Mariah Fredericks blends history and suspense into a beautifully written story that feels both atmospheric and deeply human. Set against the backdrop of Gilded Age New York, the book follows a young woman who finds herself at the center of secrets, shifting loyalties, and the dangerous politics of high society. The historical detail is rich without ever weighing the story down, and the central mystery kept me engaged throughout.

What I appreciated most was the way Fredericks portrays her characters—complex, flawed, and always compelling. The “green dress” becomes more than just an image; it’s a symbol of ambition, survival, and the cost of stepping outside society’s expectations.

This is perfect for readers who love historical fiction with a touch of suspense, and it reminded me of why I enjoy Fredericks’s storytelling—her ability to weave mystery and emotional depth together seamlessly.

The premise of this book is what drew me to it on NetGalley. I know very little about Zelda Fitzgerald, so a novel featuring her sounded fascinating, especially with its 1920s Jazz Age setting. I appreciated the historical fiction aspect, as it seems the 1920s were a glamorous time, if you were wealthy and white enough, that is. It has that "rich and powerful people doing bad things" vibe, which immediately pulls you into the drama of murder and scandal, two of my favorite types of drama.

Zelda Fitzgerald is the bored wife of a famous man, and she certainly plays the part. She’s young, selfish, self-centered, and constantly craving novelty or excitement. Morris Markey, our main POV, is a writer looking for his big break. He isn't well-connected, but a chance sighting of the murder victim on the night he died leads him to Zelda. This is his opportunity to become someone, and her chance for a new adventure. While I enjoyed the characters, they felt a bit one-dimensional and lacked significant growth.

While the historical element was intriguing, the murder investigation itself lacked the tension and suspense I expected from a mystery. The characters aren't personally connected to the victim; they're more interested in what his murder can do for them. It felt like the investigation kept getting more and more convoluted for no reason, and the conclusion was ultimately underwhelming and unsatisfying.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to experience the 1920s!

Thank you St. Martins Press, NetGalley and the author for the ARC of this novel!

This was a fascinating and interesting novel. I have always been intrigued by Zelda Fitzgerald so I knew that this one would be no different. I really liked the authors take on setting up a mystery persay in this one where a newspaper report is attempting to solve a murder that was assisted by Zelda. I appreciated the authors writing style and her ability to dive into larger issues like PTSD, mental health, and also issues surrounding women.

Is anyone else out there just completely captivated by Zelda Fitzgerald? I can't help but appreciate how Mariah Fredericks has woven such an entrancing historical fiction mystery around this forever fascinating woman. Not only was her marriage to the literary genius, F. Scott Fitzgerald, shrouded in intrigue, but I've always felt her allure is in her wild spirit and flair for drama. Ms. Fredericks has packed this novel with so much depth: the reporter's complex PTSD as well as Zelda's fragile mental health, multiple historical mysteries involving unsolved deaths, and the intense dynamics between Zelda and F. Scott. Plus, we get a glimpse into the shadowy side of fame through the eyes of writer turned reporter, Morris Markey. The author masterfully links the reporter's discoveries to post-WW2 politics and the elite who seem to operate above the law. And all this unfolds in the dazzling backdrop of the Jazz Age! It really doesn't get any better than this!

If you appreciate great historical fiction with several nods to actual historical figures, enjoy gaining new perspectives on unsolved mysteries, and are drawn to the depths of human emotion, don't miss this one!

Many thanks to St Martin's press and NetGalley for this gifted review e-copy!

Really enjoyed this historical mystery in which a newspaper reporter tries to solve the murder of his neighbor, assisted by none other than Zelda Fitzgerald. It's cozy-adjacent but also incorporates PTSD, mental heath issues, feminism. And I was shocked to learn that many of the book's characters (besides Zelda) were real, as were some events!

The first book I read of Mariah Fredericks was The Lindbergh Nanny, which I highly enjoyed so I was excited to read The Girl in the Green Dress. I must admit, it was the fact that Zelda Fitzgerald was in the book that hooked me. But the book ended up being very different than I anticipated.

In the story, journalist and WWI veteran Morris Markey is on the case when his neighbor is murdered. Knowing a detail no other journalists knows, he quickly begins trying to solve the case while writing articles for his newspaper. He enlists the help of famed author, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, who is more than happy to help him solve the murder. Together, they squeeze their way into the homes and entertainment places of the rich to figure out who the woman was who left the murder scene – the woman in the green dress.

This was a fun and interesting tale of a real-life cold case taking quite a bit of literary license placing Zelda and Scott into this story. I had hoped the story would be more true-to-life about the Fitzgerald’s, but it was instead more of a fantasy than reality. However, the story was entertaining and fun to read and I enjoyed it.

Mariah Fredericks’ The Girl in the Green Dress is a haunting, intricately woven story that blurs the line between reality and illusion in the most captivating way. From the very first chapter, readers are drawn into a narrative that challenges perception, urging you to question what is real, what is imagined, and how much of the truth can truly be trusted.

The strength of this novel lies in its atmosphere. Fredericks creates a world that feels immersive and unsettling, one where every detail might hold meaning and every interaction hints at something just beneath the surface. That lingering uncertainty keeps you hooked, flipping pages in search of clarity, only to find yourself pulled deeper into the mystery.

The protagonist’s perspective is both compelling and unreliable, a combination that heightens the suspense. You experience the story through a lens clouded by fear, doubt, and haunting memories, which makes every revelation feel like a breakthrough and every twist a shock. It’s this constant tension—between knowing and not knowing—that gives the novel its addictive quality.

Ultimately, The Girl in the Green Dress is more than just a mystery—it’s an exploration of truth, memory, and the shadows that live in between. Mariah Fredericks has crafted a gripping story that lingers long after the final page, leaving readers questioning not only the story itself but also the fragile nature of perception.

Mariah Fredericks delivers an intriguing Jazz Age mystery set in 1920s New York. When journalist Morris Markey glimpses a mysterious woman in a green dress at a murder scene, he’s drawn into a case that entangles him with Zelda Fitzgerald, who shines here as vibrant, witty, and complex.
The novel’s greatest strengths are its period detail and character work—especially Zelda, who often steals the spotlight. The unsolved real-life crimes woven into the plot give the story both intrigue and authenticity. I did find the pace slow and struggled to finish it at my usual pace. But a good read for historical fiction lovers particularly interested in the 1920’s.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 out of 5 stars)
The Girl in the Green Dress was such a fun mix of fact and fiction—one of those historical mysteries where the atmosphere practically becomes a character itself. I loved the 1920s New York City setting: all the glitter, grit, and gossip of the Jazz Age tucked around a real-life unsolved murder. The story follows Morris Markey, an ambitious reporter who gets drawn into the investigation of his murdered neighbor, and somehow ropes in none other than Zelda Fitzgerald to help open society doors. Yes, that Zelda.

I really enjoyed the character dynamics here—Markey and Zelda’s interactions were some of my favorite moments. Both are portrayed with such complexity, especially as they quietly wrestle with their mental health while navigating a city that never stops performing. And while the mystery does slow a bit after a fast-paced start, it held my attention with red herrings and period detail that felt lush without being overwhelming.

This is definitely one for readers who like a smart, slower burn mystery wrapped in a sparkling historical setting. It’s not twisty in the thriller sense, but it's clever, moody, and layered in a way that made me want to look up the real case the moment I finished. Plus, any book that drops me into jazz clubs, high society drama, and murder investigations with Zelda Fitzgerald as my guide? I’m in.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mariah Fredericks’s The Girl in the Green Dress is styled as “a mystery featuring Zelda Fitzgerald.” While true, it is so much more. The novel is really a mystery within a mystery featuring Morris Markey, a writer and former editor of the New Yorker.

The novel opens on Markey’s death in 1950, where he is shot behind the ear with his own rifle. In his typewriter is a sheet of paper asking “Who Killed Joe Elwell? . . . was it suicide — or murder.” As we soon learn, Elwell was shot in the head with his own gun in his locked home.

After setting the stage, Fredericks then returns to New York in 1920, when Markey first comes to the city to work as a cub reporter for The Daily News. He has returned from World War I where he worked for the Red Cross, suffering from the symptoms of PTSD. During the course of his investigation into Elwell’s murder, Markey is aided by Zelda Fitzgerald, who desperately wants to be taken seriously as someone more than Mrs. Fitzgerald. Fredericks’s portrayal of Zelda is so well done that she. comes to life in her own right on the page.

The mysteries themselves are a slow burn. This did not diminish my interest in the novel which has more important questions than whodunnit in mind. Like The Great Gatsby, which haunts the pages, Markey is much like Nick Carraway, confronting the difference between truth and a lie and wondering whether it really matters anymore. Fredericks does a brilliant job exploring this dilemma, as well as portraying the dichotomy between the superficial glamour of the Roaring 20’s, built on the devastation of World War I.
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book.

This book is so raw with human emotions. If that is uncomfortable for you, to read deep emotions, than I would pass on the story.
Based on historical characters, in the 1920’s, the author takes pieces of history and weaves them together to form this slight fiction novel.

Mr. Markey, the main character is thrown into murder mysteries and the roaring 20’s culture where he seems to be a fish out of water. He navigates the social scene, solves a murder, and finds love all within the pages of this book.
The partially true facts thrown into this book make it even more intriguing, as it’s the author’s imagination and speculation of details. It’s a fun book to read!

You will totally enjoy the time to spend reading this one!

I highly recommend.

Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me the privilege of reading this book.

I'm not always a fan of historical fiction based on real events, but this was really good and interesting. I loved that it had F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald, as supporting characters. The writing made me feel like I was in the 1920's, it was great. The book is based on the unsolved deaths of Joseph Elwell and New Yorker writer Morris Markey. I look forward to reading more by this author.

*Provided a DRC (digital review copy) from the publisher for review. All opinions are my own.

Let me start with…I LOVE THIS COVER!

New in town, Morris Markey hovers at the edge of the city’s revels, unable to hear the secrets that might give him his first Big Story. But when Joseph Elwell’s housekeeper runs out into the street screaming that Elwell has been shot, Morris Markey has his story.

I love anything set in the Jazz Age add in a murder mystery and you have me hooked.

I enjoyed Morris and his tenacity. He is determined to get his story. Now, I did figure out part of this tale, but not all. This had me questioning all the suspects I had pegged for this crime.

I did feel this novel was about 50 pages too long. But the author nailed Zelda Fitzgerald. I have been a fan of hers for quite a while and Mariah captured her exuberance and her eccentric behaviors.

The narrator, Marnye Young, is excellent. There are a lot of male voices in this book and she nailed them.

Need a good mystery with some great characters…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

I enjoyed reading this obviously well-researched murder mystery. Or should I say mysteries? I knew a bit about the Fitzgeralds, but this prompted me to do some further reading about their high-flying, often less than happy lives.
This era in NYC is interesting, & I’d never given much thought to the way the press handled stories @ the time. The story kept me reading, & wondering how the events of the past impacted the 1950 murder. There are loads of suspects to weed through w/Markey & Zelda. I was definitely wondering where Markey ended up after his time in NYC, & how he dealt w/the realization that he was a bit of a pawn in a crime that ended up being so different than he first imagined.
I like the author’s writing, & the story’s pace. The notes @ the end are really interesting. Thanks to the author & publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy via NetGalley.

For a short book, there were definitely times it felt monotonous, even though there was a lot going on. Not going to lie, I ended up skimming approximately the last quarter because it just got to be a little too tedious. The beginning felt so far away from the wrap up at the end, and I had forgotten that that was even part of the story. The mystery was complex and had several twists just to end up being who you would assume it would be at the beginning. But the whole point of the green dress ended up being nothing, him just chasing this fantasy that didn't end up being what he thought it would be (paralleling how he felt about his writing and investigation of the murder) also fell a little flat.

The Fitzgeralds were an interesting part of the story, but even they couldn't make up for what was lacking. I normally really enjoy historical fiction, and this was set in an interesting time period so to make it feel so flat was disappointing.

I did appreciate the PTSD references and the way soldiers struggled coming back from the Great War. Also, the discussion of war profiteering and neighbors turning on neighbors, from communism to union busting because they could... perfect. I can always appreciate pointing out the flaws of upper classes as well, the truly rich truly don't care.

I was excited to get my hands on an ARC of The Girl in the Green Dress by Mariah Fredericks. This book has a fantastic premise, blending historical fact with a fictional murder mystery set in the glamorous and chaotic world of 1920s New York City.

The story revolves around the real-life murder of a gambler, Joseph Elwell, and is told through the eyes of writer Morris Markey. The author does a brilliant job of bringing the Jazz Age to life, and the addition of real historical figures like Zelda Fitzgerald is a truly inspired touch. Having Zelda help with the investigation was a unique and delightful twist on the classic amateur sleuth trope.

The mystery itself is a fascinating one, with a locked-room feel and a cast of intriguing suspects. The plot is rich and the atmosphere is so vivid you feel like you're right there with Morris and Zelda, trying to figure out who killed Elwell. I was completely captivated by the way the author weaves in the true story with a compelling narrative, especially with the twist involving Morris Markey's own fate decades later.

Overall, it's a truly standout historical mystery. It's a great read for anyone who enjoys a solid puzzle paired with a well-researched and engaging historical setting.

★★★★☆

#TheGirlInTheGreenDress #MariahFredericks #HistoricalMystery #BookReview #Bookstagram #JazzAge #Mystery #ARC #ZeldaFitzgerald #Whodunnit #HistoricalFiction

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Morris Markey is new to New York. He arrived there from Atlanta after serving as a Red Cross driver during WWI, and he is at loose ends. He has managed to get a job as a reporter at a somewhat disreputable newspaper which specializes in rumor and gossip, but he wants to write a REAL story and finally see his name in a byline.

One night, after attending a party with Dorothy Parker and her husband and wandering around afterward, he sees the man-about-town Joseph Elwell, who lives across the street, arriving home with a stunning woman wearing a distinctive green and gold dress. So, the next morning when he is awakened by screams from that same house, and finds Elwell has been murdered, he thinks perhaps if he can find that woman in the green dress, he might just get a scoop. But the woman is long gone and no one knows who she is, so he talks his way into seeing Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, knowing they had also been with Elwell the night before and might give him some clue. Zelda, who is bored sitting around while Scott writes, takes a liking to Morris and they have a few adventures trying to solve this mystery. Along the way, he meets several people who were involved in one way or another with Elwell, but none of them are helpful in his quest.

Finally, he does find a motive and a man that several people seem to think would be capable of the cold-blooded murder and he FINALLY gets that byline, and in fact most of the front page! So the mystery is all wrapped up! Or is it?

A good story line and the inclusion of the Fitzgeralds kept me reading, but there were so many characters and most of them did not advance the story, but just added more red herrings, and I almost gave up.

3.5 stars!! Step into the glittering, dangerous allure of Jazz Age New York with Mariah Fredericks’ dazzling historical mystery. This isn’t just a murder story—it’s a journey into a world where champagne flows, reputations teeter on the edge, and secrets linger behind every polished door. Fredericks weaves together real literary icons, a locked-room puzzle worthy of the Golden Age, and the electric energy of a city that never sleeps.

Guided by journalist Morris Markey’s sharp, skeptical eye and lit by the magnetic presence of Zelda Fitzgerald, the novel explores ambition, reinvention, and the often-devastating cost of chasing fame. At once stylish and suspenseful, it offers a layered reading experience that invites spirited discussion about art, identity, and the fine line between brilliance and self-destruction.

For fans of smart mysteries with historical depth and atmospheric detail, this novel promises not only a gripping whodunit but also a vivid immersion into one of the most intoxicating eras in American history—a book certain to spark conversation long after the last page is turned.

Thank you, Mariah Fredericks, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC and to give my honest review in exchange.

It’s not often that a dead man opens the story that will be narrated by him as a young man. Common in memoir but less so in crime fiction, it’s redolent of the golden age of detective fiction, although set in 1920 New York City rather than an isolated English manor house.

Our protagonist is Morris Markey, a striving reporter in a city famed for novelists, essayists, poets. All the famous people of the era get a mention in the opening chapter, none more than F. Scott Fitzgerald, larger and brighter than life, his meteoric rise just begun.

Following a disgruntling evening party where Fitzgerald is lauded and our protagonist is ignored, Markey spies the titular woman in the green dress going into a townhouse opposite his cramped basement flat with bon vivant womanizer Joseph Elwell. Come dawn, Elwell is dead inside his locked house and the girl is gone as if she never existed.

As the hunt for the woman in the green dress heats up, Mark spends more time with Zelda Fitzgerald, than her own husband does. This mercurial historical percentage is captured with delicate, nuanced admiration, not unmixed with cynicism. Scott and Zelda are a phenomenon, deliberately cultivating their image and fascinated by what is said and reported about themselves. Yet Zelda‘s keen observations help our reporter peer into the mysterious, to him, ways of women in that era, liberated on the surface although few control their own money and most are at the mercy of husbands who bought them for their pedigree or their looks. Markey makes his reputation as a reporter on the solution but he knows the story his paper printed isn't the whole truth. So he keeps digging.

The Scott-Zelda relationship acts as both theme and spotlight against which the other marriages in the book, the excesses and spectacular flame-outs of the wild post-WW1 era itself, are set. Zelda's emotional fragility and Scott's alternating care for her with going off the rails himself reflect the instability and psychological damage that many veterans of the trenches, now trying to establish their post-war lives, carry with them.

Markey was of course a real newspaper, man, who did die at his home desk approximately as described in the opening chapter. While many of the characters are drawn from life of the era, and Elwell did in fact die under mysterious circumstances, all the rest of this Markey's fictional investigation is careful accretion, substitution, and juxtaposition of people and events that were in fact scattered over New York City and the surrounding states over several months.

All in all, this is a fascinating, murder mystery, wrapped up in the wild mess of NYC’s showbiz and gambling and politics as covered by reporters who were often little better than modern paparazzi, chasing celebrities around the city and the clock for scandals to feed their fluctuating paychecks.

Competently written, elegantly character-sketched, this is a novel to pair with a glass of bubbly and a plate of canapés while some big band razamatazz plays in the background.

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