Roderick and Valentine DeVere are spending the summer of 1899 in Newport, Rhode Island, at their 20- or 30-room “cottage,” where an esteemed art gallery is to open for the season, affording Roddy the opportunity to have a “school of Rembrandt” family painting assessed and providing them both with the chance to have Val’s portrait done, an undertaking that Val loathes but that she will endure for Roddy’s sake. However, the art gallery director is soon found stabbed to death, and it is Val and Roddy’s misfortune to be the persons who discover the body; worse, Val impulsively picks up the dagger, bloodying her gloves, just in time for the Season’s worst gossip to come across her. Now, Val is being branded a possible murderer and several paintings are missing; she and Roddy must somehow navigate the perilous gossip to uncover the real culprit…. I much enjoy the “Gilded” series from Ms. Tichi, this being the sixth, but had some difficulty getting into this one. Part of it is, I think, perhaps an over-reliance on foreshadowing - there are many instances of “had I but known” type comments made ahead of events - and partly there are some threads that are not followed through on, such as the family painting which is mentioned frequently but about which nothing ever actually happens. That said, I still very much like Roddy and, especially, Val, the Western silver heiress who must learn to cope with exceedingly formal New York Society ways, but I think a reader new to this series should start with the first book, “A Gilded Death,” rather than jumping in here. Nevertheless, I recommend the series as a whole. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ( )