The Roddy and Val DeVere Gilded Age Series Series by Cecelia Tichi

In her Fifth Avenue mansion in autumn, 1898, silver heiress Val DeVere learns a third young woman’s strangled body has been found nearby in New York’s Central Park. The victim could be someone like Val’s late mother—or her—for the Valentine Mackle DeVere is one generation from the Irish immigrants who now risk their lives toiling in the city that promised a better life... moreIn her Fifth Avenue mansion in autumn, 1898, silver heiress Val DeVere learns a third young woman’s strangled body has been found nearby in New York’s Central Park. The victim could be someone like Val’s late mother—or her—for the Valentine Mackle DeVere is one generation from the Irish immigrants who now risk their lives toiling in the city that promised a better life. Heartsick, Val joins her well-connected husband, Roddy (Roderick Windham DeVere), to press the mayor for action, but scandal-ridden city hall finds little time for the case of “disposable” young women who frequent the park at night. A maverick police detective urges the DeVeres to help him find the killer, but his “evidence” ensnares a family friend and could send an innocent man to death row. The couple feel on trial when the detective baits them with Roddy’s Old New York heritage: “Tell me this, Mr. DeVere…how many more murders before you and Mrs. DeVere cooperate to save the park your forefathers built?” less

"A richly detailed, engaging whodunit set amid the glitter of 19th-century Newport." - Kirkus Review A formal dinner in palatial, Gilded Age Newport stuns Val DeVere when her closest friend whispers a terrifying rumor. The friend's ultra-rich auntie's fatal heart attack at Mrs. Astor's annual ball last winter was murder... more"A richly detailed, engaging whodunit set amid the glitter of 19th-century Newport." - Kirkus Review A formal dinner in palatial, Gilded Age Newport stuns Val DeVere when her closest friend whispers a terrifying rumor. The friend's ultra-rich auntie's fatal heart attack at Mrs. Astor's annual ball last winter was murder. When the aunt's reclusive daughter-and heir-succumbs to "heart failure," Val and husband Roddy probe the deaths to shield their dear friend who is next in line to inherit the family fortune-and sudden death. Society's "odd couple," Val and Roddy, a.k.a. Valentine and Roderick DeVere, blend his Old New York savvy and her mountain West vision to Is Newport truly Society's "place to take root in," or a dear friend's place to die? less

New York’s “Diamond Horseshoe” balcony in the Metropolitan Opera House glittered with ladies’ jewels in January 1899, and Society seated in private boxes heard Mozart’s murder victim sing his song of death—unaware that the sudden death of a “Coal King” in Box 18 will be ruled a homicide.When opera-goers Val and Roddy DeVere are asked to investigate (“on the q.t.”), Val finds herself suspected of complicity in the murder.The police have “material evidence” against her... moreNew York’s “Diamond Horseshoe” balcony in the Metropolitan Opera House glittered with ladies’ jewels in January 1899, and Society seated in private boxes heard Mozart’s murder victim sing his song of death—unaware that the sudden death of a “Coal King” in Box 18 will be ruled a homicide.When opera-goers Val and Roddy DeVere are asked to investigate (“on the q.t.”), Val finds herself suspected of complicity in the murder.The police have “material evidence” against her. Before a jury, Val’s lawyer husband reminds her, “‘material’ evidence can be the bright, shiny object that overrides all reason and fact.” less

Toxic medicine, a fanatic Chicago detective, and a fatal plunge down a steep staircase embroil Val and Roddy DeVere in a dangerous quest for facts in 1899. Roddy’s fledgling business teeters as his partner begs him to free him from a detective’s “witch hunt.” The was the partner’s wife’s fatal free fall an accident? Or was it murder?

As a girl in the West, Valentine Mackle dodged quicksand along the rivers of the mining camps, but as Mrs. Roderick W. DeVere of New York's Fifth Avenue, Val is sucked into Society's own quicksand in spring, 1899, when a weekend at a country estate in the Hudson Valley turns deadly. Val's "soul sister" drowns on family property, and the host's best "practical jokes" double as death traps... moreAs a girl in the West, Valentine Mackle dodged quicksand along the rivers of the mining camps, but as Mrs. Roderick W. DeVere of New York's Fifth Avenue, Val is sucked into Society's own quicksand in spring, 1899, when a weekend at a country estate in the Hudson Valley turns deadly. Val's "soul sister" drowns on family property, and the host's best "practical jokes" double as death traps. A Gilded Drowning Pool  snarls Val and husband Roddy in a bogus adult health camp, a brothel, a town-and-country pocked with probable killers-and an ambitious police chief convinced that Val and Roddy DeVere played a part in the death that is ruled a homicide. less

Newport Summer 1899—yachts, balls, and famed artists eager to paint portraits of Society’s “Queens.”Western silver heiress Val Mackle DeVere (Mrs. Roderick W.) agrees to “sit” for a portrait for her beloved Roddy, only to stumble on a scene of bloody, grisly homicide at an art gallery.Like a figure from Pompeii, the dead Newport gallery manager screams in silence, his hands like claws clutching at a gilt frame pulled down over his head and shoulders while blood darkens his cream-colored suit... moreNewport Summer 1899—yachts, balls, and famed artists eager to paint portraits of Society’s “Queens.”Western silver heiress Val Mackle DeVere (Mrs. Roderick W.) agrees to “sit” for a portrait for her beloved Roddy, only to stumble on a scene of bloody, grisly homicide at an art gallery.Like a figure from Pompeii, the dead Newport gallery manager screams in silence, his hands like claws clutching at a gilt frame pulled down over his head and shoulders while blood darkens his cream-colored suit.Impulsive, Val reaches for the murder weapon and will find herself suspected, shamed, and shunned as she seeks the killer while learning yet again a lesson taught by Cornelius Vanderbilt “No city on earth is as hostile to outsiders as Newport.” less

Western silver heiress Val DeVere expects nothing but joy at an elegant Newport picnic in 1899, only to be abruptly summoned to New York by a close friend's urgent and cryptic "PLEASE HELP...THEO B."In New York, Theo confides in Val, begging her to save his lively cousin Phoebe from a cunning Irish manservant who, he claims, is plotting her "accidental" death in the Rocky Mountains—just as he allegedly orchestrated the death of her twin sister in Boston a year earlier... moreWestern silver heiress Val DeVere expects nothing but joy at an elegant Newport picnic in 1899, only to be abruptly summoned to New York by a close friend's urgent and cryptic "PLEASE HELP...THEO B."In New York, Theo confides in Val, begging her to save his lively cousin Phoebe from a cunning Irish manservant who, he claims, is plotting her "accidental" death in the Rocky Mountains—just as he allegedly orchestrated the death of her twin sister in Boston a year earlier.Determined to help her friend, Val, now Mrs. Roderick DeVere, tries to convince the headstrong Phoebe to delay her trip to the Rockies. Yet the Irish servant, whom Theo accuses of murder, reminds Val of her beloved late father, an Irish immigrant and "Silver King," whose charm and brogue are unsettlingly familiar.When Phoebe is found murdered in her New York apartment, suspicion falls squarely on the Irishman, appearing to wrap the case up neatly. But for Val, the truth feels far more elusive. Is she blinded by sentiment, or is there another killer lurking in the shadows? As doubt creeps in, Val faces a race against time to uncover the real culprit, all while risking arrest as an accessory to murder. less