Murder At The Breakers-Alyssa Maxwell

Murder At The Breakers Alyssa Maxwell Kensington, Mar 25 2014, $15.00 ISBN 9780758290823 In 1895 Newport, Rhode Island, though belonging to the affluent Vanderbilt brood, twentyish reporter Emmaline Cross is a poor working class reporter who drives a carriage for a living. Her other full-time occupation is getting her half-brother Brady Gale out of his many minor scrapes with the law. To celebrate his newest mansion the Breakers, Cornelius Vanderbilt tosses a party attended by the elite of the upper class. However, the gala turns nightmarish when someone uses a candelabrum as a hammer to brutally smash in the skull of Vanderbilt’s secretary Alvin Goddard before tossing the victim off the second-story balcony. The Newport police arrest Vanderbilt’s nephew intoxicated Brady who was found asleep at the murder scene possessing stolen railroad secrets he apparently took form his uncle. Emma knows her sibling is a wastrel drunk, but not a murderer; so with the help of attractive journalist Derrick Anderson she questions those who attended the shindig. The first Gilded Newport Mystery is an entertaining whodunit starring a wonderful heroine whose independence readers will enjoy though it is out of place for the late nineteenth century. Fans will root for unsinkable Emma as she crosses her .1% relatives with her unacceptable embarrassing behavior. Although the investigation takes a back seat to touring the rich and famous of Newport in the Gilded Age, Murder At The Breakers is a fun affair. Harriet Klausner