I Died for Beauty (An Emily Dickinson Mystery, #3) by Amanda Flower

 

When a blaze takes both a neighbor’s home and his life, Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa have a burning desire to crack the case in this new historical mystery from Agatha Award–winning author Amanda Flower.

Amherst, 1857. The Dickinson family braves one of the worst winters in New England’s history. Trains are snowbound and boats are frozen in the harbor. Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, have never witnessed anything like it. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound.

These worries prove not to be unfounded as a blaze breaks out just down the street from the Dickinson in Kelley Square, the Irish community in Amherst, and a young couple is killed, leaving behind their young child. Their deaths appear to be a tragic accident, but Emily finds herself harboring suspicions there may be more to the fire than meets the eye. Emily and Willa must withstand the frigid temperatures and discover a killer lurking among the deadly frost.

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About The Author

Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, Hallmark Publishing, Crooked Lane Books, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their two adorable cats.

Visit her at www.amandaflower.com

  

My Review

 I really enjoyed this cozy mystery set in 1857 Amherst Massachusetts, and although this is the third book in this series, this is the first I have read, and I was not lost.
The story is told by Willa Noble, Emily Dickinson's maid, and we sure walked a lot in cold, the Cold Storm, one of the most brutal winters recorded. This is a college town, and their is a distinction between the classes here.
Miss Emily is always walking around with a lot of words in her head that is trying to make their way to paper, and as she goes about she brings Willa, whom should be home working. We see a big class separation here, and women are under their husbands control.
Was I surprised by how the facts unfolded here, oh yes, and they kept coming right to the end.
Be sure to read the authors notes, I loved how she tells us about the characters.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Berkley, and was not required to give a positive review.