I love a crotchety old lady, and Edith Wharton is New-England-old-money crotchety.

A fellow writer is murdered the day after she meets him. Even though she doesn’t like him, she avoids dealing with her husband, whose mind is deteriorating and uses solving the murder as an excuse. She has an ease dealing with people that disarms potential suspects. During the investigation, she grows as a person. In the end, she still doesn't consider herself a feminist, though.

Kitty Hendrix does a great job narrating the work. She makes Edith Wharton sardonic and world-weary.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for my honest thoughts.

I could not get into this book. It moved too slowly for me. I'm sure if I could have gotten going it would have been ok but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it.

I love a historical fiction with a strong female lead who knows what she wants! The plot really interested me due to it being early 1900s era.

I enjoyed the writing/plot of this one. Wharton is kind of a pain, but it makes sense in terms of characterization and story. Overall, the book touches on class issues in America, with references to history and literature sprinkled throughout to create an enjoyable novel. I wasn't a huge fan of audiobook reading, but believe she may have been doing a posh, Atlantic-style accent, so... It makes sense.

I was interested in reading this one because I read a couple of Edith Wharton’s books back in school and I wanted to know more about her. In this story, Edith gets sucked into the story of the murder of a fellow novelist, David Graham Phillips. She was never a fan of the man. His family is convinced that he was murdered because of the book that he was writing, and Edith can’t help but be curious of what kind of book could make someone want to kill someone else. I like the way Mariah portrays Edith in this story. She made her very relatable.

I enjoyed the narration of this one, Kitty Hendrix really made me feel like I was in the story.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for my ALC for this book.

Did you guys know that Edith Wharton helped solve a murder back in her day? I didn’t! This book follows that historically accurate story while throwing in the author’s own dialogue and small plot details.

While this story is quite interesting, I do believe that I liked Frederick’s novel The Lindbergh Nanny a smidge more. I enjoy a good historical fiction and this one delivers, but there were a couple of slow spots for me. Overall, a solid read though and I enjoyed it!

Given that Wharton novels are having back in the spotlight with the new Buccaneers adaptation and The Gilded Age bringing more attention to the period in general, there is no better time for a novel about Wharton.

I thought that Fredericks drew on what we know of Wharton well and she has obviously done her research on her life. I actually enjoyed that the novel focused on the mystery, too, and not solely Wharton's life. (That's what biographies are for!)

If you aren't familiar, Wharton was not involved with solving this murder in reality but this alternate reality version with Wharton as a sleuth was still a great mystery. I love that Fredericks gets just a tad meta in the mystery and uses Wharton as a character to ponder the importance of novels and the written word as a whole.

And as a mystery novel, this just worked for me. It felt rather like a cosy plus- the general feeling of a cosy with a tad more meat to the overall story. (I also love cosies, that's not a criticism of the genre.) I would've liked slightly more on the issues with Teddy but it did not detract in any meaningful way.

The narrator was also fantastic and her narration had me fully immersed in the story.

Who Is This For- Anyone who likes The Gilded Age on HBO or is interested in literary history.

An amazing historical novel. I really enjoyed getting to hear about a piece of history we rarely hear about. Edith Wharton's character was phenomenal.

The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks

Thank You, NetGalley for the opportunity of reading and reviewing this book.

Set in the early 1900s, this is based on a true story.

It is the story of an intelligent protagonist, Edith out to solve a mystery quite by a twist of fate.

I love how Edith was not compromising or a caricature of a figure.

The writing was intelligent and intriguing. I loved how sophisticated it was and still not boring.

So go for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars rounded up

Socialite and famed writer Edith Wharton finds herself at lunch with her publisher and an author, David Graham Phillips, who has polarizing opinions of women and even Edith's work. She is quite put-off by his remarks and finds him offensive but is shocked when the next morning he is murdered in broad daylight. Feeling obligated she attends his funeral where she meets Phillips' sister and she convinces Wharton to read his last work because very powerful people are trying to stop it from going to publication and may have even killed him for it. Wharton find's herself in a whodunit mystery as she works to solve Phillips' murder while receiving threats of her own.

Mariah Fredericks returns with another historical fiction version of a true life mystery. I was not familiar with the real story of Wharton and her connection to this murder mystery but was fascinated by the novel. I enjoy Fredericks' writing style and her subject matter to be unique. This one is a little slower than her other work and I didn't connect with the main character as much. It was more a study of Wharton's self reflection than the murder mystery. I will continue to follow Fredericks career and look forward to more form her. Grab this one for solid historical fiction.

I had the audio version read by Kitty Henderix. She does an okay job but I found some of the narration to be one note and slow. I do not know if it was Henderix or the production but I could hear an intact of breath after every 5th word or so and became extremely distracting and annoying. I would pick up the hardcopy over the audio.

This was not the book for me. Very little mystery, more hand wringing about being so much better than everyone else. The history in this historical fiction was also false.

The audio was okay, but I could hear the narrator turning pages at several points which was incredibly distracting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook

3.5 *

I've heard of Edith Wharton the famous author but I've never read anything by her (now I want to look up her books!) I enjoy stories in the Gilded Age so that in itself drew me to this book.

The narrator has a perfect voice and inclination for the era.

This is a fictitious account of a murder that occurs and Edith Wharton becomes a bit of a sleuth in trying to solve the crime.

I really enjoyed Edith and her life around thistle period. She's 49 years old and starting to feel old. She's stuck in a loveless marriage and still writing her stories. One day she meets a fellow author whom she dislikes right away. The next day he is found dead! Edith is surprised but also intrigued and starts to dig for answers.

I enjoyed meeting Edith. She's a bit snobbish but she rubs shoulders with the upper class so that's not surprising especially in that era. She does have a kind heart though. Where the book missed the mark a little for me was the mystery. I would have enjoyed a bit more complexity. Overall, I was entertained and it's a go

It was absolutely dreadful to listen to this poorly narrated`book. I had to DNF. The narration was so slow even on a regular speed and this deterred me from having an interest in reading a story that I was excited to read.

This made Edith Wharton very unlikable. Whether she was truly like this or not, I don't find the need to learn more about her after reading this.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Audible review

New York 1911 A favorite era I love and combine with a historical mystery with author Edith Wharton involved makes it even better! When history and fiction combine, it always makes me go down a rabbit hole with a little research!

Although based on a real event, the story of course is fiction but the author has created a world and situation that captures the imagination. I have not read any of her books before but this makes me sure that I will do so!

Sit back and enjoy!

The Wharton Plot
by Mariah Fredericks
The death of a writer, in the streets of New York at the end of the Golden Age. The fading glory of New York, politics and intrigue bring to light many who had motive. The ideas of the time just before suffrage and the change society, with divorce and changing fortunes add a plot and creating more suspects. The idea that women had to stay home, only to be associated with particular people governed by social and political ideals. The limited opinion of women in society adds a layer of difficulty.

This was a great book for anyone interested in Edith Wharton. It’s a fun murder-mystery, starring Edith Wharton herself. She solves the crime! She’s no Miss Marple, mind you, just charming self who’d rather be at her precious “Mount” than in NYC solving the murder of a fellow writer. This book is fun and does a great dive into Edith Wharton as an author and a person. Very authentic.

It's 1911, and Edith Wharton is in New York meeting with her publisher, when she is introduced to another author, David Graham Phillips, who is murdered the following day. Wharton becomes intrigued by the murder and becomes obsessed with it's solving in order to avoid dealing with her mentally ill husband. Inspired by a true story this novel is delves into the latter years of the Gilded Age. Though an intriguing read, I found the ending very hurried.

This was a fascinating look at both Edith Wharton's life and the Gilded Age. The mystery was fascinating, and I loved how much history was woven into the story.

I only have two complaints about this book. The first is that none of the characters were particularly likable. I sympathized with Edith, but she was not a character I particularly cared about. To be fair, someone closer to Edith's stage of life might think differently. My second complaint is that I couldn't find any information on how much of this was fact and how much was fiction. My favorite part about novelized accounts of historical figures is learning about that point in history, and so I feel a bit gypped not knowing what actually happened.

Overall, this book is perfect for fans of the show The Gilded Age.

If you like historical fiction or stories about literary figures or mysteries, then this is your book. A great telling of the murder of a writer and how Edith Wharton helped solve the crime. I had to look this up to see if it was based on a true story and the writing was great in giving the twists and turns without giving away the mysters. The narrators voice and characterization really added to the story. Now I want to go read some of Edith Wharton's works. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advance audiobook in exchange for my honest review.