Murder at Vinland

Maxwell's 12th "Gilded Newport" mystery (following Murder at the Elms), narrated with aplomb by Lauren Ezzo, opens in August 1901 at a fundraiser to establish a Rhode Island chapter of the Audubon Society, with First Lady Edith Roosevelt as the guest of honor. When a houseguest mysteriously falls ill the next day and dies, intrepid reporter and amateur sleuth Emma Cross Andrews joins detective Jesse Whyte on the case. Though the two find a half-eaten box of petit fours supposedly sent by Mrs. Roosevelt, they rule her out as a suspect and cast their eyes on the other guests and visitors. As the witnesses are being interviewed, Ezzo offers unique, consistent voicings for each character and sustains Emma's youthful, perky, yet very proper demeanor throughout. She ratchets up the tension when a second murder occurs, giving Emma a derring-do liveliness that contrasts with the down-to-earth calm of her husband Derrick. As Emma gets closer to finding the culprit, Ezzo pulls out all the stops, making Emma's desperation nearly palpable. VERDICT An engagingly narrated historical mystery that provides a fascinating window into Gilded Age Newport high-society and the work of conservation-minded individuals.--Stephanie Bange

A series of horrific and inexplicable attacks on women provide a reporter a chance to solve yet another murder among the aristocrats of 1901 Rhode Island. Though she still lives in Newport, journalist Emma Cross Andrews left society reporting behind to pursue other stories after she married wealthy newspaper owner Derrick Andrews. On the one hand, Emma's been reluctantly accepted by the Four Hundred as a relative of Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt. On the other, her long-standing friendship with Newport Police Detective Jesse Whyte has involved her in many upper-crust murders. A luncheon at Vinland, a Viking-inspired mansion, in support of the Audubon Society attracts Second Lady Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt and the cream of Newport society, who in deference to the Audubon supporters have forgone their usual extravagantly feathered hats. At the luncheon, where she detects undercurrents of tension, Emma meets Amity Carter and her niece, Zinnia Lewis, newly arrived from Florida and friends of Vinland owner Florence Twombly. Amity has recently inherited the empty property next door to Emma's, which she and Derrick have been hoping to buy; they want to build a new house there and turn her family home into a school. Delighted to learn that Amity approves their plans, Emma invites her and Zinnia to leave their hotel and stay in her guest room until they return to Florida. Things work out less well for luncheon guest Lottie Robinson, who has apparently been poisoned by an unidentified toxin delivered in petit fours and is not expected to survive. As other poisonings follow, Emma investigates a collection of motives ranging from broken engagements to insufficient devotion to protecting wildlife. Juxtaposing the lives of ordinary people and the seriously rich enhances this thorny tale of love, hate, and murder. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.