Select Reviews
“[A] stylish debut. . . . The author effectively shows the casual discrimination against women at the time. Benn is off to a promising start.”
Publishers Weekly
“Benn has created a delightful sleuth, and readers will look forward to more mysteries starring the Jazz Age heroine.”
Library Journal
“Benn has created a terrific mystery. . . . A well-done debut.”
Historical Novels Review
“A terribly amusing twist on the 1920s historical, . . . Relative Fortunes is a love letter to an era of sweeping changes in both women’s roles and in the publishing industry.”
CrimeReads
“Marlowe Benn weaves a rollicking, sinuous portrait of 1920s New York. A story of passion, deceit, gaiety, and manipulation, Relative Fortunes is a hugely entertaining read, and Julia Kydd is a memorable protagonist.” Lindsay Jayne Ashford, author of The Snow Gypsy and The Woman on the Orient Express
“Fans of Agatha Christie will love this murder mystery, with a cast of suspects to keep readers guessing. Julia Kydd’s endeavor is entertaining and engaging to the end.”
Gemma Liviero, international bestselling author of historical fiction
Meet Julia Kydd, a sophisticated young booklover eager to make her mark in Jazz Age Manhattan. She’s determined to storm the clubby men’s world of publishing with a modern new imprint of her own. With stylish wit and guile, she navigates the era’s fabled exuberance even as she confronts its darker underside of cynicism, carelessness, bigotry—and murder.
Named One of 2019’s Best Traditional Mysteries by CrimeReads
In 1920s New York, the price of a woman’s independence can be exorbitant—even fatal.
In 1924 Manhattan, women’s suffrage is old news. For sophisticated book lover Julia Kydd, life’s too short for politics. With her cropped hair and penchant for independent living, Julia wants only to publish books under her own imprint. But as a woman, Julia must fight for what’s hers—including the inheritance her estranged half brother, Philip, has challenged, threatening her aspirations.
When a friend’s sister, prominent women’s rights activist Naomi Rankin, dies suddenly of an apparent suicide, Julia is shocked at the wealthy family’s indifference. She learns that Naomi had chosen poverty and hardship over a submissive marriage and a husband’s control of her money. Her death suggests the struggle was more than she could bear.
Julia is not convinced. She confesses her skepticism to Philip, who proposes a glib wager: if Julia can prove Naomi was in fact murdered, he’ll drop his claims to her wealth. With her own future at stake, Julia soon discovers that Naomi’s life was as turbulent and enigmatic as her death. And as she closes in on the dangerous truth, Julia learns just how dearly a woman must sometimes pay for her independence.
“This book was the bee’s knees!! . . . Benn’s novel does a wonderful job of marrying the mystery to the early days of the women’s rights movement, and it fit the story perfectly.”
The Cracker Crumb Life
“This is it. The summer read I’ve been waiting for: a tantalizing mystery that blends chic characters, cheeky repartee, glamorous settings and—as a bonus—lively historical perspective. . . . Relative Fortunes is the perfect title for this frisky murder mystery—even while dealing with family relations, gender discrimination, women’s rights, and the political landscape, the author also treats us to the insouciance of the Jazz Age, from fashion and lingo to cigarettes and speakeasies. . . . Thanks to terrific language, a twisting plot, and immensely engaging characters, the story [is] a grade-A romp.”
Barbara Lloyd McMichael, The BookMonger
