Safely on dry land after an eventful sea voyage, murder included (see my review of The Case of the Missing Bride), Alyssa Chalmers must negotiate the new direction her life is taking. The group of brides head towards their new potential husbands and Matron weds her onboard love.
Rosie made her decision on board and runs off with her lover only to be abandoned days later. She follows the group to the town and secures a job at the inn but soon the publican is found dead and she is their prime suspect.
Alyssa feels sorry for Rosie despite the antagonism she has experienced during their voyage together. Can she find the true killer and keep Rosie safe?
Alyssa’s relationship with Mr Kendrick and Dr Bryson continues to take centre stage throughout the story. I won’t give away the ending but she does choose between them…
This book seems surpringly modern despite the setting in 1862. Alyssa is very self-aware of her own limitations in society based solely on her gender. Stereotypes of the time are explored and rejected with characters seen in the modern context as individuals rather than a consequence of their social status.
Despite being a history graduate, I know little about the gold rush era in the USA and really enjoyed seeing this personal account. The book seems well researched and a careful balance of fact and fiction.
The characters are all well developed and most are likeable. Themes of social class and gender are approached within the plot. The tone and narrative is easy and enjoyable to read. I had no idea on the murderer, will you?
I really hope there is another book soon to see how Alyssa fares with her chosen husband…
GLITTTERING DEATH – Blurb
1862: A group of brides from Australia have arrived in British Columbia, and love is in the air – until their new-found happiness in the prospectors’ town “Run’s End” is shattered when the hotel-owner is murdered. To make matters worse, something is wrong with the stored gold at the hotel, and an epidemic makes it impossible for anyone to leave town.
The brides set all their hopes on their friend Alyssa Chalmers to find the murderer and restore peace in their new home. But the killer is cunning, and desperate …
Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side.
She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.
“The Case of the Missing Bride” is a former Malice Domestic finalist, inspired by a true event. Its heroine Alyssa Chalmers will soon return in “Glittering Death”.
When Carmen is not writing, reading or dreaming of travel, she is busy acting as resident cat servant.
She’s currently working on her first contemporary crime novel.
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