I enjoy discovering new mystery series to recommend. Cozy series are the book world’s way of telling us that a host of characters out there have made a place for us in their homes and we’re welcome to come on in and join the family. Help in solving a murder or two is always appreciated.
And who wouldn’t want to join a family surrounded by the wealth and society of 1900s Newport, Rhode Island? Following their Italian honeymoon, Emma and Derrick are adapting to married life as they resume their duties at their jointly-owned newspaper, the Newport Messenger.
The big headline story of the moment is The Elms. The newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate of coal baron Edward Berwind has captured everyone’s attention for its splendor and construction as a modern mansion for the new century. The Elms is one of the first homes in America wired for electricity with no backup power system, generated by coal from Berwind’s mines.
The Berwind’s servants quickly usurp the public’s interest in the stately mansion’s technology and fine furnishings when, with a single exception, they all go on strike protesting their unreasonable working conditions—before the grand party to showcase the new “cottage.” Almost as shocking as the servants’ uprising is that Edward Berwind not only doesn’t cancel the party but swiftly and callously fires them all and hires new staff, giving them all the benefits and considerations the previous workers requested.
Fans of Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series will enjoy Maxwell’s series.
Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete, culminating in a fabulous musical performance and a series of unforeseen terrible events. The chambermaid who’d refused to strike is found dead in the coal tunnel. Soon after, a guest’s exquisite diamond necklace goes missing, and a laborer has disappeared. The public’s fascination has now turned to scandal and murder.
Detective Jesse Whyte, Emma’s longtime friend, asks the newspaper owners to draw on their connections in Newport society to help with the investigation and determine whether the murdered maid and stolen necklace are connected and what, if any, role the missing servant played.
Emma and Derrick, as houseguests at The Elms, are uniquely placed to witness the prevailing darkness that’s occupying and growing among the mansion’s elite guests. As the duo hunts for answers, it’s ultimately up to Emma to shine a light on the truth—without becoming tomorrow’s tragic front-page headline.
Murder at the Elms is Alyssa Maxwell’s eleventh Guilded Newport Mysteries, which began with Murder at The Breakers, home of the illustrious Vanderbilt family. Inspiration for many of the mansions and characters in the series came from Newport homes, lifestyle, and its founding families. Fans of Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series will enjoy Maxwell’s series. Alyssa Maxwell is also the author of eight novels in the Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries.
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