Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a great historical fiction mystery featuring Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa in 1856 Amhurst. This is book two in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone. I haven’t read the first book, but didn’t feel like I was missing much because of it.

Emily’s brother and best friend have returned from their honeymoon and announce that Ralph Waldo Emerson will visit Amhurst for a literary symposium and will be staying with them. Emily is excited because she respects his writing and hopes to gather the courage to show him some of her writing. Emerson’s personal secretary, Luthor, however proves to be a distraction to Emily’s family, including her youngest sister Lavinia. When Luthor is murdered during a dinner party, the Dickinson families troubles increase even more.

Feeling that the police are pinning the killing on an innocent man, Emily and Willa are determined to discover the real murderer. I am not sure how accurate the author’s portrayal of Emily is, but I enjoyed her forthright manner. She spoke her thoughts without a care for others and did what she thought was right. It did get annoying that she constantly said the equivalent of “do you know who I am” and threw her family’s name around all the time, giving the impression that the rules didn’t apply to her and that she and her family could basically do whatever they wanted. Perhaps that’s the way things were back in the day, it wouldn’t surprise me. Willa was clever and knew how to be in the right place at the right time to discover information relevant to the case. I liked her relationship with her police officer beau and hope that their relationship moves forward in future books.

I figured out the killer early in the book, but I enjoyed seeing how the author got there. It was also cool how the author included several other prominent writers throughout the story and I found myself looking each up and finding out more about their life. They definitely could have crossed paths with Emily during her life.

If you like historical fiction mysteries utilizing famous characters, this book is for you. I look forward to reading more books in the series.

I was given a complimentary e-copy of this book by Berkley/Penguin Random House. All opinions are my own. Release date is Nov. 14, 2023.