In 1888, the murder of two female journalists in the New York City prompts newly widowed journalist Diana Spaulding to investigate the handsome horror author Damon Bathory in this historical mystery. Although her growing affection for Bathory makes her increasingly reluctant to pursue him, Spaulding is spurred on by her cigar-chomping boss Horatio Foxe in an adventure that pits her against a deranged artist, a matriarch with a bloodthirsty sense of humor, and a traveling acting troupe of egotistical men and jealous women. Written against the background of New York City during the height of yellow journalism, the novel brings to life not only the the fast-paced murder mystery that Spaulding investigates, but also the day-to-day realities and hardships of the gilded age.

Reporter Diana Spaulding leaves for Denver after hearing that her mother has been accused of murdering her gold-baron father in this wry historical novel. Upon arriving in the Mile-High City, Spaulding must brave opium dens, snooty Denver society, and a crafty murderer to save her mother—all against a backdrop of brothels, immigrant railroad workers, and nouveau-riche gold miners that are almost as engaging as the plot itself. Late-19th-century Denver is explored with precise historical detail as Spaulding uncovers the plot that threatens her mother's life.

In her thirty-third published novel, the third mystery in this critically acclaimed series featuring "girl-reporter" Diana Spaulding, Kathy Lynn Emerson explores her own roots in rural New York with the aid of her grandfather's diaries. 1888 - When Diana and her fiancée Dr Ben Northcote journey to Sullivan Country, New York, they discover Diana's long-lost relative embroiled in a speculator's crazy scheme to turn the family hotel into the next Saratoga Springs. Then an excavation figs up a skeleton, and Diana must exercise her reporter's nose to clear her Uncle Howd of a ten-year old murder, enhanced by a cast of colourful humans and an aggressive nanny goat.

Diana's wedding preparations are interrupted when her fiancé Ben receives an urgent plea for help from a reclusive childhood friend in the final volume of this mystery series. Working on a secretive archeological dig on Graham Somener's island off the coast of Maine, a team of men have all been poisoned. When one is murdered in a diving accident and Graham refuses to call the police, Diana and Ben fear he may have fallen under the spell of a confidence woman posing as an archeologist from the Peabody Museum. Their investigations threaten Ben’s friendship and imperil Diana’s life before the conundrum is finally solved.