I Died for Beauty
Author: Amanda Flower
Reviewer: Ang
Rating: A
What I’m Talking About:
What I love best about Amanda Flower’s novels are that they read like a really amazing game of Clue. I Died for Beauty is no different. It is well written and flows like one of Emily Dickensen pieces of poetry. The characters are multifaceted and beautifully researched, with just a touch of an artistic license taken. The setting is so engrossing I could feel the bitterness of the cold every time a character stepped outside.
Willa and Emily are like a Victorian Cagney and Lacey, working together like a well-oiled machine, which is a really good thing given the situations they find themselves in throughout the book. The secondary characters add color and depth to Willa and Emily’s relationship reminding us that although they are friends, they are nowhere near equals. That inequality is paramount for Willa to remember given how many people are uncomfortable with their friendship. The complication adds much needed reality to a historical novel that could lose its realism fairly easily without it.
I don’t want to give any spoilers and it would be easy to do if I got into the plot too heavily. So I will return to what I said earlier, if you enjoy a good game of Clue, or a great who-done-it movie or novel then I feel confident in suggesting I Died for Beauty. The story moves well, has a variety of well written and picturesque twists and turns, and in true Flower’s style gives the reader and completely unseen O’Henry twist just when you think you have it all figured out.
My Rating: A
Ang
About the Book:
Amherst, 1857. The Dickinson family braves one of the worst winters in New England’s history. Trains are snowbound and boats are frozen in the harbor. Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, have never witnessed anything like it. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound.
These worries prove not to be unfounded as a blaze breaks out just down the street from the Dickinson in Kelley Square, the Irish community in Amherst, and a young couple is killed, leaving behind their young child. Their deaths appear to be a tragic accident, but Emily finds herself harboring suspicions there may be more to the fire than meets the eye. Emily and Willa must withstand the frigid temperatures and discover a killer lurking among the deadly frost.
Release Date: February 25, 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Series: Emily Dickinson Mysteries #3
Genre: Historical Mystery
Format(s): paperback (352 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher/ NetGalley
Purchase Info:
Amazon (affiliate link)
Review in the Series:
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Book #1)
I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower (Book #2)