Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - A Most Agreeable Murder

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A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

19 reviews

vireogirl's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Camping book #3. Weirdly odd, with strange characters, jarring footnotes. If you can consider it a farce, it does move along and pull you in.

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shinypurplepants's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious

5.0

Genuinely fun and silly mystery that lies somewhere between The Princess Bride and Clue (1985). Beatrice has fully won me over and I love Swampshire in all its chaotic decorum. This is fully a farce but it's searing in its critique of women's roles in conservative societies like the Regency.

I called many but not all twists in the mystery and loved the eventual reveal. Absolutely favorite read of the year so far! Cannot wait for book two???

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aria_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bessadams's review

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funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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angorarabbit's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

TLDR: Jolly good fun. May need to have read some other stuff.

This is what happens when Christie, Austin, du Maurer, and the Bontes hook up in the afterlife and have a baby. It should be read while sipping English Breakfast and eating scones. Except you may spew good tea and scones, so maybe not?

The serious Janete to Agathaite may not appreciate the humour. The author uses the troupes of both and twists them so a reader may need some familiarity with both Austen and Golden Age British Mysteries. It’s rather fun finding all the Easter Eggs Ms Seales has spread around for readers.

The book follows the rules of the Golden Age, but I think a reader would be hard pressed to deduce the murder.The characters are interesting and well described. The female characters in particular were strongly written.The murder mystery plot is fun and keeps you turning pages. The writing is crisp. The author, while American, has a good grasp of Regency England manners and the constraints put on women and classes in that time and place. It is cozy enough to make a good break from the Atwood’s and Undset’s. I really do need to get back to some serious stuff though. Maybe a Kingsolver?

I have not been a big fan or modern authors who place Lizzy Darcy in a murder mystery. I think Ms Seales has made of wise choice is writing of a family that is analogous to the Bennetts but is not a one to one match. And I appreciate Ms Seals own touch of weirdness as well. In her afterword she says, “I hope that the story of Beatrice Steele gave you some laughs, some excitement, and a respite from weirdness by sweeping you away into…an even weirder world”. For me she succeeded. I hope to read more of Miss Steele’s and Inspector Drake’s adventures.

And now I’m left wondering whether it really was Poirot who really solved all those cases.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It’s not my favorite genre, and I was bored for most of it. I can see the appeal for those who enjoy this genre.

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beepbeep101's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What a delightful way to start the year! I thoroughly enjoyed this Austen-esque romp turned murder mystery with an absurd bent.

Our fearless heroine, Beatrice Steele, navigates her love of solving true crime while trying to also adhere to the comically strict social expectations of a proper lady in her native Swampshire in this Regency-era tale complete with inclement weather of eyeball-sized hail, dangerous squelch holes, luminescent frogs leaping across the moors, more secrets than rooms in a country mansion, a rakish Wickham character with a good heart, a wonderfully batty spinster, a leering and malodorous rich cousin, a possible (probable) werewolf, and the blandes- I mean, most agreeable, eligible young bachelor of ten thousand a year. Ten thousand what? Mary may never know.

Fans of both Jane Austen and Agatha Christie will catch numerous references throughout this “loving pastiche,” as the author puts it, that made me laugh out loud multiple times.

Excellent, excellent, want to read more by this author. No dragons, yes werewolf.

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