I adore Mariah Fredericks’ Jane Prescott mysteries, and her YA novels are always fun. Sadly, The Girl in the Green Dress was a disappointment. This novel has as one of its leads Zelda Fitzgerald, a fascinating woman. But we never hear directly from Zelda. Instead, we spend our time in the dry-eyed, squaresville mind of just one of her characters, who looks in on the famous personalities with what can only be described as dazed wonder. Morris Markey was a real journalist and by the book’s account, a decent guy, but I’d rather hear what Zelda’s thinking and how she feels. As I read, I wanted to Fredericks to penetrate the veil of the woman who put out an outward appearance of being a “beautiful fool” but whose wit, talent and magnetic star quality could only be tempered by a jealous, alcoholic husband, period-typical sexism, and the of improperly treated mental illness. This did not happen and the book is lesser for that.

Journalist Morris Markey shows up in New York City hoping to conquer his World War I-based PTSD by becoming a writer. Via a sheer stroke of luck, he ends up in the company of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, who are floating on the success of This Side of Paradise and have become the talk of New York City. They aren’t the ones who provide him with his story, however. That honor goes to Joseph Elwell, whose connection to the gorgeous and vivacious socialite Violet Klaus is about to blow up in his face when he’s shot after escorting an equally lovely – but much more mysterious – girl in a green dress at the same evening. No one knows who killed Joseph – and Violet might not be the reason he’s dead. The key will be digging up the proverbial dirt on the girl in the green dress, and only Morris has the writing skills to make her come to life.

Scott immediately thinks something phony’s up, but he’s deadline-distracted. Zelda becomes Morris’ companion in investigating the case. Can he and Zelda solve the case?

While the characters are generally compelling here, the superficial look at Zelda really hampers The Girl in the Green Dress. The mystery – additionally based on an actual murder that took place when the Fitzgeralds and Markey were really in New York – is decent though not spectacular. There’s personality here but it desperately cries out for more – more Zelda in particular. While she’s both amusing and harrowing in turns, flouting danger and sticking her tongue out at fate, she’s seen from outside of herself in such a way that it makes her hard to bond with.

And that’s a shame because the characterization is pretty solid, especially for Scott. I found the general feeling of the story to be interesting as well. But it just didn’t work for me so I’m giving it a C+. OK, but not great.