MURDER AT ROSECLIFF

The homes of the wealthy in Newport, Rhode Island, provide the backdrop for yet another murder in 1903.

Although they’re called cottages, the homes of people like the Vanderbilts are actually mansions that host extravagant parties. Emma Andrews, who’s distantly related to the Vanderbilts, grew up in a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for the Newport Messenger, owned by her now-husband Derrick’s family. Her cordial relationship with her Vanderbilt relatives gave her access to the town’s aristocracy even before her marriage, and over the years, she’s helped solve several murders. Emma and Derrick are attending Theresa Fair Oelrich’s extravagant White Ball at Rosecliff when they spot a stranger who insolently introduces himself to an obviously shocked Tessie as Solomon Wheeler. Tessie describes Wheeler to her close friends as someone from her father’s circle whose fortunes were made in mining out West. Curious, Emma follows him and asks Ethan Merriman, the society reporter at the Messenger, to keep an eye on him. Wheeler physically threatens Ethan and verbally attacks Tessie with the shocking statement that he’s her husband. She vehemently denies the claim, but when he blackmails her for $2 million, she agrees to pay him. Soon afterwards, Wheeler’s found floating dead in the fountain. By his side is Ethan, whom one of the guests accuses of killing the man. As Emma’s old friend Det. Jesse Whyte questions Ethan, he continues to deny killing Wheeler, although a surprising connection is established between them. Eluding arrest, Ethan goes on the run while Emma uses all her sources to track down a clever killer among the upper crust.

Plenty of red herrings and historic detail provide a platform for a modern woman unafraid to push the boundaries of her time.