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A Death of No Importance

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"A Death of No Importance has such rich historic detail that you feel as if you've been transported to early twentieth century New York. Mariah Fredericks is the best at creating compulsively addictive, fresh, twisty reads."—Meg Cabot
Through her exquisite prose, sharp observation and deft plotting, Mariah Fredericks invites listeners into the heart of a changing New York in her remarkable debut adult audiobook.
New York City, 1910. Invisible until she's needed, Jane Prescott has perfected the art of serving as a ladies' maid to the city's upper echelons. When she takes up a position with the Benchley family, dismissed by the city's elite as "new money", Jane realizes that while she may not have financial privilege, she has a power they do not—she understands the rules of high society. The Benchleys cause further outrage when their daughter Charlotte becomes engaged to notorious playboy Norrie, the son of the eminent Newsome family.
But when Norrie is found murdered at a party, Jane discovers she is uniquely positioned—she's a woman no one sees, but who witnesses everything; who possesses no social power, but that of fierce intellect—and therefore has the tools to solve his murder. There are many with grudges to bear: from the family Norrie was supposed to marry into, to the survivors of a tragic accident in a mine owned by the Newsomes, to the rising anarchists who are sick of those born into wealth getting away with anything they want. Jane also knows that in both high society and the city's underbelly, morals can become cheap in the wrong hands: scandal and violence simmer just beneath the surface—and can break out at any time.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Stephanie Willis utterly shines in delivering this elegant and intriguing mystery. Jane Prescott is a clever lady's maid to the daughters of a nouveau-riche family in New York City. When the fianc� of one of the sisters is murdered, Jane investigates. Willis transports the listener into the formal and complicated society of the very rich in 1910. Her acting is superb. And her facility with the accents of the extremely wealthy, those who serve them, and those who aspire to be them is convincing and intriguing. This complicated whodunnit will not disappoint. One hopes there will be more mysteries for Jane to solve. A.C.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 29, 2018
      YA author Fredericks (Season of the Witch) makes her adult debut with a sparkling mystery set in 1910 Manhattan. Lady’s maid Jane Prescott works for the Benchleys, who have the money but not the sophistication to be part of elite society. When the Benchleys’ daughter Charlotte falls for Robert “Norrie” Newsome, the playboy heir to a mining fortune, drama ensues. At the Christmas Eve ball Norrie’s parents reluctantly hold to announce his engagement to Charlotte, he’s found dead, his eyes gouged out. Charlotte, the young woman Norrie jilted when he took up with her, and their families all have motives, as do local anarchists with a history of violent protest and the families of those killed in a recent Newsome mine disaster. Concerned for her employers, Jane looks into the murder with help from an attractive reporter and a chemist knowledgeable about emerging forensic techniques. The novel’s voice, plotting, pace, characterization, and historical background are all expertly crafted, while the resolution—which feels both surprising and convincing—will leave readers hungry for more. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary.

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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