MURDER AT ARLEIGH (A Gilded Newport Mystery Book 13) by Alyssa Maxwell will be released on August 26, 2025, by Kensington Books.
Emma Andrews is enjoying her life as a new mother when popular socialite Elizabeth “Bessie” Lehr requests her help in investigating her husband. Bessie believes that her husband, Harry, is trying to kill her to escape their loveless marriage and inherit her fortune. Harry is the toast of Four Hundred and Emma finds it hard to believe that he’s trying to murder his wife—especially when the “attempts” appears to be accidents. The railing around Bessie’s balcony broke as she was leaning against it. The carpet runner was loose on the stairs and could have caused her to fall. And her automobile’s brakes malfunctioned, causing her chauffeur to die when the automobile crashed. Even though she thinks Bessie is twisting mere accidents into murder attempts, Emma agrees to quietly investigate Harry. After Bessie’s lady’s maid dies in a tragic accident, Emma realizes that Neddie was the real victim all along. With help from her husband, Derrick, Emma reveals Neddie’s past and investigates who would want the young woman dead.
While still a good story, the plot of MURDER AT ARLEIGH dragged during the first half of the novel. Yes, Bessie’s chauffeur is already dead prior to the open scene, but it is chalked up to an accident when the automobile’s brakes failed. It takes a long time before the maid dies due to anaphylactic shock following hundreds of beestings. Death by beestings was a unique method of murder—one that could be mistaken for a tragic accident until it was discovered that the bees were purposely agitated into attacking. Until Neddie’s death, Bessie comes across as a paranoid woman who is twisting accidents into murder attempts.
It was interesting to learn that Harry and Bessie Lehr were real people, and they did have a sham of a marriage. Harry was probably gay, and he married Bessie simply because she was part of the Four Hundred and had quite a large inheritance. It is totally believable that Harry might have wanted to do away with his wife so that he could inherit her money. I thoroughly enjoyed how Alyssa Maxwell took these facts and used them to create a story where Bessie believes her life is in danger when it’s really her maid who is being targeted.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.