It's December 1924. A woman is found dead in a rundown rooming house in Boston’s South End. But she’s wife of a wealthy banker with a mansion in the Back Bay. Did she kill herself or was she killed? Frances Glessner Lee known later for her miniature crime scenes used to train detectives wants to help her old friend Medical Examiner Dr. Magrath to find the truth. The dead woman's daughter and lover are involved in the demonstrations against the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. Family jewels are missing. Fanny fears Jake has some past entanglement with the neurotic woman. As Christmas approaches, the case seems unsolvable. Another death and a tragedy during Christmas Eve bell ringing and caroling drive the investigators to an unexpected end. This is book 4 of the Nutshell Murder Mystery series featuring Mother of Forensic Science Frances Glessner Lee and Boston Medical Examiner Dr. George Magrath.

 

Rich with twists, deception, and Golden Age mystery charm, this gripping whodunit, with its unique miniature recreation of the murder, will keep you questioning every suspect until its stunning final reveal." -- Nina Wachsman, Author of the Anthony Award Finalist, The Courtesan's Pirate from the Venice Beauties Mysteries

"The wife of a prominent banker is found dead in a rundown rooming house in Boston's rough South End, a place where a woman of society has no business being. Is it suicide, or murder? Finding the answer only raises more questions, and comes at a cost to the investigators themselves, in this entertaining crime novel. Author Frances McNamara convincingly depicts her principal characters' fight to bring the rigors of forensic science to the rough world of police investigation in 1924, while serving up a plot with plenty of twists and turns. Combine this with the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti trial unfolding in the background, and you have just the book for readers who enjoy a helping of little-known history with their mystery."-D. M. Pirrone, author of Practice to Deceive and the Hanley & Rivka Mysteries

"The Unpapered Bedroom Murder mystery by Frances McNamara is a well-researched and fast-paced novel fully packed with historical information. The lessons are written in a manner where you don't realize you just learned a bit of Americana history. The character list was full, but each was fully rounded. Division of class was clear. I loved Suffolk Susie and Edwin. The killer was not my first choice - which pleased me. A clean story. My only issue was a few his-her conversations were I got turned around with who was speaking. Definitely worth the read. Kudos Frances."-DonnaRae Menard, donnaraemenardbooks.com

"McNamara transports her readers to Boston in 1924, when a society woman dies under suspicious circumstances in a seedy boarding house. Half a dozen men and women have powerful motives to murder her. Readers will keep guessing who done it as an appealing and memorable cast of characters search for the truth. The riveting story, brimming with romance, thrills, and twists, unfolds against the backdrop of prohibition and the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti trial."-Marlie Parker Wasserman, author of The Murderess Must Die, Path of Peril, Inferno on Fifth, and First Daughter