Alyssa Maxwell

Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895: She may be a less well-heeled relation, but as second cousin to millionaire patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, 21-year-old Emma Cross is on the guest list for a grand ball at the Breakers, the Vanderbilts' summer home....

With the dawn of the 20th century on the horizon, the fortunes of the venerable Vanderbilt family still shine brightly in the glittering high society of Newport, Rhode Island. But when a potential scandal strikes, the Vanderbilts turn to cousin and society page reporter Emma Cross....

In late August 1898, reporter Emma Cross attends the final fête of the Newport social season and discovers the party's over for a visiting prince - because a murderer has crashed the party....

After a disappointing year as a society columnist for the Herald and staying with her more well-heeled Vanderbilt relatives in New York City, Emma has returned to the stately mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, more determined than ever to report on hard news....

In late 19th-century Newport, Rhode Island, journalist Emma Cross discovers the newest form of transportation has become the newest type of murder weapon....

Late nineteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, is home to some of America's wealthiest citizens. For society reporter Emma Cross, a less well-heeled cousin to the illustrious Vanderbilts, trailing gossip and glamour will lead her straight into murder....

Following the death of her uncle Cornelius Vanderbilt in September 1899, a somber Emma is in no mood for one of Newport's extravagant parties. But to keep Vanderbilt's reckless son, Neily, out of trouble, she agrees to accompany him to an Elizabethan fete....

1901: To showcase the marvels of his new "cottage," the newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate, one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity with no backup power system, coal baron Edward Berwind throws a grand party. Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete....

For Newport, Rhode Island’s high society, the summer of 1896 brings lawn parties, sailboat races... and murder....

Emma suspects a woman was murdered and begins to sort through a who's who of sportsmen, boat crews, and the Newport elite in search of a stone-cold killer....

As the 19th century draws to a close, reporter Emma Cross is sent by the Newport Observer to cover an elite house party at Rough Point....

April 1903: Emma and Derrick Andrews have been invited to the wedding of her cousin Reggie Vanderbilt and heiress Cathleen Neilson at the Bellevue Mansion, Arleigh. Their hosts are a popular young couple who are leasing the home for the summer—Harry and Elizabeth "Bessie" Lehr.

August 1901: A fundraiser brings Emma to Vinland, the Viking-themed seaside home of her relative, Florence Vanderbilt Twombly. Emma's observation of harmless philanthropy is proven wrong the following morning when one of Mrs. Twombly's houseguests becomes mysteriously ill.