A Gilded Grave
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Step back into the past in the first Newport Gilded Age mystery—from the author of the Celebration Bay mysteries.
In 1895, the height of the Gilded Age, the social elite spend their summers in Newport, Rhode Island. Within the walls of their fabulous “cottages,” competition for superiority is ruthless...and so are the players.
During her first Newport season, Deanna Randolph attends a ball given in honor of Lord David Manchester, a Barbadian sugar magnate, and his sister, Madeline. The Manchesters are an immediate success—along with their exotic manservant and his fortune-telling talents.
But on the nearby cliffs, a young maid lies dead—and suspicion falls on Joseph Ballard, a member of one of the town’s most prestigious families.
Joe humiliated Deanna when he rebuffed an engagement to her, but while he may be a cad, she knows he isn’t a killer. Now the reluctant allies must navigate a world of parties, tennis matches, and séances to find the real murderer. But a misstep among the glittering upper classes could leave them exposed to something far more dangerous than malicious gossip...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1895, this richly atmospheric series opener from Freydont (Independence Slay) introduces 18-year-old Deanna Randolph, who has mixed feelings about attending a ball at one of the Newport, R.I., "cottages" built by the rich. Though she's not looking forward to running into inventor Joe Ballard, the man who recently jilted her, she finds that there are many others at the ball worth meeting, including Lord David Manchester, a visiting Barbados plantation owner, and his exotic sister, Madeline. At one point Deanna joins other guests for a walk along the cliffs, but the discovery of a body on the rocks below that of maid Daisy Payne puts a damper on the party. In what turns into a murder case, Joe falls under popular suspicion, while the police settle on Daisy's boyfriend and Joe's apprentice, Orrin O'Laren, as the likely culprit. Orrin happens to be the brother of Deanna's maid, Elspeth, and together the two young women, inspired by dime novel detectives like Kate Goelet, investigate. Fans of romantic period mysteries will find a lot to like.
