Murder at Malbone (A Gilded Newport Mystery)

A fatal Fourth of July fireworks mishap in Newport, Rhode Island, proves to be no accident, and newspaper editor Emma Cross Andrews must sort out who turned a celebration into an incendiary act of cold-blooded murder . . .

July 1904. Offering a perfect view of the fireworks over Newport Harbor from its high perch north of town, the grand estate of Malbone is the spectacular site of a holiday fete on an idyllic evening. A summer “cottage” often referred to as a castle due to its towers and prominent gables in the Gothic Revival tradition, Malbone rose like a phoenix from the ashes when the first estate burned down, only to be rebuilt into the magnificent edifice that now provides a dramatic backdrop to games of croquet, lawn bowls, and badminton as guests, including Emma and her husband Derrick, eagerly await the fireworks.

Determined not to be left out, patriarch Henry Bedlow has a barrel of fireworks ready to be shot into the sky. Jumping in to do the honors is a boisterous young man named Ulysses, one of a lively group of recent Yale graduates, friends of Bedlow’s grandson.  But when Ulysses attempts to pry off the lid, the barrel explodes, killing him and wounding nearby guests.

Arriving on the scene, Detective Jessie Whyte determines the barrel had been rigged to explode. This is murder—but who was the intended victim? The search for motives and opportunity proves far-ranging, with rumors of a secret tunnel and Bedlow’s daughter, Mrs. Morris, convinced that Malbone is haunted and the attack is vengeance on descendants of the slave trade. Emma’s suspicions lean more toward a crime of passion, but her attempts to find the truth may once more put her life in danger…