I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died

Agatha Award winner Flower offers a second captivating Emily Dickinson mystery (following Because I Could Not Stop for Death). Dickinson’s poem “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died” introduces this appealing novel, narrated by Emily’s maid, Willa Noble. Renowned writer Ralph Waldo Emerson is scheduled to deliver a series of lectures at Amherst’s local literary society, and Emerson and his charming secretary Luther Howard are houseguests of Emily’s newly married sister. Mr. Howard suddenly feels ill at dinner and steps outside for fresh air. Later that night, he is found dead in the garden. He has been poisoned. With her good friend and housemaid Willa, Emily embarks on a quest to find the murderer. Set in 17th-century New England, the novel vividly portrays the era’s inequitable treatment of women, especially women writers. Narrator Barrie Kreinik skillfully brings the wide range of characters to life, from elite New Englanders to house servants, Irish immigrants, and more.