What the Dead Leave Behind

by Rosemary Simpson Narrated by Sarah Zimmerman

Overview

As the Great Blizzard of 1888 cripples the vast machinery that is New York City, heiress Prudence MacKenzie sits anxiously within her palatial Fifth Avenue home waiting for her fiancé's safe return. But the fearsome storm rages through the night. With daylight, more than two hundred people are found to have perished in the icy winds and treacherous snowdrifts. Among them is Prudence's fiancé-his body frozen, his head crushed by a heavy branch, his fingers clutching a single playing card, the ace of spades . . .



Close on the heels of her father's untimely demise, Prudence is convinced Charles's death was no accident. The ace of spades was a code he shared with his school friend, Geoffrey Hunter, a former Pinkerton agent and attorney from the South. Wary of sinister forces closing in on her, Prudence turns to Geoffrey as her only hope in solving a murder not all believe in-and to help protect her inheritance from a stepmother who seems more interested in the family fortune than Prudence's wellbeing . . .



Filled with richly colorful characters, fascinating historical details, and thrilling moments of suspense, What the Dead Leave Behind is an exquisitely crafted mystery for the ages.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"I really did like everything about [Sarah Zimmerman's] narration. Good and kept me on the edge of my seat." ---Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"I really did like everything about [Sarah Zimmerman's] narration. Good and kept me on the edge of my seat." —Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell

Kirkus Reviews

2017-02-05
A daring daughter of the Gilded Age must fight her stepmother for her very survival.The death of Judge Thomas MacKenzie leaves his daughter, Prudence, a wealthy heiress. Between his own talents and those of his friend, attorney and former senator Roscoe Conkling, the judge died certain that he'd left his daughter well provided for despite the rapacious machinations of his second wife, Victoria. Prudence, who's never understood why the judge remarried, loathes Victoria and her slimy brother, Donald Morley, who lives with them. A few short weeks before Prudence is to marry and come into her inheritance, her fiance, Charles Linwood, dies in an apparent accident during a monster snowstorm that nearly claims Conkling too, leaving Prudence a minor under the thumb of her stepmother, who doses her with laudanum to keep her pliable. Realizing that she has only herself to count on in her battle with Victoria, strong-willed Prudence exchanges the laudanum for tea and quietly searches the house for evidence that might free her from Victoria. She gets help from Conkling and Southerner Geoffrey Hunter, a former Pinkerton agent and Charles' best friend since college days. The more closely they investigate, the more it seems likely that both Charles and the judge were murdered. Have Victoria and her brother plotted their way to riches, or does someone else have a grudge against the judge and his family? In an unwilling game of cat and mouse, Prudence struggles to keep herself alive and find the proof that will set her free. Simpson's debut, first in a planned series, features complex characters, a vivid look at old New York in the late 1800s, and a mystery with a twist.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170444526
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/26/2017
Series:	Gilded Age Mystery Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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