When a literary icon stays with the Dickinson family, Emily and her
housemaid Willa find themselves embroiled in a shocking murder in this
new mystery from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author
Amanda Flower.
August 1856. The Dickinson family is comfortably settled in their
homestead on Main Street. Emily's brother, Austin Dickinson, and his new
wife are delighted when famous thinker and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson
comes to Amherst to speak at a local literary society and decides he and
his young secretary, Luther Howard, will stay with the newlyweds. Emily
has been a longtime admirer of Emerson's writing and is thrilled at the
chance to meet her idol. She is determined to impress him with her quick
wit, and if she can gather the courage, a poem. Willa Noble, the second
maid in the Dickinson home and Emily's friend, encourages her to speak
to the famous but stern man. But his secretary, Luther, intrigues Willa
more because of his clear fondness for the Dickinson sisters.
Willa does not know if Luther truly cares for one of the Dickinson girls
or if he just sees marrying one of them as a way to raise himself up in
society. After a few days in his company, Willa starts to believe it's
the latter. Miss Lavinia, Emily's sister, appears to be enchanted by
Luther; a fact that bothers Emily greatly. However, Emily's fears are
squashed when Luther turns up dead in the Dickinson's garden. It seems
that he was poisoned. Emerson, aghast at the death of his secretary,
demands answers. Emily and Willa set out to find them in order to save
the Dickinson family reputation and stop a cold-blooded fiend from
killing again.
