Emily Dickinson features as the amateur sleuth in this new historical mystery series. While the lady poet became reclusive in later life, she traveled during her earlier years. BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH, the first line of one of her best-known poems makes a brilliant title and suggests a fascination with the unknown, unseen, and the dead.
Our guide is Willa Noble, a maid who in 1855 seeks a new job in Amherst, Massachusetts. Willa gains a place at a house above her station when Miss Dickinson instructs the housekeeper to hire this orphan. Willa’s hard-working brother, Henry, soon pops in to see her, assuring her that one of his madcap schemes will gain them wealth. But an accident at the town stables puts paid to Willa’s happiness. She suspects that someone is lying to cover up the death, and soon Miss Dickinson takes up the investigation. The trail leads them to Washington, where the Lincoln Memorial is still only half-built from lack of funding, and suspects abound in both locations.
My association with Amanda Flower is Amish sweetshop mysteries and Farm to Table mysteries. This historical crime story breaks new ground, but at the same time, we see a determined and self-determining heroine. Two, in fact. Willa may not have the political clout of the Dickinson family, but she is wise in areas where she has the experience, and she is never afraid to try to help others and improve her station. Emily has already made up her mind on many aspects of life, and as she is comfortably off, she doesn’t need to compromise. If she wants to look into a suspicious death, that is exactly what she does, accompanied by her large dog Carlo, her sister Lavinia, and for respectability, her maid. A nice touch is that the party visits the home of the late President Washington, tourists in their day, just as I would be if I visited.
The first Emily Dickinson mystery introduces the characters and locations, provides the beginning of the poet’s career, and hints at her inspirations. I can’t wait to see how this series progresses. Amanda Flower has written more than thirty mysteries in various series, so she is well situated to do this unusual heroine justice. I hope that the novels will encourage readers to return to the literary works of Dickinson and puzzle out the cryptic lines, finding new poems or new ways of seeing familiar verses. BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH is an ideal place to start.
January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing.
Tragedy soon strikes and Willa's beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother’s death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he'd found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress....
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