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beepbeep101's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
growintogardens's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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
4.75
Was this completely silly? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Also yes. It's good fun and had me wishing there was a pile of them to read next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
lme417's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
lastblossom's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tl;dr
A playful murder mystery with lots of layers starring two equally competent detectives in a very tongue-in-cheek narrative.
Thoughts
I'm pretty voracious for historical murder mysteries, especially the kind that play in Victorian and regency type settings, and this is one of the most playful books I've ever read in the genre. A clear tongue-in-cheek love letter to the genre, with references to Jane Austen and just a hint of Holmes. Chapters are interwoven with snippets like newspaper articles, letters between characters, and diary excerpts that help the reader get a more intimate look at all the characters.
Beatrice is a complicated lead. She's enthusiastic and clever, but seems to have absolutely terrible timing when it comes to speaking out. Drake makes a great counterpart to her, thoughtful and keen, and also incredibly bad at social skills. There's a good amount of actual detectiving going on in here, with interviews, searching for clues, puzzles, and a whole heap of red herrings and other threads to pull on. I would suggest that some of the other threads are more interesting than the actual mystery (are we going to talk about Mary???), but the final solution to the murder is very neatly tied up with a satisfying explanation, and the hint of more to come. Romance is very light, and largely implied. There's a bit of a haters-to-lovers mood on the front end, but the hatred melts away pretty fast in favor of solving the case.
This was a very fun read that I breezed through in a couple sessions, and anyone else who enjoys this genre will probably be entertained by this twist on it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advance copy!
A playful murder mystery with lots of layers starring two equally competent detectives in a very tongue-in-cheek narrative.
Thoughts
I'm pretty voracious for historical murder mysteries, especially the kind that play in Victorian and regency type settings, and this is one of the most playful books I've ever read in the genre. A clear tongue-in-cheek love letter to the genre, with references to Jane Austen and just a hint of Holmes. Chapters are interwoven with snippets like newspaper articles, letters between characters, and diary excerpts that help the reader get a more intimate look at all the characters.
Beatrice is a complicated lead. She's enthusiastic and clever, but seems to have absolutely terrible timing when it comes to speaking out. Drake makes a great counterpart to her, thoughtful and keen, and also incredibly bad at social skills. There's a good amount of actual detectiving going on in here, with interviews, searching for clues, puzzles, and a whole heap of red herrings and other threads to pull on. I would suggest that some of the other threads are more interesting than the actual mystery (are we going to talk about Mary???), but the final solution to the murder is very neatly tied up with a satisfying explanation, and the hint of more to come. Romance is very light, and largely implied. There's a bit of a haters-to-lovers mood on the front end, but the hatred melts away pretty fast in favor of solving the case.
This was a very fun read that I breezed through in a couple sessions, and anyone else who enjoys this genre will probably be entertained by this twist on it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advance copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Confinement
bodily fluids, spit, snot, sneezing
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