Because I Could Not Stop for Death

by Amanda Flower

Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book in an all-new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Amanda Flower.

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing. 

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa's beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother’s death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he'd found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress....
 

• ISBN10: 0593336941
• ISBN13: 9780593336946
• Publish Date: 20 September 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593336946

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death is the first book in a new historical cozy series by prolific author Amanda Flower. Released 20th Sept 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 338 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a promising start to a "famous-person-as-amateur-sleuth" cozy subgenre. Emily Dickinson's new housemaid loses her tearaway brother in suspicious circumstances and although it's treated by the police as a mostly routine accidental death, there are troubling inconsistencies which Miss Dickinson and young Willa investigate.

The writing is consistent and engaging, with well turned prose and clear and clearly rendered characters. Some of the characters' motivations are less compelling, and the dialogue is occasionally a bit stilted (not just because it's a period mystery). Overall, however, it's a good start and eminently readable. It's not at all derivative, but for fans of J.C. Briggs' excellent Dickens Investigations, this series checks many of the same boxes and will likely appeal.

Four stars. An entertaining start to a new historical cozy series.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.