A Park Avenue princess discovers the dark side of 1930s New York when a debutante ball turns deadly in this gripping historical mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.
Manhattan, 1938. Tired of being trapped in the gilded cage of her family’s expectations, Elizabeth Adams has done what no self-respecting socialite would think to do: She’s gotten herself a job. Although Elizabeth’s dream is to one day see her photographs on the front page of the Daily Trumpet, for now she’s working her way up as the newsroom’s gal Friday.
But fetching coffee isn’t exactly her idea of fun. So when veteran reporter Ralph Kaminsky needs a photographer to fill in for a last-minute assignment, Elizabeth jumps at the chance. At the Waldorf Hotel, Elizabeth is tasked with tracking down the season’s “It girl,” Gloria DeWitt, who will be making her society debut. Working her own connections to New York’s upper crust, Elizabeth manages to land an exclusive interview with Gloria.
Then Gloria’s stepmother is shot dead in a Waldorf bathroom, placing Elizabeth at the scene of a headline-worthy scandal: “Murder of a Society Dame.” Now Elizabeth will have to get the scoop on the killer before her good name gets dragged through the gossip columns—or worse. . . .
Peg Cochran has done it again, this time going for a historical cozy rather than the food orientated ones I am used to but trust me it certainly doesn't suffer for that! Here we have a young woman who should have followed the usual pattern, become a debutante, get married, have children, live well in New York City, however Elizabeth Adams wants to work and so she has got herself a job at the Daily Trumpet and whilst at the moment she is the Girl Friday, typing up stories and running errands, she hopes for more and then fate steps in. The crime reporter lost a bet and so needs to cover the latest debutante ball at the Waldorf Hotel, he also needs pictures and he can't use a camera and so Elizabeth goes as his photographer, she ends up accidentally taking a rather dramatic photograph of the debutante of the season (one Gloria DeWitt) and it ends up being used as the headline picture after Gloria's stepmother is murdered during the ball.
Now Reporter Ralph Kaminsky and Elizabeth Adams (aka Biz as Ralph thinks Elizabeth is too much of a mouthful) start working together to figure out what happened, oh and to get a few good stories written at the same time along with staying safe.
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