The Lace Widow

Could Alexander Hamilton be at the center of a vast murder plot engulfing Old New York? As his widow, Eliza, pieces together the puzzle, she unearths a heartbreaking secret that threatens to tear her family apart.

Perfect for fans of Sherry Thomas and Deanna Raybourn, taking us from the city's gilded mansions to its meanest streets, Mollie Ann Cox's debut historical mystery transports readers to center stage in a time of grave political danger.

New York, 1804. America's beloved Alexander Hamilton lies dead after a duel with Aaron Burr. Meanwhile, Eliza Hamilton's eighteen-year-old son, Alexander Jr., was seen fighting with a man in a tavern the night before his father's duel and quickly comes under suspicion for murder when the man turns up dead.

Eliza searches for ways to clear her son's name, even as she is grieving, but as she combs through her late husband's papers, she finds evidence of a plot to steal money from the government during his tenure as secretary of state. Hamilton was accused of stealing that money, and it was a scandal that almost broke the family--but is Eliza now holding proof of Alexander's innocence?

Deep in debt and despair, with eight children to support, Eliza turns to selling her handmade lace--and is drawn into a mysterious network of widow lacemakers who are intimately connected to New York's high-society families. They know their dead husbands' secrets--and soon, Eliza begins to piece together the truth.

There's a dark plot connected with the duel, as one by one, witnesses to the bout are being killed. Now, Eliza must not only clear her husband's and son's names but keep herself out of the killer's sights.

Author: Mollie Ann Cox
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: 12/12/2023
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781639105281

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/02/2023
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2023
Booklist 11/01/2023 pg. 29
Shelf Awareness 12/29/2023

About the Author
Mollie Ann Cox is the author of several popular mystery series, also writing under the pen name Maggie Blackburn. Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman's World. The Lace Widow is the first time she's combined her passion for history and mystery. She makes her home at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Crozet, V.A.