A Golden Cage

April 25, 2016
At the start of Freydont’s glittering second Newport Gilded Age mystery (after 2015’s A Gilded Grave), Deanna attends the opulent birthday fete that Maude Grantham has put on for her husband, Judge Samuel Grantham, at their “cottage” on Bellevue Avenue. The Granthams’ daughter and son-in-law have had an entire stage set built and hired an acting troupe to perform. Among the actors is Amabelle Deeks, a daughter of the privileged class who’s left home for a career. Deanna befriends Amabelle, who comes to Bonheur, the home of Gwendolyn Manon, where Deanna is living. When an actor is found dead in the Bonheur conservatory and Amabelle goes missing, Deanna and her maid, Elspeth, again play detective. Deanna chafes under the many restrictions that society imposes on her, but Freydont does a good job showing how women in the 1890s were making advances both small (less restrictive tennis outfits) and large (campaigning for the vote). Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary.

June 1, 2016

Heiress Deanna Randolph is making her social debut under the aegis of the Ballard family at Bonheur, their sumptuous summer cottage in Newport, RI. Deanna is excited to be out from under her mother's thumb and delights in her freedom. She meets an actress, joins a ladies' bicycling club, and considers which fashionable bathing costume to buy. Yet when a young actor is found beaten to death at Bonheur, Deanna, her almost beau Joe, and fearless maid Elspeth have a crime to solve. Deanna is a special plus to the story, an appealing protagonist with a strong streak of independence. VERDICT The second entry in Freydont's historical series after A Gilded Grave is an enjoyable romp that will attract aficionados of the works of Mary Kruger, Alyssa Maxwell, and Tasha Alexander.

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