The Socialite’s Guide to Sleuthing and Secrets: A Pinnacle Hotel Mystery

In Golden’s effervescent third whodunit featuring Evelyn Murphy (after The Socialite’s Guide to Death and Dating), the hotel heiress investigates the poisoning of a jeweler in 1958 New York City. Evelyn rarely leaves her suite at the Pinnacle Hotel, which her father owns. She’s sipping champagne at the Pinnacle’s restaurant one evening when her personal assistant arrives with a tiara from one of Evelyn’s admirers. The flash of diamonds attracts the attention of a woman nearby, who invites Evelyn to join her and her colleagues at Ladies Love to Sparkle, a costume jewelry company, for drinks. What begins as a promising social opportunity quickly turns deadly when Lois Mitchell, the head of the jewelry team, is poisoned moments after Evelyn meets her. Things go from bad to worse when a gentleman thief starts stealing luxury goods from the hotel’s wealthy clientele. To preserve the family brand, Evelyn once again dons her sleuthing cap, stumbling through comic encounters with hotel staffers and guests until she’s able to tie both mysteries in a bow. Golden’s characters are broad and the plot is familiar, but Evelyn—for all her self-importance—is an immensely likable heroine. This delivers a welcome dose of escapism. Agent: Madelyn Burt, Stonesong Literary. (Mar.)