19. Mansions of the Dead by Sarah Stewart Taylor

This is Taylor’s second mystery starring Sweeney St. George, an art historian specializing in funereal art. This time around, one of Sweeney’s students, Brad Putnam, is found dead in his bed, with his body adorned with nineteenth-century mourning jewelry. Called in by detectives to help identify the objects, Sweeney soon becomes involved in the murder investigation. The only problem is that Brad belonged to the powerful Boston and Newport Putnam family, who are involved heavily in politics and Boston real estate. The family has a history of covering up information about their family, especially after an accident five years ago that killed Brad’s younger brother in a family car crash. Can Sweeney help solve the family’s mystery? Does the mourning jewelry filled with Putnam family hair have anything to do with the crime?

Taylor created a series that just keeps getting better. Although I liked the first mystery in this series, this one is much better written and Taylor seems more confident in her writing. Taylor clearly knows her information about graveyard art and mourning jewelry and the historical aspect of the novel is fascinating. I will definitely be reading the rest of this series.