Carolyn Dennis-Willingham

The Last Bordello Carolyn Dennis-Willingham

Madam Fannie Porter runs the best bordello in Texas. Just ask the outlaws she harbored and entertained for the weekend-Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch. But when the gang rides off, Sadie, her best soiled dove, is left unhinged. While the Pinkerton Detective Agency remains in hot pursuit of the outlaws, the Women's Christian Temperance Union plans a town rally against alcohol and prostitution. Neither is good news for Miss Fannie. First, she will never give up a client. Second, while pondering the upcoming temperance powwow, she relies on her business savvy. She forbids her girls from attending the meeting and hires a pianist, the talented, yet virtuous, Meta, to keep the customers coming. When a temperance woman is found murdered, Sadie becomes the key suspect. Now, Miss Fannie and Meta must discover the truth before the WCTU-or the killer-nails the red door, or another coffin, shut. The Last Bordello, is not only a who-dun-it. It is a story about powerful women who fought for their standing in life. Unable to obtain money in other ways, some women found prostitution to be their only means of survival. While the Women's Christian Temperance Union and Suffragettes strived to improve the lives of all women, the "ladies of the night" saw them as an opposing force. The Last Bordello depicts the struggle and determination of both sides.