Pauline Cook has grown accustomed to the finer things in life. Now that she is a widow and has to make it on her own, she needs to adjust to a new way of living. Pauline's sudden lack of money is a secret from her friends and they have no idea she is in so much debt.

After being stood up for a lunch date with her best friend, writer, Ethan Campbell, Pauline goes to his apartment to investigate. What she finds there is his body, dead, from an apparent suicide. With no family to bury him, Pauline volunteers to pay for his funeral. After searching through Ethan's personal things for answers, she finds multiple birth certificates. Pauline begins to question whether Ethan is who she thought he was. Unable to simply bury this man without knowing who he truly is, Pauline goes on a quest to find out the truth.

In the meantime, Pauline desperately tries to keep the rumors at bay about Ethan's suicide. The local society women are buzzing about Ethan and whether or not he was a phony. While traveling from Chicago to England to NY, Pauline meets some questionable men who become interested in her romantically. After being so lonely and without a husband, Pauline is flattered at the sudden attention she is receiving. Will Pauline get herself involved in a dangerous situation or will she find herself a wealthy man to save her from her financial ruin?

Pauline receives a call from a man saying she is to inherit a large amount of money from Ethan Campbell. This is the answer to all of her problems! Unfortunately nothing is simple for poor Pauline. A number of people also want this money and they will not leave her alone until she hands it over to them. Will Pauline risk her life to keep the inheritance or will she hand over the money and walk away?

WELL BRED AND DEAD is a cozy mystery about how far someone will go to clear their friend's good name. In a society where money is all that matters, Pauline slowly discovers that friendship is what's really important in life. But without any money to her name, the green paper starts to become more important to her then anything else.

I would have preferred a different ending to the story. It did have a major twist and that was exciting, but the ending just left me feeling unsatisfied. Maybe the book would have been better unresolved and continued in another book in more detail. The main character, Pauline Cook, was very egotistical and arrogant. It took me a long time to warm up to her and to care about her well being. Overall, I did enjoy WELL BRED AND DEAD and would recommend it to cozy mystery fans.