When a Newport society picnic hosted by their normally charming friend, Theo Bulkeley, takes a strange turn and Theo disappears, Val and Roddy DeVere don’t hesitate to meet him in New York as requested. Theo is a broken man and begs for the DeVeres’ help.
He is convinced that his cousin Phoebe’s Irish butler, Anson Burke, is planning to murder her, just as Theo is confident Burke killed her twin sister, Judith, a year earlier. Val has doubts about the butler’s guilt even after Phoebe is suffocated, and Burke found in her room. When Val falls under suspicion as the butler’s accomplice, she needs to discover the true identity of the murderer, and quickly…
A Gilded Redwood Coffin is the seventh novel in Tichi’s Gilded Age series. Nonetheless, it stands alone. I have not read any previous books, and it proved no barrier to my enjoyment.
As the series title suggests, these novels are set in rarefied social circles at the end of the nineteenth century. A Gilded Redwood Coffin is a polished piece of enjoyable escapism lavish with meticulously researched period detail, including the fascinating nuances of society etiquette, apparel, and culinary habits.
Husband-and-wife team Val and Roddy DeVere are immensely engaging and well-rounded individuals. Despite the restraints of the age, neither is necessarily reliant on the other. Val and Roddy have conflicts and differences, which is refreshing and realistic. Notwithstanding their independence and four years of marriage, a subtle yet unmistakable chemistry purrs between them.
Val can be highly strung, but her sensitivities propel her tenacity and drive the plot. The narrative is written from her first-person perspective, she impresses as a socially and emotionally intelligent woman, yet one whose background enables her to view the privileged circles she moves in with a keen, objective eye.
Attorney Roddy’s side hustle as a master mixologist, preparing cocktails that complement the mood or ease the tension, is a neat touch, and including the easy-to-make recipes is equally so.
However, the entertaining, opulent world that the DeVeres inhabit contains secrets, scandals, and more than a little jealous desperation. Tichi takes some time to reach the crux of Theo’s allegations and concerns, but it becomes nicely intriguing when she does.
In Chapter Nine, the reader is given the first glimpse of Phoebe and her sisters when Val meets them for lunch at The Dakota. Each exhibits curious, unsettling traits and, possibly, murky partners. Consequently, they all fall under the reader’s suspicion once Phoebe is murdered and her heirloom jewels missing, despite the evidence pointing solely at Anson Burke.
Roddy believes Val wishes to presume Burke innocent because the butler reminds her of her father, but it is relatively obvious to the reader that he is not culpable. It is, however, a case of finding out who is, and there are a couple of contenders.
In parts, A Gilded Redwood Coffin is guilty of a touch of style over substance in the plot, there are a couple of underdeveloped areas and a few rushed elements. But Tichi’s writing style is so elegant, and her prose sparkles with such energy and flourish that occasional flimsy moments are easily overlooked.
The majority of the novel is set in New York. Tichi brings the city richly to life, hinting at its underworld while remaining in its upper classes. Detective Colin Finlay, who straddles both, is a strong, enigmatic addition, and Sergeant Detective Morris Cummings is suitably obnoxious.
Aside from the whodunnit, Tichi provides minor domestic dramas, charitable interests, and various seasonal upheavals swirling around Val and Roddy, ensuring continuity and development in the pair’s wondrously gilded life. This elaborate existence never becomes over-exaggerated, remaining absorbing to read.
A Gilded Redwood Coffin is a captivating addition to the series. Highly recommended.
