Compelling MN historical fiction

I read Frozen by Minnesota author Mary Casanova because of a great confluence of events....being from Minnesota, meeting her at a conference, co-planning a historical fiction unit, and, finally, running into the right person at the right time.  The book sort of fell in my lap.  I am so glad it did.  In fact, I'm beginning to rethink my opinion that I'm not a fan of historical fiction.

It is set far in the north of Minnesota on the eve of Prohibition.  A prostitute is found, dead, frozen in the snow.  Everyone assumed she passed out and died from exposure.  Known to only a few, huddled near her body was her six-year-old daughter.  Fast forward 10 years.  The girl is now a teenager, foster-child to a state senator, and she hasn't spoken a word since she was brought to them all those years ago.  She still has dim memories of the night her mother died, and she suspects there was foul play.  She begins a secret journey to find the truth, and her voice, both literally and figuratively.  Clear-cutting, logging barons, environmentalism, women's rights, greed, mental illness and murder come together in this compelling mystery.  

This story has it's inspiration in a news story from that era about a prostitute found frozen in the snow whose body was propped in the city hall as a "joke."  I admire the creative mind that took such a sad, sordid article and created such a rich backstory.