Gilded Newport #12
Murder at Vinland is the twelfth book in Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport series set among the social elite in Newport in the late 1890s-early 1900s. The first book, Murder at the Breakers, was recently made into a TV movie by Hallmark. I enjoyed the movie, which was better than some of the reviews would indicate, but the books are even better. Maxwell’s heroine is Emma Cross Andrews, a journalist and poor relation of the Vanderbilts. Emma grew up in reduced circumstances, which gave her a great sympathy with the poor, but, because of her illustrious relatives, she also is familiar with the world of the Four Hundred, the elite who lived in New York and spent their summers in Newport. Supposedly, they were called the Four Hundred because that was the number of people who could fit inside Mrs. Astor’s ballroom.
As this novel begins, in the summer of 1901, Emma, recently married to newspaper heir Derrick Andrews, attends a luncheon at Vinland, the Viking-inspired home of her distant relative, Florence Vanderbilt Twombly. The event is a fundraiser for a Rhode Island chapter of the Audubon Society, and the guest of honor is Edith Roosevelt, wife of Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. Many of the ladies of the Four Hundred are in attendance, but not all are enthusiastic about the cause of bird preservation. Bird feathers were used by the fashion industry of the time to adorn women’s hats, and the ladies are reluctant to give up wearing feathers in their hats, even for the greater cause. Then, the day after the luncheon, one of the guests falls ill and later dies after eating poisoned petit fours, which came with a card from Mrs. Roosevelt.
The Second Lady is quickly exonerated, as it turns out that someone used her name on the card in order to make the victim more eager to eat the petit fours. Another woman who received a box of petit fours, this time with a card from one of the other speakers, also falls ill, but doesn’t die because she only took one taste of a petit four and spat it out because she knew it didn’t taste right. Then, several other society ladies receive tainted letters in the mail. Who is poisoning the ladies of Newport?
Detective Jesse Whyte, a former suitor, and still a good friend, of Emma’s, enlists her aid in solving the crimes. Unlike police detectives in many other series, Jesse welcomes the amateur sleuth’s help, because the women of Newport’s elite will talk to Emma, even though they won’t talk to the police. The rivalry between Jesse and Derrick for Emma’s affections is an ongoing thread in the series. Although it was resolved when Emma chose to marry Derrick, the rivalry still exists, even though the two men get along reasonably well. Derrick doesn’t always like it when Emma gets involved in police investigations because he doesn’t want her to put herself in danger, but he realizes she’s going to, no matter what he says.
In this case, all the suspects, as well as the victims, are women. At first the prime suspects seem to be a mother and daughter, Anna Rose and Sybil Van Horn. Sybil had been engaged to a young man, but when her father was arrested for embezzlement, her fiancé broke off the engagement and married the daughter of the murder victim instead. Supposedly, the victim had been the one who encouraged the young man to marry her daughter instead of Sybil. The Van Horn women have been shunned by society because of the crimes of their father and husband.
Other suspects emerge as well, including Amity Carter and Zinnia Lewis, an aunt and niece from Florida who are houseguests of Emma and Derrick. Amity has recently inherited the property next to Emma’s and Derrick’s house, Gull Manor, or so she says, since the inheritance is contested. Emma wants to buy the neighboring land and build a house there, and turn Gull Manor into a school for girls that would be open to all social classes and offer the same curriculum as boys’ schools. Amity seems eager to sell–perhaps a little too eager? She is an avid bird-watcher and advocate for bird preservation. Zinnia is a talented painter who doesn’t always seem happy about being dependent on her aunt. Emma has much sympathy for the two women, but something seems off about their behavior, enough to make her suspicious, even though they don’t appear to have a motive, or to know any of the victims.
Then there is Jennie Pierpont, a fictitious relative of the Pierpont Morgan family, who was one of the speakers at the Audubon Society luncheon. Her speech, unlike the Second Lady’s, was not received with enthusiasm, and she seems resentful toward the women who care more about wearing fashionable hats with feathers than about protecting birds and wildlife. She is passionate about her cause, but is she resentful enough to kill? For a while, the circumstantial evidence seems to point to her.
Finally, there is Mina Wallingford, an irascible woman who has been banned from several church committees because of her temper. No one wants to socialize with her. The victims are among the ladies who have shunned her. Does she bear enough of a grudge against them to lead her to murder? Then the case takes a startling turn when one of the prime suspects is murdered, and not in the same manner as the first victim. And Emma finds herself falling ill. Is she also being poisoned?
This is an excellent addition to a long-running series, but it also stands on its own, so first-time readers of Maxwell’s series can enjoy it, too. Maxwell provides enough details about Emma’s background so that you understand what’s going on, but holds enough back so as not to spoil things for readers who want to go back and read the earlier books. Emma is a strong, courageous heroine, who chooses to have a career as a journalist at a time when, as the wife of a wealthy man, she would have been expected to stay home and raise children. She is a passionate advocate for women’s rights, including the vote. Even though she has married into wealth, she remains sympathetic to the poor, and wants to improve their lives. I am looking forward to seeing what will happen with her plan for a girls’ school, and to many more of Emma’s adventures. — Vicki Kondelik