Robin M. (robinmy) - , reviewed on 11/14/2019 + 2106 more book reviews

Emma Cross receives a frantic phone call from her cousin Consuelo Vanderbilt. Hurrying to Marble House, Emma speaks with her Aunt Alva who asks Emma to talk some sense into Consuelo. Alva has arranged a marriage between the Duke of Marlborough and her daughter, but Consuelo wants nothing to do with it. Alva has even hired a fortune teller to convince her daughter that this is the path she should take. Unfortunately, the fortune teller is found strangled and Consuelo soon disappears from the estate. Emma quickly tries to figure out who killed the fortune teller and find where her cousin disappeared to. Did someone kidnap Consuelo or did she run away because of her upcoming engagement?

This story picks up immediately following "Murder at the Breakers". Though there were a number of suspects, I thought the plot was thin and the story dragged in some places. Emma is an independent woman, but won't stand up to her newspaper publisher boss who gives her stories to other reporters. What I did like was the use of real historical characters in the story. Alva Vanderbilt was famous for her temper and her dislike of her sister-in-law. She railroaded her daughter into a marriage she didn't want. I thought incorporating these facts into the story was very well done. My rating: 3.5 Stars.

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