Death of an American Beauty (Jane Prescott #3) by Mariah Fredericks (2020)

 

Death of an American Beauty is Fredericks’ third novel about lady’s maid Jane Prescott who has a knack for becoming involved in and solving mysteries. The series takes place in New York in the early 1900s. The year of this book is 1913, the fiftieth anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech and Dolly Rutherford, wife of the wealthy owner of Rutherford’s Department Store, has gathered society’s ladies to put on a play in honor of the anniversary.  The star is Jane’s employer Louise Tyler.

Jane is on holiday, staying with her uncle who runs a refuge for fallen women where Jane grew up. Her uncle is the only family she knows. When one of the women from the refuse is horribly murdered, Jane’s uncle falls under suspicion.  Jane is determined to prove her uncle’s innocence and is assisted by old friends and new acquaintances.  At the same time Jane finds herself helping with the costuming for the play and is drawn into the drama of Rutherford’s, including the annual pageant for Miss Rutherford, the face of the department store for the coming year.

The writing is very detail oriented; Fredericks’ characters are independent, intelligent, and resourceful. The book is a well-paced whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, red herrings, family dynamics, duty, racial inequality, sexism, romance, violence, and murder. Readers would benefit by reading the first two books in the series beforehand, but Death of an American Beauty can stand on its own. All three books are in the library’s collection.

3.83 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon