Trapping the Butterfly — Debra Parmley

Hot Springs Arkansas in the 1920's is where the wealthy go to “take the baths” for medicinal purposes and where gangsters lay down their Tommy guns while on vacation. Bethany and her aunt and uncle have gone to take the baths hoping to cure her aunt of her illness. Bethany, excited to be celebrating her eighteenth birthday at the Arlington Hotel, can't wait to cut her long hair into a bob and to raise her hemline and learn to do the Charleston. Her life has been controlled, from the clothes she wears to the food she eats as her aunt and uncle have kept her--and her inheritance--very close. If her aunt and uncle have their way she will return engaged to his new business partner. 


Little does she know Al Capone has rented the entire fourth floor of the Arlington where she is staying with her family, and Suki, the flapper who befriends her, is one of the gang's molls. One of Al's men is quite taken with Bethany and wants to make her his girl.


Detective Paul Tollick chased butterflies when he was young. Now he chases gangsters. His job plunges him into the harsh underworld of gangsters, bootleggers, and fast women. He's captivated by the sight of innocent Bethany, sitting in the park surrounded by butterflies. He hopes she will be his girl. 


But two other men have determined to catch her and one is a dangerous gangster who is part of Al Capone's gang. Will Bethany exit her cocoon; and then find the strength to fly free or will she be trapped by one of these men?


Coming of age in the 1920's is not so easy at it might appear, especially for a young naïve girl who has been sheltered.

Trapping the Butterfly is book one in Debra Parmley's Butterflies Fly Free series about flappers and gangsters in the 1920's. Each book focuses on a different flapper.