In glittering Newport, Rhode Island, status is everything. But despite being a poorer relation to the venerable Vanderbilts, Emma Cross has shaped her own identityโas a reporter and a sleuth.
As the nineteenth century draws to a close,Fancies and Fashion reporter Emma Cross is sent by the Newport Observer to cover an elite house party at Rough Point, a โcottageโ owned by her distant cousin Frederick Vanderbilt that has been rented as an artist retreat. To her surprise, the illustrious guests include her estranged Bohemian parentsโrecently returned from Europeโas well as a variety of notable artists, including author Edith Wharton.
But when one of the artists is discovered dead at the bottom of a cliff, Rough Point becomes anything but a house of mirth. After a second murder, no one is above suspicionโincluding Emmaโs parents. As Newport police detective Jesse Whyte searches for a killer, Emma tries to draw her own conclusionsโwith the help of Mrs. Wharton. But with so many sketchy suspects, sheโll need to canvas the crime scenes carefully, before the cunning culprit takes her out of the picture next . . .
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