The Carnation Murder: An Early 20th Century Mystery by Tam May

Can a forward-thinking woman help the police solve a murder in a backward-thinking town?

California, 1903: Smart, inquisitive, and a firm believer in the new progressive reforms, Adele Gossling seeks a new life after the devastating death of her father. She flees San Francisco for the small town of Arrojo, planning a life of peace and small pleasures with nothing more exciting than selling fountain pens to the locals in her stationery shop and partaking in the town's favorite pastime: gossip.

Peace is exactly what she doesn't get when she discovers her neighbor's dead body in her gazebo. The police think they have a firm suspect: the young man who was secretly engaged to the victim. But Adele and her clairvoyant new friend Nin Branch are sure he's innocent. In spite of the raised eyebrows from Arrojo's Victorian-minded citizens, they set out to prove the young man didn't do it. But if he didn't, who did?

Can Adele and Nin solve this puzzling case involving a striped carnation, a diamond ring, a note, a muddy pair of boots, and a broken promise?

If you love smart, intricate whodunits in the spirit of Agatha Christie, Anna Katharine Green, and Dorothy L. Sayers, you'll love this series featuring a sassy woman sleuthing her way through one of America's most explosive eras.

Fans of Lee Strauss, Rosie Hunt, Sonia Parin, and R. A. Wallace will love these books too!

Pick up your copy of The Carnation Murder for a fun, absorbing mystery set in Northern California at the turn of the 20th century.

What reviewers are saying:

"Really well paced and researched appropriately for the era."

"The story comes alive."

"Great new series, the time period details are interesting and the mystery intriguing."

~~~

Don't forget to check out the other books in the Adele Gossling Mysteries!