Cold Morning: An Edna Ferber Mystery

Written by Ed Ifkovic
Review by Janice Derr

In the spring of 1932, the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, America’s hero, is snatched from his bed by an unknown kidnapper and held for ransom. Two months later the child is found dead near Lindbergh’s home, and the hunt for the murderer begins. Almost three years later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann stands trial in Flemington, New Jersey as the main suspect in what becomes known as the “crime of the century.”

Playwright and novelist Edna Ferber and critic and radio personality Aleck Woollcott are hired by the New York Times to provide daily commentary of the trial. Edna is not fully convinced Hauptmann is guilty and is quickly becoming tired of the media frenzy surrounding the case when she finds herself in middle of a new murder mystery. A waitress at Edna’s hotel is murdered shortly after boasting she knows information that could change the course of the trial.

This is the seventh novel in the series, but one needn’t have read the previous books to fully enjoy this mystery. Full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, and the snappy dialog between Edna and Aleck make this a fun, fast read.