A week after covering the servant strike at the newly constructed Bellevue Avenue estate, newspaper reporter Emma Cross and her new husband attend a party at the mansion. During the party, the body of the only worker not to go on strike is found in the coal tunnel that connects to the mansion’s subterranean level. As Emma helps the Newport Police investigate the murder, the question becomes not only who killed the chambermaid but who exactly is the chambermaid? The victim turns out not to be just a shy chambermaid but a master criminal.

Alyssa Maxwell and Emma Cross never disappoint in the Gilded Newport Mysteries. Maxwell really brings turn-of-the-century Newport to life by taking the readers into the mansions and introducing us to the wealthy occupants and the people who keep the estates running. It’s good to see Emma and Derrick married and settling into their new life as a couple.

What an exciting new Gilded Newport Mystery, with twists and turns and evil I did not see coming! Emma and Derrick are newly returned from their honeymoon, and it’s such a joy to see them experience married life - especially with the bumps along the way. It was so engaging that I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one day.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I loved the premise for this book but I didn't realise it far too along in a series to begin with. I missed important character development. It made no sense to a new reader that a working woman was invited to report on cases and also hob nob with the owners of the big houses and that the police shared their info with a reporter so willinging.

Emma and Derrick just married and Emma is trying hard to live life "differently"
aware of Derrick's elevated social position, though despite it being 1901 with very
Victorian ideas that people in general have about women in society, Derrick has
startlingly modern views.

Covering a rather newsworthy event, a strike by domestic staff at the Berwinds
bungalow unheard at the time and put down drastically by the family by summarily
dismissing all the errant staff brought Emma into direct contact with the family.
an invitation to view the house with all its mod cons was the opening Emma needed
to find out more about the repercussions of the strike but it ended with the discovery
of a maids body (one of those who didnt strike) and the loss of an invaluable
necklace.

Detective Jesse calls on Emma and Derrick to provide the inside information on this
high society party because he will never be privy to its machinations and cover ups
and it is this that for me was very good reading. How this society was blind to its
own defects and swept everything under the table to protect their own because the deaths
were mere poorer people who worked for them, mere nobodies.

The story unravelled slowly but it was a fascinating read - the murder, the clues,
the position of a newspaper reporter at the time, hypocricy of society all added to
the variety of the read.

What a delicious introduction to the Gilded Newport Mystery series. How ever did I not know about this series with all of its lavish homes along the sea?! I certainly have some catching up to do.

Emmaline Cross, Emma to all her friends, is a bright and fiercely independent female news reporter. She has just returned from her honeymoon abroad with her husband Derrick Andrews. Emma and Derrick own the Newport Messenger newspaper for which she writes. Emma's been given a tip about a kerfuffle below stairs at the relatively new Berwind estate. The staff (except for one) are set to strike for better working conditions. Things did not go according to plan and the staff are summarily dismissed and immediately replaced. Shortly thereafter, Emma and Derrick are invited to the Berwinds' Musicale - featuring a British chamber ensemble in celebration of the Berwinds' new fully electrified home. All is going relatively to plan until a body is discovered at the bottom of the coal delivery tunnel. Coincidentally, a lavish and priceless necklace appears to have been stolen. Could the two crimes be related? Police detective, Jesse Whyte, and longtime friend of Emma's family, asks for Emma's and Derrick's assistance as they are more likely to hear and see things within the posh crowd to which he would not be privy. And so the investigation commences.

Ms. Maxwell has deftly crafted a well written and thoroughly engaging story. Her characters are well developed and the settings are spectacular and cinematic in their description. The descriptions of the lavish homes make this reader long for another visit to The Breakers; to revel in the opulence of a bygone era. Emma is the personification of the modern woman. She's related to the Vanderbilt's and yet is not a stranger to the working class. She manages well between both worlds and has heart for the working poor. As we observe her husband comfortably working alongside her, he too is a modern man - accepting of his amazing and plucky wife and all that she is.

I am grateful to #Kensington Books for having provided a complimentary copy of this book through #NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: August 22, 2023
ISBN: 978-1496736208
No. of pages: 304

Emma is ready for another season in Newport, this time as a newly married woman. While covering a story of servants threatening to strike she meets a young women and is again drawn into a murder investigation. Meanwhile she is attempting to navigate her marriage and boundaries that imposes. Delightful!

Another great installment of the The Gilded Age mysteries!! Such a great historical mystery that one can sink their teeth into and highly enjoyable! I would recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a historical mystery series not set in Victorian London (love those, but sometimes I want something different)

"Murder at the Elms" by Alyssa Maxwell is the eleventh book in the Gilded Newport Mystery series. Like all the previous ones, it is an excellently written and thoroughly engaging read.
This latest installment starts off with a bang: employees at the latest Newport mansion called the Elms, owned by the Berwinds (a real couple), threatening to strike. However, one chooses not to strike, but that doesn't mean good tidings. That one employee, along with 3 others, meet with untimely ends in this intriguing mystery. It's not just trying to solve the murders that captures you, but trying to understand why they occurred in the first place that keeps you engaged.
With each book in this series, I rarely figure out who the culprit is until Emma does. This 'tradition' continued with this book. I was a little surprised when it was revealed, as the person seemed sort of detached from all that was going on.
Only one aspect annoyed me in this story: Emma's constant internal angst over now being a married woman. She was acting as if people, namely her husband Derrick, were expecting her to suddenly change. That wasn't the case; if anything the one who adjusted was Derrick, in that he accepted that being a sleuth was just part of who Emma is. It made no sense that someone as strong-willed as Emma couldn't voice her feelings to her husband.
And as much as I enjoyed the story, one particular aspect was left unresolved. Spoilerb alert!! -- A critical part of the mystery involved a necklace allegedly owned by Queen Marie Antoinette. Now, how did the culprit intend to run off without the very item that would have netted him and his partner a pretty nice chunk of money? That didn't jive for me.
Even with one or two foibles, I always always enjoy Alyssa Maxwell books. This one is another winner, perfect for anyone who likes mysteries and Gilded Age history.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC, which I voluntarily read and reviewed.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I read the premise for this book I requested it, but I dived right in not realising it was a fair way through the progression of an existing series, so I do feel like I was missing some background and prior character building which I think detracted a little bit. The actual plot was very good and the characters well constructed. I’m a sucker for a murder mystery, and one set in the Gilded Age at that! A regular romp of murder, mayhem and mystery that kept me guessing for the most part, just the way a mystery should!

I love Derrick and Emma’s relationship and now I really want to see how they started out! Some plot points are not very realistic…I’m not sure the police are usually so enthusiastic to work with reporters…but it did add to the charm of a bygone era so I’ll allow it! A great read. 3.5-4 ⭐️

Murder at the Elms is the 11th book in Alyssa Maxwell's Gilded Age Mystery series. Usually, by this point, series books usually feel stale and unoriginal. Fortunately, that's not the case with Murder at the Elms. At the opening of the story, newlyweds Emma and Derrick have returned from their honeymoon and are settling into married life. One of their first social engagements upon returning home is a party at The Elms, the newest and most technologically advanced home in Newport, RI. When a housemaid at The Elms is caught up in a labor dispute (which is based on an actual event) and is later found dead, Emma finds herself drawn into another complicated mystery. I have enjoyed watching Emma and Derrick's characters develop over the course of the series, and this entry does not disappoint. Our newlyweds are feeling some growing pains as they try to adapt to a life living and working together at the same newspaper. I love the glimpses into Gilded Age Newport and the focus of each book in the series on a different "cottage." These books are the reason I visited Newport, RI, several years ago. Murder at the Elms is definitely not a stand-alone - the books should be read in order to truly appreciate the character development so integral to each story. All in all, a very satisfying read. I'm hoping there will be a twelfth book soon!!

What a pleasure it was to return to Newport, R.I. for the latest in Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport series. #MurderatTheElms is another well researched, cleverly plotted mystery that features Emma Cross, a Newport native and reporter for a local newspaper, who is a poor relation of the wealthy Vanderbilt.

In this entry, Emma has recently returned from her honeymoon, after marrying Derrick Andrews, the owner and publisher of the newspaper where Emma works. Emma’s first assignment upon her return takes her to The Elms, the summer “cottage” of Ned and Minnie Berwind, where the household servants are fed up with having no time off at all and are threatening to strike if they can’t negotiate a compromise. Unfortunately, Ned Berwind does not negotiate with his employees and promptly fires all of them, except for one maid, Ines, who did not want to participate. The Berwinds quickly hire replacement staff in time to move ahead as planned with a musicale evening for which they had issued invitations. During the musicale, Ines, is found murdered. Based on their past experience and their relationships with the Berwinds and others in the upper class, Emma and Derrick are asked to assist the police.

The Berwinds have two couples staying with them: the Rex and Sylvie Morton and Charles and Kay Gilchrist. Shortly after the maid’s murder, Rex Morton discovers that an incredibly valuable necklace has been stolen from the safe in the Morton’s suite. The theft and the murder seem connected and there is plenty of suspicious behavior going on among servants, guests and competitive reporters to keep Emma, Derrick and the police busy trying to track down the truth.

Murder at the Elms is an entertaining mystery enhanced by insight into Emma and Derrick’s relationship as they navigate being a newly wedded couple..

Thanks to #Kensington Books and #NetGalley for the ARC.

"Murder at the Elms" is a mystery set in 1901 in Newport. Emma was a horrible judge of character and was easily mislead by her own assumptions. She quickly jumped to wrong conclusions and held to those conclusions in the face of logic and actual evidence. Not that there was much evidence. Emma and Derrick only made headway by spying on other people's private conversations. At the end, Emma recognized a clue but didn't make the logical connections. However, whodunit thought she had it all figured out, so confessed all while getting ready to kill her. It was another character that saved Emma's life and solved the mystery.

Very little in this story was logical. For example, whodunit kept setting up complex schemes to make it look like other people were the prime suspects only to do things that undercut that impression, like dump a murder victim in an easy-to-find place after setting up a scene to make it look like they'd jumped off a cliff. The story also didn't feel historically accurate. For example, Emma continued working as a common newspaper reporter but the social-conscious, rich "cottage" owners didn't seem to care, inviting her (not as a reporter) to social functions and even basically letting her invite herself over to stay at their house. Emma faced no real consequences for her independent, non-conformist behavior. Finally, the author often picked the wrong word or one that gave the wrong impression. For example, a man grabbed a horse by the bit (which is mostly in the horse's mouth) when he probably grabbed the bridle or reins. I'd periodically have to stop to figure out what the author meant, so I never became immersed in the story.

This story was the 11th in the series. It started out with a rather detailed summary of Emma and Derrick's past and wedding, so it can be read as a stand-alone. It didn't spoil any previous whodunits. There were only a few uses of bad language. There were no sex scenes, though married sex was implied.

I can always count on Alyssa Maxwell to deliver a solid story. This time the place is set at The Elms in Newport. One thing I love about these books is that you get a glimpse into these historic homes when they were first built. This time newly married Emma & Derrick are invited to the home for a party, & while there a young chambermaid is killed. Commence a new investigation. Another solid mystery, character growth, an inside look at Newport in 1901, & a couple twists to keep it interesting.

The author's beautiful descriptions draws an amazing picture in my mind's eye of The Elms and its surroundings along with the people and their clothes. I really enjoy reading books about the Gilded Age, fiction and historical fiction. This is a great book and series to read if you love this time period and the old money of the 400 vs. the new money. A great whodunit leaves you wondering but gives clues at a nice pace along the way. I highly recommend this book - it kept me turning the pages!

I Adore Emma and Derrick. I love the mysteries that they get into. This is a wonderful series and I loved this one so much!!
I just reviewed Murder at the Elms by Alyssa Maxwell. #MurderattheElms #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Murder at the Elms by Alyssa Maxwell
Story starts out with Emma at the newspaper office in Newport, RI 1901.
She heads out to the Elms for a story she's covering. She finds the workers want to strike to get a day off and not have to work 18 hours a day with only Sunday service as their time off.
She is able to talk to a maid who doesn’t mind the hours and she's Portuguese.
The others talk to the owner and they are fired, but not Annette as she wasn't in the group that wanted more time off.
Emma and her spouse Derrick attend an event there later and find the place well-staffed and she learns they got time off every day-things those who were fired complained about.
I have been to the Elms and have gone through all the rooms they are discussing and find it fascinating as there are some things I didn't learn on our tour. I do recall the downstairs where they take deliveries and the kitchen area...
Fascinating to learn of honey from Portsmouth and coal tracks on Dickson...
Many more murders that are all related and some sketchy characters. Could be anyone there are SO many opportunities.
Love gems found in this one and can't wait to read more from this author of local places to me. Ends with notes from the author about the setting and about tour at the Elms.
I received this review book from The Kensington Books and this is my honest opinion.
#MurderattheElms #NetGalley

Back in Newport at the Elms with the newly married Derrik & Emma. A walkout of staff at the Elms (with only one maid remaining & thus staying employed there), said maid is found murdered & an extremely valuable necklace is missing. Another murder, as well as lots of speculation as to who is the thief & killer. Once again, Ms Maxwell has done an excellent job with her historical fictional stories at the mansions. Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Books & Ms Maxwell for the ARC

reporter, cozy-mystery, newlyweds, newspaper-owner, 1901, class-consciousness, strikers, amateur-sleuth, historical-novel, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, immigrants, theft, Rhode Island, pet-dog, law-enforcement, servants, series, murder-investigation, murder, history-and-culture, relationships, family, family-dynamics, snooty-people, mystery*****

First there was the walkout by the servants of a household that paid well, had comfortable accommodations, but NO PERSONAL TIME OFF. Only one maid was afraid to join the walkout, but she was the one found strangled in the coal cellar. To top it off, it soon becomes apparent that she absconded with a valuable necklace pilfered from the room of one of the guests (there is much mystery about that necklace). The publisher's blurb is a good intro to the story. Let the sleuthing by the newlywed newspeople begin!
There are exquisite descriptions of both attire and surroundings, plus exhaustive descriptions of the lineage and implications of financial heredity as well as the general snobbery of the era. Fascinating look into the place and time in a very good read.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Reporter Emma Cross, now married to Derrick Andrews, attends a musicale with him at The Elms, home of Mr. and Mrs. Berwind. Emma meets some of the staff when they decide to strike and demand time off from their employers. One of the maids, an immigrant, refuses to join them. She needs her job and is grateful to have a position. When her body turns up several days later, Emma determines to find the culprit. It turns out the maid wasn’t as guileless as she seemed. A diamond necklace has been stolen from one of the guests, and she might have been involved. More potential suspects appear on the scene as Emma and Derrick investigate.

Murder at the Elms is another delightful installment in the Guilded Newport series. I like how Emma and Derrick work together in this story, and how Derrick respects Emma’s nose for news. They have an advantage over the police in that they can move in high society and listen to gossip. The room descriptions of the Elms had me wishing I could visit. The twisty plot kept me guessing while the engaging lead characters had me wondering what’s next for them. If you’re looking for a few hours of reading pleasure, grab a copy of this book and settle into a comfy chair for a fast-paced, immersive mystery read.

Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

In the latest Gilded Newport Mystery, Emma is adapting to married life but still using her maiden name professionally. She also finds that her marriage to wealthy Derrick Andrews has created a barrier between her and the working-class Newporters she grew up with; this distance is evident when she covers a strike by servants at The Elms, one of the new "cottages" in town. In one of their first social engagements as a married couple, Derrick and Emma attend a musicale at The Elms and have a front-row seat to the theft of a fabulous necklace rumored to have belonged to Marie Antoinette and the death of the only maid who didn't strike. In her typical fashion, Alyssa Maxwell crafts an excellent period mystery with an engaging heroine and many twists and turns.

Thanks to Kensington Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.