A Most Agreeable Murder

By Julia Seales

 

 

Publisher’s Summary

My Thoughts

This book was fun to read. Why? The characters, especially “I’m drawn to you but you also irritate me to no end” relationship between Beatrice Steele (main character) and Inspector Vivek Drake. The setting, an area in England known as Swampshire (which turns the quaint English village trope upside down), is replete with too many luminescent frogs, squelch holes, and atrocious weather. The mystery twists and turns constantly, (or so it seemed) and kept me on my toes trying to figure out the murderer’s identity and motive.

The influence of Jane Austen and Emily Brontë (possibly more, but these are the ones I picked up on) are present throughout the book, but Seales’ writing takes what sounds familiar and turns it in new directions adding to the humor. It was fun when I recognized those spots which added to the fun.

The mystery was difficult to solve, and that is a good thing. A lot of well-placed red herrings kept me off-balance and guessing up until the reveal.

The only thing that kept tripping me up was the number of characters. It was hard at times to keep everyone straight, but not so much it threw me out of the story.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #randomhouse for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Product Details

Hardcover | $27.00
Published by Random House
352 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4| ISBN 9780593449981