Death in a Gilded Frame

Newport Summer 1899-yachts, balls, and famed artists eager to paint portraits of Society's 'Queens.'Western silver heiress Val Mackle DeVere (Mrs. Roderick W.) agrees to 'sit' for a portrait for her beloved Roddy, only to stumble on a scene of bloody, grisly homicide at an art gallery.Like a figure from Pompeii, the dead Newport gallery manager screams in silence, his hands like claws clutching at a gilt frame pulled down over his head and shoulders while blood darkens his cream-colored suit. Impulsive, Val reaches for the murder weapon and will find herself suspected, shamed, and shunned as she seeks the killer while learning yet again a lesson taught by Cornelius Vanderbilt IV: 'No city on earth is as hostile to outsiders as Newport.'