Shocking experiences for FJ

In 1906, San Francisco is hit by a disastrous earthquake. Fremont Jones's house burns down, but with great difficulty she manages to save her typewriter - her livelihood - from the fire. She volunteers her services as a nurse with the Red Cross, and is able to rent a room from a somewhat strange woman she rescued during one of the fires.
Life will never go smoothly for Fremont, so she becomes entangled in a complex mystery as an amateur detective. She comes into contact with a double murder, the theft of two valuable samurai swords and illegal import and export practices.