Publication: 22nd October 2024 – Kensington Books
First in a captivating new series, Jane Austen’s Emma Knightley entertains a different role in Highbury—going from clever matchmaker to Regency England’s shrewdest sleuth.
Less than one year into her marriage to respected magistrate George Knightley, Emma has grown unusually content in her newfound partnership and refreshed sense of independence. The height of summer sees the former Miss Woodhouse gracefully balancing the meticulous management of her elegant family estate and a flurry of social engagements, with few worries apart from her beloved father’s health . . .
But cheery circumstances change in an instant when Emma and Harriet Martin, now the wife of one of Mr. Knightley’s tenant farmers, discover a hideous shock at the local church. The corpse of Mrs. Augusta Elton, the vicar’s wife, has been discarded on the altar steps—the ornate necklace she often wore stripped from her neck . . .
As a chilling murder mystery blooms and chaos descends upon the tranquil village of Highbury, the question isn’t simply who committed the crime, but who wasn’t secretly wishing for the unpleasant woman’s demise. When suspicions suddenly fall on a harmless local, Emma—armed with wit, unwavering determination, and extensive social connections—realizes she must discreetly navigate an investigation of her own to protect the innocent and expose the ruthless culprit hiding in plain sight.
I do enjoy mystery adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels where her characters turn into amateur investigators and solve crimes. I have been reading quite a few lately and my latest favourite is Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly, featuring Emma Knightley (former Miss Emma Woodhouse) and all the other characters from the novel involved in a murder mystery.
This was such an entertaining and intriguing read. I loved the characters of Emma and Mr. Knightley, who have been married for a year, who come together to find the murderer of one of the least likable characters in the original novel, Mrs. Augusta Elton. It’s up to Mr. Knightley, in his role as the local magistrate, to find the killer, helped by an inept constable and an arrogant coroner, but it’s Emma the one who finds the body in the church (together with her friend Harriet, now Mrs. Martin) and, of course, she sets out to investigate, asking questions around, wondering if the killer is one of her friends or an outsider, much to the constable and coroner’s irritation and her husband’s amusement.
The author did an amazing job bringing these Jane Austen’s characters to life. Not only Emma and Mr. Knightley, but also Mr. Woodhouse, Frank and Jane Churchill, Mr and Mrs. Weston, Mrs and Miss Bates and even the annoying Mr. Elton. The mystery was well-developed and there is quite a list of suspects that kept me guessing. I also enjoyed how the mystery blends with Emma’s everyday life as she now manages two estates, Hartfield and Donwell Abbey, indulges her father’s concerns for everybody’s health, and she has also some time to share a few romantic moments with her husband.
Murder in Highbury is a gripping and engaging cozy Regency mystery, the first in a series, and I am already looking forward to reading the next one!
A huge thank you to AustenProse, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.
Vanessa Kelly is a bestselling author of historical mystery and historical romance. She has won multiple awards, including the prestigious Maggie Medallion for best historical romance. She is a USA Today, Barnes & Noble, BookScan, and Amazon bestseller several times over. To date, her books have been published in eleven languages. After receiving her MA in English literature from Rutgers University, Vanessa spent several years in the Ph. D program at the University of Toronto, studying women authors of the 18th Century. She worked as a researcher for many years, and currently resides in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband.
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