Death of No Importance (A Jane Prescott Novel, 1)

ISBN: 1250306558

Author: Fredericks

Condition: New

A taut, suspenseful, and complex murder mystery with gorgeous period detail.-Susan Elia MacNealThrough her exquisite prose, sharp observation and deft plotting, Mariah Fredericks invites us into the heart of a changing New York in her remarkable debut adult novel, A Death of No Importance.New York City, 1910. Invisible until shes needed, Jane Prescott has perfected the art of serving as a ladies maid to the citys upper echelons. When she takes up a position with the Benchley family, dismissed by the citys elite as new money, Jane realizes that while she may not have financial privilege, she has a power they do not-she understands the rules of high society. The Benchleys cause further outrage when their daughter Charlotte becomes engaged to notorious playboy Norrie, the son of the eminent Newsome family.But when Norrie is found murdered at a party, Jane discovers she is uniquely positioned-shes a woman no one sees, but who witnesses everything; who possesses no social power, but that of fierce intellect-and therefore has the tools to solve his murder. There are many with grudges to bear: from the family Norrie was supposed to marry into, to the survivors of a tragic accident in a mine owned by the Newsomes, to the rising anarchists who are sick of those born into wealth getting away with anything they want. Jane also knows that in both high society and the citys underbelly, morals can become cheap in the wrong hands: scandal and violence simmer just beneath the surface-and can break out at any time.