As this is my last Book Bite before my summer hiatus, I wanted to choose an especially entertaining book. (Never fear, I will be back on 9 August!) And because I know so many of my readers are fans of the Regency period, I thought I would share a Regency book with you. I’ve got a funny Regency mystery that is the perfect summer book for anyone who is a fan of Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, or the Regency period in general. Let’s get into A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Most Agreeable Murder, Julia Seales
Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township—she is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life with her marriage-scheming mother, prankster father, and two younger sisters— beautiful Louisa and forgettable Mary. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper. If anyone in her etiquette-obsessed community found out, she’d be deemed a morbid creep and banished from respectable society forever.
For her family’s sake, she’s vowed to put her obsession behind her. Because eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the approaching autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that Louisa will steal his heart. If not, Martin Grub, their disgusting cousin, will inherit the family’s estate, and they will be ruined or, even worse, forced to move to France. So Beatrice must be on her best behavior . . . which is made difficult when a disgraced yet alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.
Beatrice is just holding things together when Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy of panic, fear, and betrayal as it becomes clear they are trapped with a killer. Contending with competitive card games, tricky tonics, and Swampshire’s infamous squelch holes, Beatrice must rise above decorum and decency to pursue justice and her own desires—before anyone else is murdered.
Why You Should Read This…
I do not know why, but spring and summer are when I read mysteries (for the most part). I tend to gravitate towards lighter mysteries, and A Most Agreeable Murder is a perfect example.
A Most Agreeable Murder is pure entertainment. In the vein of Northanger Abbey, it is rather a satire of both the mystery and historical romance genres, and it does it so well. Seales takes these tropes and structures that we know by heart and brings new heart to them by turning them on their head. We’ve got a Mr. Collins-esque figure attempting to secure yet another estate, a protagonist who isn’t willing to accept a so-so engagement, a grumpy detective, and And Then There Were None-style murder at a Regency ball. There is quite literally something for almost everyone.
And if you are neither here nor there on the mystery and romance elements, the characters themselves are hilarious. Again, Seales takes these characters that we think that we know and pulls them in directions that we wouldn’t expect. It is a cosy mystery in feeling, but it is not as predictable as a cosy would be. (I love cosies, that isn’t a slight- sometimes you want a different type of mystery, though.)
Seales is a scriptwriter when not writing novels, and it is easy to see why. I could see A Most Agreeable Murder being made into a film. The Regency lends itself so well to the genre because many of us know it well, and it is an incredibly fun novel to visualise as you are reading it!
Is A Most Agreeable Murder on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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