Murder She Reported by Peg Cochran

Peg Cochran has written a delicious 1938 murder mystery with all the sights and sounds of the Depression. Elizabeth is a "girl Friday" on a Newspaper even though her family is one of the wealthy. Through a lucky break she takes over photographing a Debutante Ball with the "It girl" featured prominently. Beautiful gowns and sleek- haired escorts provide the color but who could predict it would end in murder?

"The Rich are not like you and me," Kaminski noted, as he wrote his byline. He is a hardened Newspaperman reeking of onion and cigarettes. He took Elizabeth under his wing barking," Do you want to work for the Newspaper or not?"  Biz, her shortened name, questioned the ethics of taking photos of people at their very worst and most vulnerable. She had snapped a crying girl with blood all over her dress but questioned the right and wrong of it. Death left a bad taste in her mouth and a white-faced Biz. The murders continue as she and Kaminski track down clues and interview people. They relentlessly pursue the police theories for their newspaper. But Biz has a few ideas of her own.

The smooth delivery lines and the elegance of the attires really helps this Mystery bring that Era to life. But it's not all golden- the seamy side is written in also, so, that  makes a well-integrated murder mystery. I really enjoyed it and I will continue with the series. Five stars...

Blurb:

A Park Avenue princess discovers the dark side of 1930s New York when a debutante ball turns deadly in this gripping historical mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.

Manhattan, 1938. Tired of being trapped in the gilded cage of her family’s expectations, Elizabeth Adams has done what no self-respecting socialite would think to do: She’s gotten herself a job. Although Elizabeth’s dream is to one day see her photographs on the front page of the Daily Trumpet, for now she’s working her way up as the newsroom’s gal Friday.

But fetching coffee isn’t exactly her idea of fun. So when veteran reporter Ralph Kaminsky needs a photographer to fill in for a last-minute assignment, Elizabeth jumps at the chance. At the Waldorf Hotel, Elizabeth is tasked with tracking down the season’s “It girl,” Gloria DeWitt, who will be making her society debut. Working her own connections to New York’s upper crust, Elizabeth manages to land an exclusive interview with Gloria.

Then Gloria’s stepmother is shot dead in a Waldorf bathroom, placing Elizabeth at the scene of a headline-worthy scandal: “Murder of a Society Dame.” Now Elizabeth will have to get the scoop on the killer before her good name gets dragged through the gossip columns—or worse. . . .