I Died for Beauty: An Emily Dickinson Mystery

Flower’s winning third whodunit featuring Emily Dickinson (after I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died) finds the poet looking into a suspicious fire in 1857 Amherst, Mass. During a frigid winter that’s already killed some of the town’s poorer residents, Emily decides to sponsor a local family with close ties to her maid, Willa Noble. Her focus shifts, however, when a fire in the town’s Irish section kills every member of the Doolan family except young Norah Rose. Emily and Willa take Norah Rose in, and before long, rumors start swirling that the Doolans were murdered. Shocked, Emily and Willa decide to investigate, eventually unearthing evidence of arson and clues that point toward the college where Norah Rose’s father worked. Flower makes clever use of the real-life Cold Storm of 1857 to deepen her characterizations of Emily and Willa and burnish their reputation as crime-solvers. This series continues to impress. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, Seymour Agency. (Feb.)