I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died

Set in the summer of 1856, Amanda Flower's Agatha Award-winning mystery places a young Emily Dickinson at the center of a murder investigation when Ralph Waldo Emerson visits Amherst and tragedy strikes close to home. Emily and her trusted housemaid Willa find themselves navigating the rigid social hierarchies of New England society while quietly unraveling a poisoning that threatens to upend the Dickinson household. Flower renders Emily not as a literary monument but as a sharp, curious woman whose observational gifts prove as useful in detecting deception as in crafting verse.

Barrie Kreinik's narration brings Amherst to life with measured pacing that suits both the period's formality and the story's mounting tension. Kreinik distinguishes the cast with subtle vocal choices, giving Emily's interior voice a quiet intensity that feels true to the poet's character. At just over eight hours, the runtime moves efficiently, making it a strong choice for listeners who want historical atmosphere without sprawl. The audio format rewards Flower's detail-rich prose, letting the sensory texture of the 1850s unfold at a comfortable, immersive rhythm.