Murder at Chateau-sur-Mer

Murder at Chateau sur Mer is a fabulous addition to Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport Mysteries series. The characters are well-crafted and authentic, and the addition of real-life members of the Four Hundred crowd including the Vanderbilts and the Astors adds a fun element to the mysteries. The highly entertaining protagonist, Emma Cross, is a newspaper columnist for the Newport Observer and an amateur sleuth who is torn between two very different but equally likeable suitors. In this fifth installment, Senator Wetmore, his wife Edith, and their beautiful Bellevue Avenue home Chateau Sur Mer are at the center of the mystery when a prostitute is found dead at the bottom of the home’s grand staircase. To resolve the matter and avoid show more gossip, Mrs. Wetmore employs Emma to determine how the woman ended up at Chateau Sur Mer. The plot is clever and kept me guessing until close to the end. At the end of the book, Maxwell includes a phenomenal Author’s Note detailing both Chateau sur Mer’s and the Wetmore’s history as well as information on other real life characters and locales that played roles in her book. After I finished the novel, I enjoyed looking up pictures of Chateau sur Mer and hope to visit Newport again (I went as a child) to see the various mansions that play prominent roles in the Gilded Newport Mysteries series. I highly recommend Murder at Chateau sur Mer and the earlier books in the series too. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. show less

Emmaline Cross, poor relation of the Vanderbilts and society columnist for the Newport Observer, is caught in a difficult situation when she is recruited by Senator George Wetmore's wife to discover the details that resulted in the dead body at the bottom of the steps at Chateau sur Mer, the Wetmore's home in Newport. The victim, Lilah Buford, a prostitute at the Blue Moon tavern, had been making an effort to contact Mrs. Wetmore at a polo match earlier in the day and now she was dead. What did she need to communicate with Mrs. Wetmore about? Was the matter the cause of her death? How could she have gotten into this guarded home without anyone knowing?

Emma sets out to find the answers but the manner of her investigation may endanger show more her livelihood if not her life.

It was great to see all the characters surrounding Emma again. The mystery was very complex as well as entertaining. The writing, as usual, was superb. show less

While covering a polo match, Emma Cross observes a woman demanding to speak to Mrs. Wetmore, the wife of a senator. The next morning, she is summoned to the scene of a crime: the woman she had observed, dead in the Wetmore home. Secrets on secrets get revealed as Emma searches to find the truth.

This was my first introduction to Emma Cross. The book does a phenomenal job in leaving hints about what has happened in previous books for a new reader, but without annoying a reader who may have already read the other books.

Emma is a character I fell in love with from the start. As a distant relative to the Vanderbilts, she has access to the higher parts of society, but she must make her own way in the world. She is curious and tenacious in show more doing what she must to solve the crime.

The mystery is paced just right and the clues Emma (and we the readers) must know to solve the murder are found in a believable way. Secondary characters, who have been important to Emma in the past, make their appearance to aid her once again.

For a cozy mystery set in the American Gilded age, you won't go wrong with this one.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for reviewing purposes. show less

Alyssa Maxwell’s murder mysteries at the various mansions run so true to the nature of Newport at the turn of the century. Being a frequent visitor to Newport over the past thirty years her stories are all the more interesting to me. I was able to recognize so many details of Chateau Sur Mer, which I have been fortunate to tour, as well as many locations in Newport which Maxwell uses in her novel.

This story, set in 1897, revolves around Senator George Wetmore and his family, the occupants of Chateau Sur Mer. We are reintroduced to most of the author’s previous characters along with some newcomers. The story revolves around the privileged “400” but also explores the rough and seamy side of Newport’s docks and the less fortunate show more who call this part of the society town home. And of course there is the murder to be solved by the redoubtable Emmaline Cross. Maxwell’s facts are well researched and the few liberties taken are understandable. I found this plot to be more convoluted than some the previous mysteries in this series, but still an enjoyable and satisfying read. This was just a hair shy of four stars. Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC. show less

Although I thought there were too many things going on with the culprit's back story, I enjoyed the storytelling, pacing, setting and characters very much. This series is among the best I've read for cozy mysteries.


Content note: Parts of the story involve Emma questioning the girls at a house of ill repute, but there's nothing gratuitous discussed or shown.

Emma, society columnist, is covering the Newport Polo match when she witnesses a strange encounter of a young woman (someone from a local brothel) approaching the wife of one of Newport's wealthiest. It causes a lot of chaos and later that night she is murdered at Mrs. Wetmore's home, Chateau Sur Mer. She asks Emma to use her investigative skills to find out what she wanted to say to Mrs. Wetmore.

I enjoyed this book, though Emma sort of leapt to conclusions and didn't have any real evidence until the end of the book.

Murder at Chateau sur Mer is the fifth book in the Gilded Newport Mysteries series.

Another exciting, well-plotted, and told story in this wonderful series.

Emma Cross is covering the Meadowview Polo Club match for the Newport Observer. As she is heading for a different vantage she catches bits of conversation of three men of means. They are discussing the acts of vandalism that have been taking place and the unfairness of The Dingley Tariff that is being supported by Sen. George Wetmore. As Emma is approaching the grandstand to learn of the latest fashions the ladies are wearing, she notices a commotion caused by a young lady who seeks to speak to Mrs. Wetworth. She is certainly not a member of society and the police send her on her show more way.

The next morning Emma receives a call from Jesse Whyte, a good friend and detective with the Newport Police, asking her to come the Wetmore home. Upon arriving she sees the body of the girl she had seen at the polo match. She is soon identified as Lilah Buford, a prostitute at the Blue Moon tavern near the wharf. After an autopsy, it is learned that Buford was pregnant. Emma is quite surprised when Mrs. Wetmore, having heard of Emma’s investigative skill in the past, asks her to look into who murdered Buford so her husband’s name can be cleared.

Emma, even though she is just a “poor relation” of the Vanderbilt’s she is able to use that to gain access to members of society to help with her investigation. She also uses the friendship she has with Whyte to share items that she has learned and to act as a sounding board for other sleuthing trails she might come across. But she also finds herself searching the seamy area around the wharves for clues where she encounters an adversary from the past, Mr. Dobbs. She also gets help from Derrick Andrews, a family friend and who she was engaged to for a short time.

I am anxiously the next book in this series to see what adventures are in store for Emma, where her career choice will take her, and if she will decide who will become a romantic interest. show less