josie wears onstage goes missing, all eyes turn to the singer and her retinue.