‘The Girl in the Green Dress’ by Mariah Fredericks; Minotaur; 336 pages; $29
Mariah Fredericks takes another leap in the riveting “The Girl in the Green Dress,” showing her skill at creating engrossing historical mysteries depicting real people in the context of their era while pinpointing what that time frame was like.
Set in New York City during 1920, “The Girl in the Green Dress” evokes a city — and a country — changing. Women were bobbing their hair, wearing shorter dresses, drinking “bathtub gin.” Prohibition began during January of that year; women received the right to vote that August. The attraction of New York was obvious. “When people talk about New York, they’re really talking about themselves being in New York, like the city’s a mirror they like to see themselves in,” says one character.
The historical companions for “The Girl in the Green Dress” are the charming gambler and womanizer Joseph Elwell, beginning journalist Morris Markey, and writer and socialites F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Fredericks wraps these real figures in a tight, suspenseful plot that captures their personalities.
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Elwell’s skill at bridge made the game a fad among the wealthy and brought him riches along the way. His still-unsolved murder in his townhouse located in an up-and-coming area of Manhattan will be the career jump that fledgling journalist Morris needs. The story comes to Morris, who is asleep in his apartment when he hears a woman screaming across the street that her boss has been killed. The woman is Elwell’s housekeeper, who lets Morris in when he mentions he was attached to the Red Cross during WWI. Elwell is beyond help, but Morris uses the time to look around the townhouse, saying he is checking if the killer is still there. Naturally, he’s looking for background for his story.
Morris’ search gives him insight into the deceased, whom he had seen the night before with a woman wearing a dress of “green and silver shards, as if … showered in dollar bills.”
Morris knows that to properly report Elwell’s murder, and perhaps find his killer, he needs an entry into New York society. At 21 and newly arrived to New York from Virginia, Morris is still finding his way.
Enter the Fitzgeralds. Morris had briefly met F. Scott and thinks he might help. Instead, it’s Zelda who considers showing Morris around, and maybe finding a killer, to be an adventure. Zelda is definitely not the “girl” in green, but she might know her.
(Minotaur/Courtesy)
Fredericks does not sanitize the real people she writes about but delivers complete portraits that include their strengths and flaws, as she did in her terrific 2024 novel, “The Wharton Plot,” about author Edith Wharton. And the Fitzgeralds have a lot of flaws, which have been documented in numerous biographies.
The couple is exhausting to be around. They’ve been kicked out of several hotels because of their drinking, loud parties and excessive behavior. Yet both are infinitely charming and interesting. Morris can’t deny that F. Scott is gifted, which tends to make people forgive both for their antics. Morris’ comment that one had to go to the “edge” to appreciate the chaotic New York of the 1920s also applies to the Fitzgeralds: “Because the view is spectacular.” The novel also shows how Morris would become a respected journalist with a long career.
Fredericks illustrates the appeal of this era and people, showing why Fitzgerald’s work, especially “The Great Gatsby,” is having a revival.
“The Girl in the Green Dress” is the perfect marriage of character, era, setting and intriguing plot.
(Bywater/Courtesy)
‘Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons,’ edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West; Bywater; 400 pages; $23.95
Author John Copenhaver and publisher Salem West have tapped 26 authors to deliver stories about LGBTQ+ life, community and concerns in the outstanding “Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons.”
Copenhaver and West have chosen a diverse group of authors, ranging from new authors to those with a few published novels to veterans. These include Katherine V. Forrest, whose character Kate Delafield is considered the first lesbian police detective to appear in American fiction, and Ellen Hart, who was named the 2017 Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. The collection also features a variety of styles, including hard-boiled, amateur sleuth, cozy, legal thrillers and domestic stories. “Crime Ink” is the first anthology devoted solely to queer icons.
Smart additions: short essays from the contributors about who inspired their short stories and a brief biography of each author.
Author John Copenhaver helped edit “Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons.” (Nic Persinger/Courtesy)
For her icon, Cheryl A. Head selected author James Baldwin for her “Finding Jimmy Baldwin,” which concerns a possible kidnapping of the famous writer. Christopher Bollen makes Elton John a pivotal part of his “The Prophet Daniel” about a scam artist in Venice, which also was the setting for his novel “A Beautiful Crime.” Jeffrey Marks credits Ellery Queen and Edgar Allan Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin for his “Fall of the House of Fresher,” about two college students discovering a murder within a fraternity.
Kelly J. Ford finds inspiration in Langston Hughes for “The Invitational,” in which the relationship of two women changes as they keep their marriage secret in their small Arkansas town. J.M. Redmann pays homage to her colleague Ellen Hart, with that author’s ongoing character, Jane Lawless, hiring Redman’s investigator to track a graduate student’s killer in “Snow Job.”
In “Crime Ink: Iconic,” publisher Salem West helped choose a diverse group of authors, ranging from newbies to those with a few published novels to veterans. (Ann McMan/Courtesy)
