#regency murder mystery

[checkoutmybookshelf]

How Do I Even Begin to Explain Regina Jeffers...

When I was growing up, my hometown had a local bookstore called Gulliver's Books. The ground floor was a standard bookstore with new books and tchotchkes and book paraphernalia. Pretty bog standard. What made Gulliver's magical was the entire second floor--everything was donated used books. One of my favorite things to do as a stressed teenager and early 20-something was to grab a hot chocolate and spend an hour reading the shelves to see what I could find. There was always a gem or two, and you could even usually find schoolbooks for a hell of a price reduction, so this place was a win. And it smelled like books and coffee... *drifts away on sensory memory*

RIGHT. SORRY. We're talking about a specific book here. I found The Phantom of Pemberley during one of my Gulliver's book trawls, and this absolute delight of a Pride and Prejudice murder mystery was captivating, fluffy fun from start to finish. Let's talk Pride and Prejudice spinoffs!

Regina Jeffers's book is, as you can likely tell from the title, a combination of an Agatha Christie-esque cosy house murder mystery with some Phantom of the Opera overtones. Taking place about a year after Lizzie and Darcy marry, the premise is that a winter storm forces Lydia Wickham, Anne de Bourgh, and a passle of various, loosely acquainted hangers-on to shelter at Pemberely for a few days until the weather clears up.

This book is absolutely delightful cozy house, winter fun fluff, including sugared icicles, sledding, hot chocolate for DAYS, and performing scenes from Shakespeare in the parlor. The tooth-rotting fluff is balanced beautifully with issues of romance and murder centered on Anne de Bourgh, Lydia Wickham, and Georgiana Darcy. Our young ladies are firmly under Lizzie's wing, and unlike her mother, Lizzie might actually be something of a social genius because she is manging the social restrictions/expectations and the girls' wants and needs like a freaking champ.

Meanwhile, Darcy and the other gentlemen are trying to figure out why on earth people are dying in Pemberley, why there seems to be a ghost flitting around the halls, and why Lizzie is drinking abormally high amounts of hot chocolate.

I don't have much to say about this book other than that it is delightful fluff; it's what it says on the tin, and it's very much a comfort book for me. So if you're an Austen stan and want a little bit more of Lizzie and Darcy, I can't recommend this book enough.

[sincerelyhannahx]

doctor who??? bridgerton??? murder mystery??? jonathan groff??? dungeons and dragons??? cosplay??? kylie minogue??? previous doctors??? tragic gays??? and during pride month no less???

[hussyknee]

KJ Charles is an absolute liar, pass it on.

[laiqualaurelote]

as someone who in 2021 wrote a Miss Fisher/Doctor Who crossover with a Bridgerton-themed episode gatecrashed by a time-travelling, morally dubious American, let's just say I'm feeling VINDICATED

also I loved this episode, when Kylie Minogue came on I laughed so hard I spat my dinner all over my lap and now I have to do laundry again

[demonahw]

My partner has done a picture to go with my Austen-inspired regency AU fic Phryne and Finality (AO3).

The gun is more for vibes than because it’s relevant to the story. And it’s what happens when you fail to give a brief beyond a shoulder shrug.

The fic itself is in progress, but the final chapter is proving long and difficult. Finishing things is hard.

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

A Most Agreeable Murder is many things: a regency romp, a comedy of manners, a satire, a subtly teasing romance, and a murder mystery with a side of cozy plus an extra slice of whimsy. It's a clever and inviting debut, bursting full of the lovably absurd characters that you might find in the pages of an Austen or a Heyer novel.

In fact, if Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey could have penned a novel herself, I think it might've come out something like this--with plenty of folly and fancifulness to spare.

The plot centers around Beatrice Steele, a resident of Swampshire, a small English town in the country, as she attempts to solve a murder that takes place during the Stabmort ball. Though it's not considered ladylike to be interested in such things, Beatrice loves true crime, dreaming about one day being able to solve cases and pursue justice for real. So when Croaksworth croaks (the pun was there, okay?) in the middle of a minuet, she is enlisted to help Vivek Drake, a surly, disgraced, eye-patching wearing detective, solve the mystery and apprehend the culprit responsible.

However, with Beatrice up against the wall with the etiquette demands of Swampshire as well as Drake's facts-first-and-foremost way of investigating, things do not proceed smoothly. Or easily, for that matter. So as the evening continues to descend into madness and mayhem, the storm outside keeping them all locked inside the manor house, will she be able to rise above it all to catch the killer? Will she be able to solve the case before anyone else dies?

I had such a marvelous time with this book!

Even though there were times the satire could be too heavy-handed, I mostly reveled in all of the ridiculous antics (like Miss Bolton and her hats, like Daniel and his rhymes) because it added to the hilarity. It poked fun at all other "dramatic" mysteries of the time period. Plus, the puns were phenomenal - STABmort Park, Edmund CROAKSworth - I couldn't help but laugh.

I also enjoyed Beatrice as a heroine because she's plucky, passionate, and intuitive. She's the type of gal (and investigator!) who follows her gut instincts, which sometimes prove to be right and other times turn out to be fifty shades of wrong...And that, of course, made for half the fun!

She and Inspector Drake were good partners. Well-balanced. A formidable team. They're like the head and the heart of crime-solvers, with a dynamic that is Darcy-Lizzie-esque in nature because it was all bad first impressions, reluctant attraction, acerbic wit, and slowly evolving trust and cooperation. It was fabulous. Truly. As such, the stage was set for their personal and professional partnership to continue in the future, and I, for one, sure hope it does!

A perfect pick for Jane Austen and Agatha Christie fans. Especially ones who don't mind some quirkiness stirred into their regency manners or murder mystery soup.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

4/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[radishearts]

POV the prince and heir to the throne gets murdered (15) so you, (16) betrothed to the now deceased prince ascend to the throne but your not happy about it so you task an old chambermaid (24) and a faceless wizard (????) to investigate the death of the prince and find out what’s going on and oh. Oh no. It’s ground hog day and now we have to relive that fateful evening till the mystery is solved.

+ some extras :D

[morgan--reads]

A Most Agreeable Murder - Julia Seales 

Summary: Beatrice Steele has long kept her secret obsession with true crime from the strictly proper community of Swampshire. However, when a murder takes place at a much anticipated ball, Beatrice must use her knowledge—with the help of Detective Drake—to solve the crime. 

Quote: “We were in love. But as I always say, a single man in possession of a good fortune sometimes is actually not single. He's often a total liar.”

My rating: 3.0/5.0  Goodreads: 3.73/5.0

Review: I get what Seales is trying to do here, but I don’t think she quite gets there. The book is a mixture of satire (mostly of Austen, but also of Regency romances more generally) and cozy mystery. The satire is more goofy than sharp and while I found some of the jokes funny—the running gag that Beatrice’s sister Mary is a werewolf really got me—most of them are childish. Great satire has something to say about what it is satirizing, and that isn’t the case here. Seales just takes well-known Regency romance tropes and dials up the silliness slightly. The mystery is good enough if you like a cozy mystery, though there is a surprising amount of serious violence directed towards Beatrice that didn’t mesh well with the tone. 

The audiobook, read by Fiona Hampton, is an excellent representation of the book. 

Read-alike: I’m only halfway through Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall, but I’m seeing similarities.

[shesailsships]

It's that time of year again...birthday time!

[queen-rndmchick]

Jennifer Aniston & Adam Sandler @ Regency Village Theatre for Murder Mystery 2 Premiere 🌟

[lynnwriting]

WOMS: A Most Agreeable Murder

We're back in the Regency Era this week with another #murdermystery, you might even say...an agreeable one? It's Julia Seales A Most Agreeable Murder! Click below to read! #historicalmystery #RegencyEra #bookreview

We’re back in the Regency Era this week with another murder mystery, you might say an agreeable one? It’s Julia Seales A Most Agreeable Murder! This one had been on my TBR for a while, but my library never had it available. It was always checked out. I suppose it was/is quite popular. After waiting and waiting in a queue, when I went book shopping with a friend one Sunday, I decided to buy this…

[booksformks]

Book Review: Jane and the Year Without a Summer

Jane and the Year Without a Summer (Jane Austen Mysteries, #14)by Stephanie Barron 5 out of 5 stars Jane and her sister Cassandra are visiting Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. They hope that by sampling the sulfurous waters, Jane’s health might improve. They stay at a boarding house and are very curious about the other guests. One of the boarders is Miss Williams, a young lady confined to a…

[annafromuni]

My Thoughts on Andrea Penrose's Wrexford and Sloane Mystery Series (so far)

If you’ve been a peruser of my blog for a while, you’ll know that I love the Wrexford and Sloane Mystery series by Andrea Penrose. With the eighth book coming out in September, I thought it would be a great time to collect my thoughts and note my favourite aspects of the series. For context, the Wrexford and Sloane Mystery series is a Historical Fiction Murder Mystery series set in Regency era…

[the-novel-approach-reviews]

Review: The Gentleman's Gentleman by Samantha SoRelle

Title: The Gentleman’s Gentleman Series: His Lordship’s Realm: Book One Author: Samantha SoRelle Publisher: Self-Published Length: 319 Pages Category: Murder Mystery, Historical Romance Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Samantha SoRelle does so many things right in The Gentleman’s Gentleman that it’s hard to pinpoint what I loved most. Fans of the author’s His Lordship’s Mysteries series (which…

[signourneybooks]

Lady Avely's Guide to Truth and Magic | ARC Review

Thank you to Parkerville Press and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway. Book: Lady Avely’s Guide to Truth and Magic (Matronly Adventures 1) by Rosalie OaksRelease Date: February 16th 2024Tags: Fantasy | Historical Fantasy | Elderly MC | Widow | Magic | Murder Mystery Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence | Murder | Mentions of…

[queen-rndmchick]

Jennifer Aniston @ Regency Village Theatre for Murder Mystery 2 Premiere 🌟