The Socialite's Guide to Death and Dating
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver, the second Pinnacle Hotel mystery finds another murder that strikes too close to home, and hotel heiress Evelyn Murphy knows she’s the only one who can save the hotel before it’s lights out.
New York, 1958. Even though Evelyn Murphy has made progress conquering her agoraphobia by leaving the Pinnacle, she still feels most comfortable in her father's hotel. With Malcolm Cooper, her new boyfriend and fellow employee at the hotel, Evelyn feels prepared for whatever happens next. In this case, it’s throwing a big fundraiser with the who’s who of New York City.
The night is a success, and Evelyn finally takes up Malcolm’s offer to finally visit his apartment in Yonkers. As the party ends, they sneak away to the garage to get Evelyn's car. But Evelyn's always been good at finding things, and she discovers the dead body of a guest, Judge Baker, in a car—with a needle in his arm.
Detective Hodgson and his new partner, Detective McJimsey, arrive on the scene, but before they can begin to question Evelyn, they are startled by another mysterious discovery: there’s a woman in the trunk of the car, and she screams as soon as she sees Evelyn’s face. Tangled up in the police investigation, Evelyn’s got another problem, too—her father insists she break off her relationship with Mac. The next day, her father is found attacked just like the judge, only this time the detectives find a dead woman nearby.
With Mac accused of the attacks and in police custody, Evelyn will have to find the killer on her own before she’s checked out of the hotel—this time, for good.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Golden's frothy and frivolous second cozy centered on New York City's glamorous Pinnacle Hotel (after 2022's The Socialite's Guide to Murder) finds Evelyn Murphy, the daughter of one of the richest men in the world, presiding over a Halloween fund-raiser for the mayor's 1958 reelection campaign. The event is being held at the Pinnacle, which Evelyn's father owns and she rarely leaves, having called it home for most of her life. As the gala winds down, Evelyn and her assistant/lover, Malcolm Cooper, decide to take her Rolls Royce for a spin. In the hotel parking garage, they discover the body of Judge Cliff Baker, who'd attended the party, in his Cadillac, with a syringe sticking out of his arm. Worried that the detectives assigned to the case aren't cut out for the job, Evelyn decides to take matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, the surprise arrival of her frequently absent father creates havoc in her romantic life. Stuffing the narrative with lovely descriptions of Evelyn's outfits and makeup tips cribbed from Marilyn Monroe, Golden achieves a certain effervescence, but the plot—littered with one too many red herrings—is as insubstantial as cotton candy. In the crowded field of historical cozies, this doesn't stand out.
