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mindsplinters 's review for:
The Girl in the Green Dress: A Mystery Featuring Zelda Fitzgerald
by Mariah Fredericks
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 9/2/2025. Draw up your best bathtub full of gin and brush up your Charleston because you're about to go mystery-solving with a greenhorn reporter and the It Girl of the literary scene, Zelda Fitzgerald. Based on the true crime stories of the unsolved deaths of Joseph Elwell (bridge master, philander, playboy) and Morris Markey (spoiler - the aforementioned greenhorn reporter but, don't worry, it's a long time coming), The Girl in the Green Dress is a flashy piece of historical fiction with an even flashier cast of characters. You have Zelda, of course, and Markey (pre his New Yorker fame) and F. Scott Fitzgerald but you also get moments with Dorothy Parker and other members of the Algonquin Table.
The mystery itself is decent enough but requires a leap or two of logic or some sudden insights that only Markey gets to have. Satisfying but not filling if you follow. Perfectly serviceable and it holds together but, based on how it could have gone, it feels a bit workman-like. The real stand-out in this book is the vibe. Fredericks really caught the somewhat scattered, disjointed, glorious decadence of the time as she skips from description to description, conversation to conversation, shying away from letting things get too deep. Zelda, in particular, is amazingly witty and heartbreaking and she makes you (Markey) so angry but yet you love her. She's a mess but she's our mess and, much like Markey, you mourn her ending. Markey himself is a different kind of mess. While Zelda revels in her mess, Markey pretends to be anything but even as the reader clearly sees the anxiety, the PTSD, the self-esteem issues. (Don't worry, by the way. There is no forced romance or attempted love triangulation between Markey and Zelda.)
Overall, this was a solid read with a lot of heart and heartbreak and it will make you feel like less of a trainwreck because, omg, these people. :)
The mystery itself is decent enough but requires a leap or two of logic or some sudden insights that only Markey gets to have. Satisfying but not filling if you follow. Perfectly serviceable and it holds together but, based on how it could have gone, it feels a bit workman-like. The real stand-out in this book is the vibe. Fredericks really caught the somewhat scattered, disjointed, glorious decadence of the time as she skips from description to description, conversation to conversation, shying away from letting things get too deep. Zelda, in particular, is amazingly witty and heartbreaking and she makes you (Markey) so angry but yet you love her. She's a mess but she's our mess and, much like Markey, you mourn her ending. Markey himself is a different kind of mess. While Zelda revels in her mess, Markey pretends to be anything but even as the reader clearly sees the anxiety, the PTSD, the self-esteem issues. (Don't worry, by the way. There is no forced romance or attempted love triangulation between Markey and Zelda.)
Overall, this was a solid read with a lot of heart and heartbreak and it will make you feel like less of a trainwreck because, omg, these people. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Violence