The Gilded Age

Murder at Beechwood by Alyssa Maxwell doesn't exactly fit the mold of this blog, but I included it anyway. Fringe Vanderbilt relative Emma Cross finds herself split between two worlds - the lifestyle of the super rich and the real life of a poor relative.

Emma makes her way as a newspaper reporter in Newport, Rhode Island. She has direct access to the rich and famous in the gilded mansions of Newport, so her articles cover fashion and the sumptuous parties at the glorious mansion events.

Somehow Emma finds herself in the middle of murders in each of the three books in the series. In the latest, all the men are involved in a sailboat race when a storm quickly blows in and causes one of the boats to capsize. The rich, powerful and cruel Virgil Monroe is swept overboard. Emma's special friend Derrick Andrews dives in to try to save him or is that his intent?

Derrick is pulled from the sea, unconscious and sent to the hospital. When the sailboat ropes and mast

are found to be sabotaged, signs point to murder and the spotlight lands on Derrick. Emma tries to

prove he is innocent while managing her household of wayward souls and a foundling baby. Is the baby the child of one the society ladies? It appears to be the case and Emma enlists her friends' maids to seek out who has been missing from the Newport scene.

The Gilded Age may have been a period of extravagant parties and lavish lifestyles, but the family discipline and meddling in romantic affairs was at its height. There were huge concerns about who children of the rich should or should not marry. Emma, being a fringe relative, misses most of the meddling, but she does manage to attend the lavish parties.

The first book in the series is Murder at the Breakers.