I Died for Beauty

By Amanda Flower

Book Overview

When a blaze takes both a neighbor's home and his life, Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa have a burning desire to crack the case in this new historical mystery from Agatha Award-winning author Amanda Flower.

Amherst, 1857. The Dickinson family braves one of the worst winters in New England's history. Trains are snowbound and boats are frozen in the harbor. Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, have never witnessed anything like it. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound.

These worries prove not to be unfounded as a blaze breaks out just down the street from the Dickinson in Kelley Square, the Irish community in Amherst, and a young couple is killed, leaving behind their young child. Their deaths appear to be a tragic accident, but Emily finds herself harboring suspicions there may be more to the fire than meets the eye. Emily and Willa must withstand the frigid temperatures and discover a killer lurking among the deadly frost.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593816463
• ISBN13: 9780593816462
• Release Date: February 2025
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Good book.

It is book 3 in the series, but I didn't read the first two, but I understood this story without reading those two, and I might read those others as this book was interesting.  I would rate it 4 stars. It is a mystery, and was like a huge jigsaw puzzle that came together nicely in the end. During one of the worst winters in New England, Emily Dickenson, the poet, and her maid Willa, find themselves working together again to find out if a huge fire in the Irish section was an accident as everyone believes, or is it really a murder that's being covered up! It was well written, but for my taste, I like more of a Christian aspect to the story, and Emily Dickenson's character didn't believe, so her motivation for doing good was because she saw it as a moral duty, which is fine.  I did like the story, thought it was interesting, was engaged from the beginning, but I would say it was a good story, not great. I'm glad I read it, enjoyed the characters and the plot, and would recommended it, but reading it was more like a good cup of coffee on a cold day. Maybe it would've been better if I read the other books, but not sure. So anyways, I do recommend it, I did like it, and I give it 4 stars.