Murder at Arleigh is the 13th Gilded Newport historical mystery by Alyssa Maxwell. Released 26th Aug. 2025 by Kensington, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, although this book is not currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow, the first 12 books in the series are.
This is an engaging light historical mystery series with a returning cast; centrally a young(ish) socialite husband and wife pair and their social circle in early 20th century in the Northeastern USA. The author is adept with characterizations and settings. The houses, customs, and fashions of 1903 grand society are as much an integral part of the story as the plotting. There are numerous descriptions of food, fashion, and houses which go on a bit, but it provides a nice, escape from reality.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours 43 minutes and is capably read by Lauren Ezzo. She has a well modulated east coast US accent, and does a good job with a range of character voices of different ages and classes. Sound and production quality is high throughout the read.
It works well as a standalone, with the understanding that it's a continuing series, so there will be some spoilers for character development if read out of order. Very much the same vibe as Rosemary Simpson, Irina Shapiro, and Kate Belli.
Four stars. Diverting, escapist, comfort reading. With 13 books extant in the series and a 14th due out in 3rd quarter 2026, it would make an excellent long binge/buddy reading project.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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