Death in a Gilded Frame by Cecelia Tichi

I’ve read quite a few books by Cecelia Tichi now and I’ve come to know what to expect from them. We follow Val and Roddy DeVere, who are in some ways an odd couple, Roddy being from a well-to-do New York Society family and Val being the daughter of a self-made mining magnate: a little more rough around the edges in Society’s eyes but actually, just a grounded gal, not prone to airs and graces. She might not be refined but she’s astute and intelligent and I like her very much.

Set in the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, Roddy’s upbringing dominates as there are expected behaviours that must be followed (although arguably, Roddy, in his choice of bride, is less bothered by this than most and add to that his cocktail making and he’s positively a bad boy!). One of these duties is spending summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Val is less than keen but tends to go along with things, making the best of it and trying not to draw too much attention to herself whilst remaining irresolutely herself. Not easy.

However, it gets worse for Val on this particular summer vacation when she is implicated in someone’s murder. It is more important than it usually is to find the real killer before Val is permanently excluded from Society in a cloud of shame never to be dispersed. Already, the barbed comments and the withdrawn invitations manifest themselves and so, the couple try to get to the bottom of it.

Tichi’s titles always give a clue into which world we are entering and with the inclusion of “frame” in the title of this one, it will be no great surprise to know that this book is centred on art and in particular, portraiture. The couple investigate, mostly separately, as they do in other books, coming together over meals and to fuss their French Bulldog, Velvet, to discuss their findings and plan what to do next.

Tichi shows us members of the select company with whom Roddy is aligned status-wise and paints a picture of the Gilded Age based on people from the time, their character traits and desires and their expectations regarding those who want to fraternise with them. All very strict and unforgiving.

This book, I felt, was better than the ones I’ve read previously, which I’ve enjoyed; however, there was something more solid about this one in the flow of the narrative and the roundedness of the interactions between the characters that made it feel more confident, like Tichi has found her stride.

For cozy mystery lovers who like their history just this side of old, this book is a good read.

Rachel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars