AN EXTRAVAGANT DEATH

In 1878, a famous detective is encouraged to leave England for the good of the government.

After former MP Charles Lenox uncovers corruption at Scotland Yard, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli asks him to leave the country so he'll be able to give written testimony rather than testify in open court, which would surely embarrass some important people, throwing in a knighthood to sweeten the deal. Lenox’s well-connected wife, Lady Jane, has recently given birth to their second child, and, unimpressed by honors, he’s loath to leave home. But acting on his wife’s advice, he sets off for New York, where he meets snobbish members of established families and nouveaux riches, all ruled over by Caroline Astor. Theodore Blaine, the scion of an immensely wealthy family with a desire to emulate Lenox as a detective, accompanies him on a trip to Boston that’s cut short by a request from William Stuyvesant Schermerhorn, who invites Lenox to Newport to solve a murder. At length he’s persuaded to take up the case of Lily Allingham, the season’s reigning beauty, who’s been found dead on the beach below the magnificent so-called cottages of the wealthy. The suspects are all of the highest pedigree. Lily was at the point of deciding between two well-heeled suitors, Schermerhorn’s son and one of the Vanderbilts. Lady Jane’s contacts allow him entree into the highest echelons of Newport society, including an invitation to Caroline Astor’s exclusive ball, where money and power may shield a murderer from justice.

A solid historical mystery that will change its hero’s mind about life and death.