Miss Don't Touch Me, Volume 1
*Starred Review* It’s hard to imagine a sequential art story better than this in terms of character development, plotting, realization of settings, and interconnection between visual and narrative elements. Set in post–Great War Paris, the story’s background detail includes the circumstances of girls working as maids and legal prostitutes, their domestic and public surroundings, and those who have social and economic power over them. In essence, this is a murder mystery with that genre’s requisite, and here compelling, twists, turns, and suspense. After her beloved sister Agatha becomes a victim of the “Butcher of the Dances,” Florence sets herself to detecting the identities of the evidently more-than-one murderer. A virgin, she takes up residence in an upscale brothel and lives the life expected of her there; fortunately for her virtue, her professional specialty doesn’t involve much contact—hence the book’s title. The coloring alternately provides glowing light and scary shadows in fine re-creations of crowded streetscapes, the boudoir of a black transgender escort, the depths of the murder dungeon, and a nearby chapel. Police corruption, aristocratic privilege, and petty jealousies among the working girls all figure in Florence’s efforts to identify Agatha’s killers. Fans of historical mysteries as well as graphic novel readers will want to know about this one. --Francisca Goldsmith