A Gilded Rosewood Coffin Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given an ARC of this book from Stress Free Book Marketing in exchange for an honest review.

One year ago this month, I reviewed Death in a Gilded Frame by Cecelia Tichi – the sixth title in the Val and Roddy DeVere Gilded Age Series. I enjoyed that book so much that I decided to read the follow-up in the historical-mystery series. This one is called A Gilded Rosewood Coffin. While it doesn’t quite live up to the previous novel, I still had a good time reading it.

A Gilded Rosewood Coffin is the seventh novel in the Val and Roddy DeVere Gilded Age Series. Western silver heiress Val DeVere is enjoying time in Newport in 1899 when she receives a note from her friend Theo urging her to come to New York. While there, Theo confides in Val, begging her to save the life of his cousin Phoebe. He believes that her Irish manservant is plotting her “accidental death” when she goes to the Rocky Mountains – just as he allegedly did when Phoebe’s twin sister Judith was found dead in Boston a year earlier. Determined, Val tries to convince Phoebe to delay her trip, yet the Irish servant reminds her so much of her father, the“Silver King” and an Irish immigrant, whose charm and brogue are unsettlingly familiar. When Phoebe is found dead in her New York apartment, suspicion falls on her servant, appearing to wrap up the case neatly. But, for Val, the truth feels far more elusive. Is she blinded by sentiment, or is there another killer on the loose? Val has to race against time to find the killer, all while risking arrest as an accessory to murder.

With this latest installment, Tichi brings her signature elements for this mystery series. These include the realistically portrayed Gilded Age society, real-life historical figures, and cocktail recipes. High society doesn’t have much of a presence in this one, but they certainly are just as snooty as ever, especially when it comes to prejudice of any one that isn’t like them. Val still struggles to fit in, and when the murder of their friend’s cousin is suspected to be the Irish manservant, she thinks there’s more to the story due to her own Irish heritage. Actual historical people like Alva Belmont, who was present in Death of a Gilded Frame, and Henry Clews – economic advisor to Ulysses S. Grant during his presidency – make appearances in this book. In addition, Roddy is mostly absent in this installment because he’s helping to organize Dewey Day – the real-life event which celebrated Admiral George Dewey’s successes during the Spanish-American War. He still provides level-headed advice to the impulsive Val and makes cocktails. This means readers get some more cocktail recipes for five different drinks. They are the Dewey Cocktail, Futurity, Italian Lemonade, The Wall Street, and The September Surprise. The last one can be created without alcohol. All of these are well researched as expected, for Tichi is a Professor of English and American Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. 

Additionally, the recurring characters reveal more sides of themselves in A Gilded Rosewood Coffin. There’s a backstory of Cassie – Val’s best friend who has the visions. It was sad to read about how members of her family tried to “cure” her of her gift. Nonetheless, it provides more details to who Cassie is and how she is more than a foreshadowing trope in the flesh. Then, there’s Theodore Bulkeley. In the previous book, he’s the herald by informing Roddy and Val about the art forgery. In this one, he’s more active since it involves his living relatives. He also reveals his prejudice against Irish people since he’s certain that his cousin Phoebe’s servant Anson Burke was the one who killed her, and he believes that all Irish people are drunks. Ironically, he’s drunk most of the time. To be fair, Phoebe’s twin died under mysterious circumstances a year prior to this story’s events, so give him a little bit of slack.

One of the best things about this novel is Val’s character development. In A Gilded Rosewood Coffin, she is bolder with her actions. Granted, she still has to be the perfect high-society wife. She follows leads, which gets her into some trouble with the police. As I learned from the last book, Val can be quite hasty, but this time, her decisions are less stupid. I still think about the one thing she did in Death in a Gilded Frame, and I was happy when there were some references to it in this title. Moreover, Val spends some time reconciling her own upbringing and ties to the Emerald Isle. Her father came from Ireland, and despite his success, he faced discrimination because he was Irish. She is shocked when Theo demoralizes that group, for he would have known about Val’s heritage, and they have been friends for a while. In the end, I liked how Val admits how she regretted not giving much thought to the Mexican and Chinese people who faced prejudice while working in her father’s silver mines, thus being a hypocrite in her own way.

Now that I’ve praised historical aspects, what do I think about the mystery? Well, this is the weakest part of the novel. First off, Val and Roddy weren’t as entangled with Theo and his family as they were with the art forgery in the previous title. As a result, I didn’t feel as invested. Second, not much happens throughout, and when something did prior to the third act, I had to re-read certain parts to make sure I knew what occurred. Third, I figured out who the murderer was once they were introduced, especially how they treated others. This person was obviously scheming to the high holy heavens that it didn’t surprise me in the slightest they were revealed as Phoebe’s killer. Regardless, the novel still does some good things with the mystery element. There are plenty of roadblocks and red herrings, which certainly made the plot interesting. Plus, the pacing is brisk, which keeps the momentum going. With those in mind, the mystery still works, but not as well as it was in Death of a Gilded Frame.

A Gilded Rosewood Coffin by Cecelia Tichi is a good installment in Val and Roddy DeVere Gilded Age Series. Even though the mystery didn’t hold up as well as it did in the previous title, other parts worked. The history is researched well, and there are more cocktails to try out. Most importantly, the main characters show more development, especially when it comes to Val and prejudice. While A Gilded Rosewood Coffin is the lesser of the titles I’ve read in that series, I would still recommend it to those who love whodunits, especially ones that are set in the past and contain female detectives, as well as, you guessed it, the Gilded Age! The book will be out on Tuesday, January 28, so make sure you have a Gilded time while reading A Gilded Rosewood Coffin.

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