A Gilded Drowning Pool

July 15, 2023
In Tichi's fifth installment of her Gilded Age mystery series, murder and intrigue disrupt the usual upper-class frivolities in New York's Hudson Valley. In early June 1899 (the "between season" for those who follow the social calendar of the Gilded class), New Yorkers Roderick "Roddy" Windham DeVere and Valentine "Val" Louise Mackle DeVere prepare to enjoy Roddy's newest creative cocktail when Val learns that they have been invited to Kiddwood, the Ulster County country estate of family friends Alfred "Alf" Kidd and Mercedes "Sadie" Kidd. The invitation includes a not-so-subtle request to discover the cause of Kiddwood's recent water problems (their water flows from the adjacent undeveloped acreage owned by Roddy's parents, and that flow has dwindled down to a trickle). Before Val can convince Roddy to send their polite regrets, a telegram arrives informing them that a woman's body has been found on the DeVere property. Two days later, Roddy and Val take a Hudson River steamboat up to Kingston, New York, where they are to liaise with Assistant Police Chief Clyde Fitch. And so begins another murderous adventure through the Gilded Age, complete with all of its glamour and suffocating social conventions (as well as its gritty underbelly). Readers are likely to particularly enjoy the outrageously lavish displays of luxury relished by those living at the pinnacle of the economic heap, as meticulously described by Val, the story's narrator. Indeed, the author pays attention to every detail of the clothing and cuisine, including the recipes for Roddy's exotic cocktails ("My Roddy had just mixed one of his fabulous, mysterious drinks, this one called a Collins. We tapped our tall glasses and sipped. 'Delicious, Roddy.' I sipped again. 'I taste orange, Florida orange. The name of this must be the Florida Collins' "). Although the tension is mild in this cozy mystery, there are plenty of juicy secrets behind the glittering facade and enough suspects to keep the reader guessing. A light, enjoyable escapist read with a satisfying final twist.

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