Death, Diamonds, and Deception

Gilded Age Mystery Series, Book 5

By: Rosemary Simpson

Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman

Fall 1889: Lady Rotherton has arrived from London intent on chaperoning her niece Prudence through a New York social season to find a suitable husband. It's certainly not her niece's devilishly handsome partner in Hunter and MacKenzie Investigative Law. Aunt Gillian's eye for eligible suitors is surpassed only by her ability to discern genuine gems from nearly flawless fakes. At the Assembly Ball at Delmonico's, she effortlessly determines that the stones in the spectacular diamond waterfall necklace adorning the neck of the wife of banker William De Vries are fake.

Insisting on absolute discretion to avoid scandal, the banker employs Prudence and Geoffrey to recover the stolen diamonds pried out of their settings-priceless stones acquired by Tiffany, originally purchased for Marie Antoinette. Their search for a possible fence rapidly leads to a dead end: a jeweler brutally killed in his shop during an apparent theft.

The jeweler's murder is only the first in a string of mysterious deaths, as Prudence and Geoffrey pursue their elusive quarry. But the clues keep leading back to duplicity on the part of the De Vries family, who, it turns out, have a great deal to hide . . .

©2020 Rosemary Simpson (P)2020 Tantor

I've been waiting for this!

Initially, I was drawn into this series because of the author's fine hand at detailing the complex history of the period and creating a heroine who is very much NOT a modern caricature slotted into the past.
I kept listening because the books kept getting better, each more tightly plotted than the last, with the same attention to fascinating historical detail.
In writing about a time that was, at times, frighteningly dark, the author doesn't cheat; she puts it all out there.
I really enjoyed this last one!

Great

Slow but great at the end. A cliffhanger I couldn’t believe it. Great writing, as in all of the books!

Death, Deception and Diamonds

Suspenseful and historically accurate I love the well developed characters you won’t be able to put it down!

Excellent

Wow these just get better and better. A winding, twisted journey of so many characters that had issues. Some heartbreaking and some murderous and greedy

Cannot wait for more

Loose end

Story is complex and well crafted. I was disappointed that no attempt was made to wrap up Lena’s story. Other than that I enjoyed the book.