In the summer of 1898, reporter Emma Cross investigates a shocking death among the bright lights of Newport’s high society . . . After a disappointing year as a society columnist for the Herald and staying with her more well-heeled Vanderbilt relatives in New York City, Emma has returned to the salty air, glittering ocean vistas, and grand stately mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, more … Newport, Rhode Island, more determined than ever to report on hard news.
But for now she’s covering the social event of the season at Ochre Court, a coming-out ball designed to showcase Cleo Cooper-Smith, who will be literally on display, fittingly as Cleopatra, in an elaborate tableau vivant. Recently installed modern electricity will allow Miss Cooper-Smith to truly shine. But as the deb ascends to her place of honor, the ballroom is plunged into darkness. When the lights come back on, Cleo sits still on her throne, electrocuted to death.
Quickly establishing that the wiring was tampered with, Emma now has a murder to investigate. And the array of eligible suspects could fill another ballroom—from a shady New York real estate developer to a neglected sister and the mother of a spurned suitor. As Emma begins to discover this crime has unseen connections to a nefarious network, she puts her own life at risk to shine a light on the dark motives behind a merciless murder.
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I just finished this Gilded Newport Mystery novel and found it as well written as the first five novels. I’ve already ordered the next in the series. Alyssa has a way of grabbing the reader and twisting them around to think one person is guilty then another is guilty, then ends it with a surprise twist. I enjoy the historical aspects of the stories as well. Mrs. Maxwell has done her research well. The only drawback, for me, is at the end, her protagonist, Emma Ross, decides on the man she wants to marry. I thought she picked the wrong guy. But, that’s just me.
My wife and I are looking forward to the rest of the series.
I am always so happy when I sit down with one of Alyssa Maxwell’s books, especially the Newport series. They’re like time travel tourism, taking you to a fascinating locale when the Astors, Vanderbilts, and Goelets still roamed those gorgeous homes. In Ochre Court, Emma Cross is a little at sea, coming off a bump in her reporting career. She returns to Newport to cover a spectacular coming out party, which ends in a fabulously theatrical death. There are many suspects and the sub dramas in each of their stories are so well done, keeping you happily occupied until the satisfying conclusion. There are all the pleasures of Gilded Newport, but these books are so smart, giving you little unexpected pleasures like a discussion of marriage with Nellie Bly or an appearance by Reginald Vanderbilt before Gloria.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Emma clearly has not been happy in New York. Her work for the Herald as a society columnist has been pretty mundane. She really wants to be a hard news journalist, something very few women have been given the chance to do. She has a huge decision to make. Will she return to New York after covering the coming-out ball of Cleo Cooper-Smith or will she stay in Newport and try to find a way to follow her dream?
Ochre Court is where the party for Miss Cooper-Smith is taking place. The Goelet’s have just installed modern electricity and the decorations and planned tableau vivant should be spectacular and the talk of the season. But as the debutante dressed as Cleopatra takes her place on the throne, the room shockingly goes dark. As soon as lighting is restored a horrible sight awaits the crowd. Miss Cooper-Smith is dead, she has been electrocuted and the wiring has been tampered with. The young lady was murdered and there is a room full of suspects.
With Emma on the scene, she plans to report on the death for the Herald and investigate the murder too. The problem is as she uncovers the truth she is putting herself in the killer’s sights. She may miss her final deadline if she isn’t careful.
Alyssa Maxwell is an extraordinary storyteller. She is able to blend real historical times, places and events into a fictional story that will have readers believing they are reading a true account. She is careful to separate fact from fiction at the end of the story. It is so easy to see that she has researched the era and the area extensively. It is also very easy for the reader to escape right into the pages and away to Newport circa 1898.
Emma Cross is a protagonist that is smart, engaging and very independent for a woman at this point in history. Because of her shirttail relationship to the Vanderbilt family, she is able to call on and question almost all members of the elite 400 Club. She doesn’t hold back either. They are not always happy to see her, but they usually come around to answering her questions. Also in this story, Emma meets Nellie Bly, a famous female journalist who has inspired Emma to follow her passion of becoming a hard news reporter.
We meet many new characters in this installment and each is very defined but they all seem to have some kind of secret that causes Emma to really dig to find the truth. The truth leads her to some shady dealings in New York, and that takes the story in direction Emma has been pondering a while. Twists, yes. Turns, yet. Surprising reveal, yes, yes, yes.
The cover of the book gives us a nice picture of Ochre Court, but after reading each book in this series and the author’s notes at the end I always find myself searching for more information about the place and the family that actually lived there. I really enjoyed this post on The Gilded Age Era, complete with pictures and floor plans. Seeing those confirmed that what I had imagined from the author’s wonderful descriptions were spot on.
Thanks to Ms. Maxwell readers are treated to a rich story set in the Gilded Age with a complex mystery that keeps us guessing right up until the end. Then she gives us just a little snippet that leaves us craving for the next book in this series.
Every book in this series is wonderful and I do recommend reading them all in order. I am amazed at all Emma Cross has been through in these six stories.
Part of the Fabulous Gilded Newport series which is grounded in the real history of the people and places of turn of the century Newport. Clever, and engaging with characters you become attached too.
I especially enjoyed the historical setting in Newport, RI. A good mystery.
Matches the time that it is set in, characters are great and well filled out.
Entertaining.
Maxwell is a good writer, keeps the reader turning the page.
Easy to read. Love the setting of Newport in “the olden days.” Main character goes on and on a bit too much about being independent. We get it, okay!
Surprising
Love this series!
Wasn’t the best of the series but enjoyable enough
I really enjoy the Gilded Newport Mystery Series, and Maxwell has proven time and again that she is great storyteller. She manages to blend real settings and historical figures seamlessly with fictional characters and scenarios. The mystery is engaging and the characters are well developed, both those recurring and those centric to this story. Emma is a strong, intelligent, and independent (perhaps a little too independent for the era) protagonist. She has grown a lot over the course of the series. There are enough suspects, potential motives, clues and twists with just the right amount of tension and danger to keep me reading. I was surprised by the killer’s identity. Fans of the series will be pleased with this fine addition to the series. I recommend MURDER AT OCHRE COURT to any reader interested in the Gilded Age, strong amateur sleuths, and complex historical mysteries.
I received a copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here. The opinions are my own.
This is another charming visit back into the lives and times of Newport in 1898.
The characters continue to be quite engaging and worth worrying about.
The mystery here is rather interesting, too.
There is the tension between the gas and the electric factions.
Maxwell has succeeded, again, in painting a very real time and place.
Kept my attention and want more by same author
I’ve found a new female sleuth to enjoy with this book! Set in Newport in 1898, Emma Cross is a reporter who wants to be taken seriously and given the hard news stories in the newspaper business…unfortunately she has problems with that. Here she solves three murders, exposes criminal negligence and takes down some members of a nasty gang. I this character! Will definitely go back and read her previous 5 adventures to get the full picture…hate that I came to this one mid-stream!
Thanks to #NetGalley & #KensingtonBooks for providing the ARC, but the opinion is strictly my own.
Murder At Ochre Court is the sixth book in the Gilded Newport Mysteries series.
I love historical cozy mysteries and this series is definitely one of my favorites.
After spending an unsatisfying year writing society columns for the Herald in New York City, Emma’s editor sends her home to cover the society debut of Cleo Cooper-Smith. Mrs. Goelet is handling the gala affair, having promised Cleo’s mother before she died. Mrs. Goelet has planned an elaborate throne, much like Cleopatra would have had, for Cleo to reside on. She had local electrician, Dale Hanson, string so Edison lights near where Cleo would be sitting. After the decoration have been hung and Hanson has completed the wiring, Mrs. Goelet has ordered that the ballroom is locked and that no one is allowed in the ballroom until the gala that evening. That evening when Cleo assumes her seat and the Edison lights are turned on some of the guests sense something is wrong and when the ballroom lights are turned back on Cleo’s lifeless body is seen having apparently having been electrocuted. Then when Jessie Whyte, police detective and friend of Emma, and Hanson arrive, Hanson unwittingly touches the chair and Whyte grabs him and attempts to dislodge Hanson. They both require hospitalization and Whyte asks Emma to investigate what might have gone wrong.
When Emma returns to the Goelet’s home to begin her investigation she notices wiring around the feet of the chair that Cleo had been sitting on and was able to get confirmation that this was definitely a case of murder. She has many suspects to sort through. The owner of the local gas company, Max Brentworth, who might feel his business is being threatened by all the homes that are converting to electricity, Silas Griggson, a real estate developer, who was hoping to get engaged to Cleo but had been spurned by her, and her maid who had had an argument on the day of Cleo’s death and who had valuables of Cleo in her possession, and others.
This is another well-plotted and told story from Ms. Maxwell. Maxwell does a wonderful job of portraying what life might have been like in the late 1800’s in Newport and providing the reader with an interesting and believable cast of characters.
I will definitely be watching for the next book in this exciting series.