The Widow Hamilton: An Eliza Hamilton Mystery

A young woman is murdered and another goes missing in Cox’s inventive second whodunit featuring Alexander Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, as a sleuth (after The Lace Widow). In 1805, more than a year after Alexander’s death, Eliza has found friends among her fellow widows at Manhattan’s Pearl Street House. As a result, she feels an intense sense of responsibility when Rebecca Dickens, an orphan whom the Pearl Street women took in and trained to make lace, is found murdered in New York’s unsavory Water Street district. Meanwhile, Jo Ambrose, another of the widows’ charges, has gone missing after setting out to find Rebecca. Drawing on the skills she learned during her previous murder investigation, Eliza carefully examines Rebecca’s corpse, uncovering evidence of arsenic poisoning that the coroner missed. Her subsequent digging reveals that Rebecca was ensnared in criminal activity before her death, leading Eliza into dark corners of New York City’s underworld as she seeks the truth. Cox combines a remarkable talent for bringing the past to life with well-shaded characterizations. Historical mystery fans will be thrilled. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Feb.)