Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Author: Amanda Flower
Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2022
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: January 1855: Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing.

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa's beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother's death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he'd found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and
her new mistress. . .

Review: My mom was a big fan of Emily Dickinson, and I liked a few of her poems. I read Because I Could Not Stop for Death at my grandfather's funeral in 1997. I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but I couldn't not give it a try.

March is also "cozy mystery" month in one of my book groups, and Amanda Flower is a cozy mystery author. This had the feel of cozy mystery with a more involved plot and better character development. Maybe it was a little longer than it needed to be and maybe I guessed "whodunnit" before the end of the novel, but this was a good read.

It's also fun to read someone who is almost a local author. Flower lives in Tallmadge, OH which I is an area I know fairly well. My husband grew up in nearby Akron and his uncle lives in Kent. We've been through Tallmadge many times.