Review - The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery, #1) by Bella Ellis

Title: The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery, #1)

Author: Bella Ellis

Pages: 352

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: 12th September 2019

Blurb from Goodreads:

Before they became legendary writers, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë were detectors in this charming historical mystery...

Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife and mother has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. Just a few miles away, a humble parson's daughters -- the Brontë sisters -- learn of the crime. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are horrified and intrigued by the mysterious disappearance.

These three creative, energetic, and resourceful women quickly realize that they have all the skills required to make for excellent "lady detectors." Not yet published novelists, they have well-honed imaginations and are expert readers. And, as Charlotte remarks, "detecting is reading between the lines--it's seeing what is not there."

As they investigate, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are confronted with a society that believes a woman's place is in the home, not scouring the countryside looking for clues. But nothing will stop the sisters from discovering what happened to the vanished bride, even as they find their own lives are in great peril...

 

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My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

When the Brontë sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne - learn of a local mystery involving a missing young mother whose bed was found covered in blood, they seek to discover what happened.

Using their creativity and determination, the sisters investigate and search for clues as to whether the missing woman is dead or alive. But their gender and lack of husbands may put them at a disadvantage and make their search all the more difficult and dangerous.

Will the sisters unearth the truth?

Will their quest for justice put their lives in danger?

When I heard that there was a mystery novel being released that featured the Brontë sisters as the protagonists I knew that I had to read it - I'm a fan of the sisters as authors and it sounded like such a fun concept.

I really liked Charlotte, Emily and Anne as characters and I felt that they were portrayed well from what little I know about the sisters. They were interesting and I liked reading their interactions with each other, their brother Branwell, and their father.

It was quite sad reading the novel and knowing that the sisters and their brother all died young.

The setting of 1845 Yorkshire was one of my favourite aspects of the book. It was quite atmospheric at times.

The plot was mostly good but I did find myself losing interest once or twice. The mystery itself was an intriguing one, but the pacing was a little off for me. However, there were twists that I didn't see coming.

I liked that the author took parts of the Brontës' works and used them in the mystery, as though these would later influence the Brontës' works.

The writing style was easy to follow and I felt that the author managed to make each of the Brontë sisters feel different to each other, reflecting their own writing styles.

I am a little disappointed that I didn't like this more, but it was still a unique historical read.

Overall, this was a mostly enjoyable read.