Murder at Kingscote

Alyssa Maxwell

Aug 2020 · A Gilded Newport Mystery Book 8 · Kensington Books

About this ebook

For fans of HBO’sThe Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries…

In late nineteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, journalist Emma Cross discovers the newest form of transportation has become the newest type of murder weapon . . .

On a clear July day in 1899, the salty ocean breeze along Bellevue Avenue carries new smells of gasoline and exhaust as Emma, now editor-in-chief of the Newport Messenger, covers Newport's first-ever automobile parade. But the festive atmosphere soon turns to shock as young Philip King drunkenly swerves his motorcar into a wooden figure of a nanny pushing a pram on the obstacle course.
 
That evening, at a dinner party hosted by Ella King at her magnificent Gothic-inspired "cottage," Kingscote, Emma and her beau Derrick Andrews are enjoying the food and the company when Ella’s son staggers in, obviously still inebriated. But the disruption is nothing compared to the urgent shouts of the coachman. Rushing out, they find the family's butler pinned against a tree beneath the front wheels of Philip's motorcar, close to death.
 
When Emma later receives a message informing her that the butler bullied his staff and took advantage of young maids, she steers the police toward a murder investigation. While Emma investigates the connections between a competing heir for the King fortune, a mysterious child, an inmate of an insane asylum, and the brutal boxing rings of Providence, a killer remains at large—with unfinished business to attend to . . .
 
“Excellent . . . Maxwell combines convincing character development and vivid depictions of Newport’s heyday with a well-plotted mystery. This historical series just keeps getting better.”
 —Publisher Weekly (starred review)

Ratings and reviews

cozy-mystery, 1890s, law-enforcement, journalist, family, friendship, amateur-sleuth***** On the cusp of a new century the young woman who is cousin of a sort to the moneyed Vanderbilts and is the editor of the local newspaper is present at a small dinner party when an auto accident occurs on the grounds. It is suspicious and the household's profligate son could well be at fault. When the victim dies it becomes a thorny matter for her friend, a police detective, as well as others who are more than friends. Let the sleuthing begin! There are exquisite descriptions of both attire and surroundings, plus exhaustive descriptions of the lineage and implications of financial heredity as well as the general snobbery of the era. The mystery is well done and the characters are very interesting and believable. A very good read. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley.

About the author

Alyssa Maxwell began a love affair with the city of Newport years ago. Time and again the colonial neighborhoods and grand mansions drew her to return, and on one of those later visits she met the man who would become her husband. Always a lover of history, Maxwell found that marrying into a large, generations--old Newport family opened up an exciting new world of historical discovery. Today, she and her husband reside in Florida, but part of her heart remains firmly in that small New England city of great historical significance. For more info please visit www.alyssamaxwell.com.