ARC Review: I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower

I Heard the Fly Buzz When I Died
Author: Amanda Flower
Series: An Emily Dickinson Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (November 14, 2023)

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: Emily Dickinson is excited when Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to stay with her newlywed brother in order to give a series of lectures at Amherst. However, when his private secretary is killed, Emily is drawn into the murder investigation along with her maid Willa Noble. 

Willa tells the story from her viewpoint as a servant to the high-class Dickinson family. She's a keen observer who reluctantly trails Emily into dangerous situations. She is also in position to hear things that she brings to Emily's attention.

Mr. Luther Howard is a sort of shady character. He's been Emerson's secretary for a while as he hones his own skills as an author. Unfortunately, he chooses theft to hone his skills. When he finds a writer he admires, he offers to show Emerson their work and then claims it as his own. Howard is also a social climber who romances a variety of women and drops each one as the next, higher status woman comes along. At the time of his death, he is just starting to romance Emily's younger sister. 

There are a variety of suspects for the killing. An itinerant Italian peddler has reason to hate Howard because his false romance caused the peddler's niece to commit suicide. Even Emerson is a suspect since he's just discovered that Howard was trying to sell one of Emerson's earlier unfinished works as his own. 

This story is packed with literary figures of the day beyond Emerson and Dickinson herself. Louisa Alcott makes an appearance as a woman unabashedly writing to make money which is so very different than Emily's own purpose for writing. 

I enjoyed this story and think that I would have caught more of the brief snippets of Emily's thoughts as parts of her later poems had I been more familiar with Dickinson's work. One that I did catch was the idea that hope is a thing with feathers which Emily mentions when a young workman talks about sending his sweetheart in Ireland a carved wooden bird to keep her hopes for their future alive. I'm sure there were more that I missed. 

This was an engaging story firmly set in the 1850s with its social rules. The abolition movement was there as a background to the story as was the way immigrants were treated and the way the social class distinctions were so fixed. 

Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this story. 

Favorite Quote:

I had found Emily always had a purpose for everything she did, even if she was the only one who understood it.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.