The Greenleaf Murders by R. J. Koreto
Young architect Wren Fontaine lands her dream job: restoring Greenleaf House, New York's finest Gilded-Age mansion, to its glory days. But old homes have old secrets:
Stephen Greenleaf-heir to what's left of his family's legacy-refuses to reveal what his plans are once the renovation is completed. And still living in a corner of the home is Stephen's 90-year-old Aunt Agnes who's lost in the past, brooding over a long-forgotten scandal while watching Wren with mistrust. Wren's job becomes more complex when a shady developer who was trying to acquire Greenleaf House is found murdered. And after breaking into a sealed attic, Wren finds a skeleton stuffed in a trunk.
She soon realizes the two deaths, a century apart, are strangely related. Meanwhile, a distraction of a different kind appears in the form of her client's niece, the beautiful and seductive Hadley Vanderwerf. As Wren gingerly approaches a romance, she finds that Hadley has her own secrets. Then a third murder occurs, and the introverted architect is forced to think about people, and about how ill-fated love affairs and obsessions continue to haunt the Greenleafs. In the end, Wren risks her own life to uncover a pair of murderers, separated by a century but connected by motive. She reveals an odd twist in the family tree that forever changes the lives of the Greenleafs, the people who served them, the mansion they all called home-and even Wren herself.
About the author
R.J. Koreto is the author of the Lady Frances Ffolkes mystery series, the Alice Roosevelt mystery series, and the Wren Fontaine Historic Homes series. His short stories have been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.In his day job, he works as a business and financial journalist. Over the years, he’s been a magazine writer and editor, website manager, PR consultant, book author, and seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Like his heroine, Lady Frances Ffolkes, he’s a graduate of Vassar College.With his wife and daughters, he divides his time between Rockland County, N.Y., and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
Review
This was a solid start to a new cosy crime series based around Wren Fontaine, a young architect with a passion for historic houses! Her father’s firm, in which she is a junior partner, has recently been given the opportunity to renovate a huge mansion back to its former glory, as if it was the day it was built. Wren is passionate about old buildings and those from the Gilded Age in particular and it's a dream come true for her to work on them. However, she is good with buildings, not people and has a tricky client to deal with, Stephen Greenleaf. She needs to remember that he comes from one of the oldest and most powerful families in New York, albeit that his generation is unable to look after the house. But when a rival developer is a murdered she will need all her wits to uncover what has been going on!
I do love a slow burn of a mystery as it allows the reader to pick up on so many details but I did find that in the middle it could have been shortened a wee bit as I felt sometimes it was slightly repetitive. But then I’m hyper aware of details and they instantly stick in my head whereas other readers might love this! Maybe I read too many thrillers, but then reviewing is subjective anyhow. However, what I loved about this was a very strong female protagonist and I can truly say that she is unique for me in that I haven’t read or heard about a detective/architect combination before! It put a different spin on things and I found it very interesting and entertaining to see things from Wren’s viewpoint and how she sees the world. Like Wren I have a passion for history and that was one thing I thought was done extremely well in this novel. The attention to detail was brilliant and historical aspects to the story certainly rang true in my eyes. Also, like Wren there has been many a times I have wished to have lived in the Gilded Age and this made me really resonate with the protagonist!
There were lots of suspects throughout the book and I certainly didn't work out who the killer was! I did kind of guess what the resolution for the house would be though as unlike Wren I thought the exact opposite when a certain place was mentioned.
This was a brilliant start to a new series and I will definitely be looking out for it's follow up!
