Publisher's Weekly Review
Flower (the Emily Dickinson mysteries) transforms Katharine Wright, sister of flight pioneers Orville and Wilbur, into an intrepid gumshoe in this splendid series launch. It's 1903, and while Katharine's brothers prepare for their inaugural flight in North Carolina, she keeps the home fires burning in Dayton, Ohio, by caring for their father, running the family bike shop, and working part-time as a teacher. After Orville and Wilbur return home, having flown their Wright Flyer for a historic 57 seconds, the three siblings attend a party hosted by the family of one of Katherine's students. There, someone swipes Orville and Wilbur's flying plans; when Katharine tracks down her chief suspect, she finds him stabbed to death with one of Orville's screwdrivers. Orville immediately falls under suspicion for the grisly murder, and Katharine sets out to clear his name, betting on people to underestimate her intellect as she ferrets out the truth. As always, Flower's thorough historical research enables her to bring contemporary readers into a bygone era, and she has the mechanics of a satisfying mystery down pat. After this stirring maiden voyage, readers will be eager to see where the series goes next. Agent: Nicole Rescinti, Seymour Agency. (Apr.)
Kirkus Review
The sister of the Wright brothers becomes a reluctant sleuth. Since graduating from Oberlin College, Katharine Wright has taught high school Latin and Greek, but she's restricted to teaching underclassmen because she's a woman. Katharine, who doesn't suffer fools gladly, is proud of Wilbur and Orville and thrilled when a telegram arrives announcing their first flight. Soon afterward, she has words with lazy student Benny Shaw, the handsome, entitled son of a wealthy family who gets by on charisma. Although Katharine has no interest in attending the Shaws' Christmas party, to which she's been invited, her best friend, Agnes, whose ambition is to marry well, begs her to come for support. The Wright brothers, who are home for Christmas, have spurned help from the Shaws, preferring to control their own work, but Orville reluctantly agrees to attend the party. Once he's there, Herman Wheeler, an old schoolmate of the Wrights who seems to hold sway over Mr. Shaw, baits Orville to participate in charades, and he ends up getting mocked. But that's not the worst, as Orville realizes when he discovers that the drawings and notes for the flying machine have vanished from his jacket, which turns up in the billiard room along with Herman's bloody body, stabbed with an initialed screwdriver that had also been in Orville's coat pocket. Orville would be the obvious suspect if it wasn't for Benny being in the billiard room covered in blood. Believing her student when he says he didn't kill Herman, Katharine sets out to prove it. Fascinating period detail and little-known historical facts add up to an enjoyable read. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Flower (I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died, 2022) imagines a new role for the sister of the famous Wright brothers, equally brilliant but limited by societal norms. Just before Christmas, 1903, Katharine Wright, a high-school Latin teacher in Dayton, Ohio, is thrilled with the news of her brothers' 57-second flight at Kitty Hawk. Less positively, Kate ejects Benny Shaw, son of a leading businessman, from her class for misbehavior, a move sure to incur the wrath of his parents. Nevertheless, Kate and Orville attend the holiday party at the Shaws'. A Shaw protégé, Herman Wheeler, taunts Orville about the flight. Orville storms out, leaving his jacket behind. Later, Kate and Orville look for it in the billiard room, where they find Wheeler bleeding out on the pool table, Orville's screwdriver in his chest. Then, they see a sobbing, bloodstained Benny, who is taken into custody by the police. As Kate works to find the jacket--especially the patent papers Orville had in his pocket--and to clear Benny, she learns frightening truths about Dayton's leading families. Flower's new historical mystery will please her many fans.
Library Journal Review
Orville and Wilbur Wright depend on their sister, Katharine; she's been running their household since she was 15. Katharine teaches languages at a Dayton, OH, high school and manages the bicycle shop whenever her brothers are in North Carolina testing their flying machine. When the brothers return after successful flights at Kitty Hawk, Katharine asks Orville to accompany her to a Christmas ball, where the quiet Orville is the butt of some cruel jokes. His jacket goes missing, and he's frantic to recover it--all the flight plans were in his pocket. As they look for the jacket, the siblings stumble across the dead body of the man who bullied Orville earlier, and it appears that Orville's screwdriver was used as a murder weapon. Neither tells the police about the missing jacket and flight plans, but Katharine knows that retrieving them means if she finds the plans, she'll find a a killer. VERDICT Fans of Flower's Agatha Award-winning mystery featuring Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, will appreciate the details in her new slow-paced novel featuring a strong, often-overlooked historical figure.--Lesa Holstine
