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 book and give it a chance. (I normally don’t buy books I haven’t read yet.) I’m so glad I did!
Beatrice Steele was a wonderful heroine to read. Not only is she not a “traditional” beauty, immediately described as being plump and curvy (wonderful representation for myself), but she also sequesters herself up in her room with her latest obsession: periodicals about Sir Huxley and the crimes he solves. How scandalous for a young lady of good breeding!
Of course, I knew exactly who she was. She was me. (I don’t know if it was the intent of the Seales, but Beatrice read like a neurodivergent person, which I also appreciated.)
What ensued as she attended an autumn ball that evening was pure chaos with the unexpected death of the most eligible bachelor in attendance, whom her mother tried to set-up with her younger sister. Think if Mr. Bingley (but much more dull and not nearly as handsome) were to fall down dead, and how Mrs. Bennett would have reacted with her poor nerves! Despite the gravity of murder, there was some hilarity due to the different characters at play as well as the varying emphasis they each apply towards propriety and manners, more so than any other towns in that era.
Even though it wouldn’t be respectable, and would probably ruin her reputation if everyone found out about her secret habit, Beatrice still finds herself in the center of the action and paired with the insufferable Inspector Vivek Drake, who just happened to be in attendance with his now dead “friend”.
As they set out to uncover their nefarious murderer, they learn every guest in attendance has their own secrets which could implicate them in Mr. Croaksworth’s untimely death. There’s even a rather Brontëan secret they discover before its too late when all the final pieces come together to complete this most intriguing puzzle which had many twists and turns and false accusations. Some of those twists and turns in the moment felt maybe a bit too much, but with as many secrets as the characters all tried to hide, it’s no wonder Beatrice and Drake revealed so much sick and twisted depravity.
I think it’s an excellent commentary on what we think of the Regency Era. For many who grow up fascinated and enthralled by British decorum, especially at its height during the Regency and later Victorian Eras, we often forget it was all a façade plastered over rotten people and their rotten ways. There may have been glitz and glamour and balls, and far too much emphasis on what is becoming for a young unmarried woman. However, it did little to conceal the true corruption lurking behind the delicate mask of etiquette.
Overall, I think the characters are hilarious. Each are brilliant caricatures, if not foppish, without becoming stale stereotypes of that era, and I adored how modern Seales embellished it. For a murder mystery, it is rather charming and I highly recommend it!
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