Death in a Gilded Frame

Death in a Gilded Frame

Newport Summer 1899-yachts, balls, and famed artists eager to paint portraits of Society's "Queens."

Print length
244 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Cecelia Tichi
Publication date
January 2, 2024
Formats: Paperback and Kindle Edition

Newport Summer 1899-yachts, balls, and famed artists eager to paint portraits of Society’s “Queens.”

Western silver heiress Val Mackle DeVere (Mrs. Roderick W.) agrees to “sit” for a portrait for her beloved Roddy, only to stumble on a scene of bloody, grisly homicide at an art gallery.

Like a figure from Pompeii, the dead Newport gallery manager screams in silence, his hands like claws clutching at a gilt frame pulled down over his head and shoulders while blood darkens his cream-colored suit.

Impulsive, Val reaches for the murder weapon and will find herself suspected, shamed, and shunned as she seeks the killer while learning yet again a lesson taught by Cornelius Vanderbilt IV: “No city on earth is as hostile to outsiders as Newport.”


by ullegust
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2024
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A bit darker and with more tension

Val and Roddy DeVere are one of my favourite detective couple.

This is the fifth book in the series, which all takes place in the gilded era in the upper class of New York society.

It’s summer and the DeVeres are at their summer house in Newport where most of their Manhattan neighbours also resides.

A murder is committed and Val accidentally happens to be in the wrong place and is exposed to a lot of gossip, slander and veiled threats.
Her faithful (and unwillingly psycic) friend Cassie has forebodings that she can’t interpret and the tension of the story grows with every page.

This book is a bit more dark than the earlier. I feel that both Val and Roddy are more withdrawn than in earlier stories, they don’t communicate as well as usually even if they are still close.

I like that I always learn a lot from these books, historical fiction at it’s best.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

by Ruth McDaniel
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2024
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I love this series!

I have enjoyed every previous book in the Gilded series by Cecilia Tichi. This one is no different.

Val and her husband Roddy are spending the summer in Newport RI and happen across an art gallery, where they find a dead man. He’s been stabbed and Val, in a state of “not thinking” does something that will color the rest of their summer in a way they never expect.

Who killed the gallery owner? Will anyone else end up dead as well? Will Val and Roddy survive the events that follow? Is this a crime that they can even solve?

This was a fantastic read with quite a few twists and turns. Read it! You’ll love it!

I received an ARC of this book and am leaving my voluntary review.

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