Review - Death of a New American

Today I review the second book in a new historical mystery series set in the Gilded Age.  Although I didn't read the first in the series, that didn't effect the immersive experience of this novel.  If you aren't typically a historical mystery fan, this novel just might change your mind.  The author joined us for a guest post (click here) as well discussing the Gilded Age.

Author: Mariah Fredericks

Copyright: April 2019 (Minotaur) 304 pgs

Series: 2nd in Jane Prescott Mystery series

Sensuality: Mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Historical Cozy, Amateur Sleuth

Main Character: Jane Prescott, ladies’ maid Jane Prescott to the Benchley family

Setting: 1912 (The Gilded Age), Long Island New York

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review (NetGalley)

From the book cover: "In 1912, as New York reels from the news of the Titanic disaster, ladies’ maid Jane Prescott travels to Long Island with the Benchley family. Their daughter Louise is to marry William Tyler, at their uncle and aunt’s mansion; the Tylers are a glamorous, storied couple, their past filled with travel and adventure. Now, Charles Tyler is known for putting down New York’s notorious Italian mafia, the Black Hand, and his wife Alva has settled into domestic life.

As the city visitors adjust to the rhythms of the household, and plan Louise’s upcoming wedding, Jane quickly befriends the Tyler children’s nanny, Sofia―a young Italian-American woman. However, one unusually sultry spring night, Jane is woken by a scream from the nursery―and rushes in to find Sofia murdered, and the carefully locked window flung open.

The Tylers believe that this is an attempted kidnapping of their baby gone wrong; a warning from the criminal underworld to Charles Tyler. But Jane is asked to help with the investigation by her friend, journalist Michael Behan, who knows that she is uniquely placed to see what other tensions may simmer just below the surface in this wealthy, secretive household. Was Sofia’s murder fall-out from the social tensions rife in New York, or could it be a much more personal crime?"

Jane Prescott is one of those characters you fall in love with quickly and by the end want to spend more time with her.  She is brave, a mixture of worldly with a touch of innocence remaining, and navigates the class structure with intelligence and grace.  Her own backstory is fascinating.  Louise Benchley is the young lady Jane serves as a ladies' maid.  Louise, being married in part for her money, starts as awkward and a push over, but by the end she has come into her own and gains some steel - which I wanted to cheer over.  
Michael Behan, a journalist, is a mixed bag.  At times he seems unscrupulous to get a story, but at other times seems to want the truth. You might be tempted to think he would be a romantic interest for Jane, who often challenges him and his reporting, but that isn't likely.  Charles Tyler, uncle to the groom and guardian, is the police chief who is waging a war against the rising Italian mafia while also controversially embracing Italian immigrants and hiring several on his staff at work and home.  Charles' wife, Alva Tyler, had been a wild and free spirited society girl more at home on safari - until she had a children and settled down.  She is a character you like and yet wonder about simultaneously.  Sophia, the victim, was so well portrayed in her few scenes that you stand with Jane wanting to see justice done in her murder.

The rich and privileged Long Island mansion is the setting for most of the story with a few scenes in New York city.  All of which take the reader back in time to Little Italy of the city and the era's gilded glory with its tarnished realities.

Was Sofia letting a mafia hit-man or kidnapper in through an open window and got killed in the process?  Because that is the quick conclusion and the plot revolves around Jane seeing major problems with that scenario and searching for answers.  There are subplots of Charles Tyler and the Black Hand plus the nation recovering from the Titanic tragedy intermixed with the rampant prejudice against Italians and woman's suffrage.  All of which immerse the reader in the era.  Once I had read the first few chapters, I was hooked and I raced through the book.

The killer reveal was tearful and a shock as what happened dawns on you, with an added touch of flirtation with danger.  It will stay with me a long time and it was handled brilliantly for maximum effect. The finishing chapter was longer than most wrap-ups, but well worth it.

This book is a gem and I find myself wanting to go back and read the first, A Death of No Importance, in the series while I wait for the third to be published.  Even with the serious topics touched on in the book, there is a hilarious scene that sticks with me as much as the emotional killer reveal.  The writing style is smooth and flowing. I can't recommend this book highly enough!

Rating: Near Perfect - Couldn't put it down. Buy two copies, one for you and one for a friend. 

Author Guest Post - Mariah Fredericks

Please welcome Mariah Fredericks to the blog today.  Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives today with her family. She is a graduate of Vassar College with a BA in history. She has written several novels for young adults; her novel Crunch Time was nominated for an Edgar in 2007. A Death of No Importance was her first mystery for adults (Jane Prescott Mysteries) set in the Gilded Age.  Her second in the series, Death of a New American, is just released and I will be reviewing shortly.

Writing About the Gilded Age
People sometimes ask what drew me to the Gilded Age as the setting for a historical mystery series. Was it the opulence? Edith Wharton? The elaborate facial hair?

My answer would be yes…and no. Like any devotee of period drama, I relish the spectacle of the past. But for me, the mansions of Newport, the Poiret gowns, and Tiffany lamps are only truly fascinating when you look at the cruelty that existed alongside the beauty. The Gilded Age is an astonishingly violent time; a few decades after the Civil War, Americans are still slaughtering one another in large numbers through assassination, anarchist bombings, and working conditions that cost tens of thousand of workers their lives in tragedies like the Triangle Factory fire and the Ludlow Massacre.

And it’s that contrast that makes the Gilded Age a wonderful time to set a murder mystery. So much rage! So many possible motives!

One of the most famous crimes of the Gilded Age was the murder of Stamford White, who was shot by the unhinged Harry K. Thaw. Thaw claimed he had killed White in order to avenge the ravishment of his wife, Gilded Age beauty Evelyn Nesbit. It was a sensational trial, pitting a wealthy famous family against a wealthy famous architect. The country was riveted by the lurid vision of the secret lives of great men, especially Nesbit’s testimony of how White had “seduced” her when she was just a teenager. It had sex, scandal, and celebrity, and the rich guy got off lightly, serving his shortened sentence in a mental asylum under fairly luxurious circumstances.

At first glance, the White murder doesn’t seem to have much to do with labor strife—until you look at the economic arc of Evelyn Nesbit’s life. Solidly middle class, the Nesbit family fell on hard times when Evelyn’s father died. Her mother went to work at a department store. 14-year-old Evelyn and her 12-year-old brother also worked there, doing twelve hour shifts, six days a week. It didn’t take the family long to figure out Evelyn’s face and body could earn much better wages, first as an artist’s model and then as chorus girl. This led to the attentions of wealthy men, notably Stamford White. And one evening when Mrs. Nesbit had agreed to be elsewhere, White took Evelyn to his apartment, drugged her and raped her. She would continue with White for a time before marrying a mentally unstable man who beat her with a rawhide whip, shot one man and attacked another. After the trial, the Thaws divorced. While Nesbit would eventually build a life teaching art in California, she was often economically insecure, battling addictions to alcohol and morphine, and attempting suicide in 1926. There are easier ways to make a living.

The Jane Prescott novels are told from the perspective of view of a servant, someone close to power but too powerless to be worth noticing. And so she hears and sees a great many things. Jane is an excellent maid: loyal, intelligent, and resourceful. She appreciates the beauty of the Poiret gowns. But she also sees what she calls “the tarnish, the wrinkles, and the dirt.” And when the Stamford Whites and Harry K. Thaws commit crimes, she takes the side of their victims.

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THANK YOU Ms. Fredericks for sharing with us.  The Gilded Age is a cautionary era and it is good to remember it.  We tend to romanticize it because of the massive wealth and forget about all the horribly downtrodden.  Which makes for a great setting for murders!