Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister

Kate Warne is an independent woman in Chicago in the mid-1850's without a husband or anywhere to go until she finds herself applying for a job as Pinkerton's first female agent. As the first of her kind you can imagine the obstacles in her way but she gets around them and soon has most of the other agents and her boss admiring her abilities and pluck. This is a very dangerous world and it gets even more dangerous when she travels into the war torn South to spy for the Union army and prevent an assassination attempt on President Lincoln's life. This is a historical novel with heart and soul as well as all the violence and mayhem of a pulse racing thriller. Based on a true story we see that Kate Warne's exciting life was not a bed of roses and in the end she is left with a few close friends and no family outside of Pinkerton's but she did live her life the way she wanted.