Thursday, July 14, 2016

Review: Arsenic with Austen (Crime with the Classics #1) by Katherine Bolger Hyde




  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1357 KB
  • Print Length: 321 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 125006547X
  • Publisher: Minotaur Books (July 12 2016)
  • Sold by: Macmillan CA
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B019N4X22Q

Book Description

 When Emily Cavanaugh inherits a fortune from her great aunt, she expects her life to change. She doesn't expect to embark on a murder investigation, confront the man who broke her heart 35 years before, and nearly lose her own life.

Emily travels to the sleepy coastal village of Stony Beach, Oregon, to claim her inheritance, centered in a beautiful Victorian estate called Windy Corner but also including a substantial portion of the real estate of the whole town. As she gets to know the town's eccentric inhabitants--including her own once-and-possibly-future love, Sheriff Luke Richards--she learns of a covert plan to develop Stony Beach into a major resort. She also hears hints that her aunt may have been murdered. Soon another suspicious death confirms this, and before long Emily herself experiences a near-fatal accident.

Meanwhile, Emily reads Persuasion, hoping to find belated happiness with her first love as Anne Elliot did with Captain Wentworth. She notices a similarity between her not-quite-cousin Brock Runcible, heir to a smaller portion of her aunt's property, and Mr. Elliot in Persuasion, and her suspicions of Brock crystallize. But as she and Luke continue to investigate and events speed toward a climax, Emily realizes that underneath the innocent-looking rocks of Stony Beach lurk festering jealousies that would have shocked even the worst of Jane Austen's charming reprobates.


About the Author

 Katherine Bolger Hyde is the author of the Crime with the Classics series (the first volume, Arsenic with Austen, will release in July 2016) as well as several books for children. A lifelong lover of literature (and alliteration), Katherine has a degree in Russian literature and works as editorial director for Ancient Faith Publishing. She lives in the redwoods of Santa Cruz County, California, with her husband and the youngest of her four children. Katherine loves to sing and knit, and she dreams of one day designing and building her own storybook cottage in the woods.


My Review


Arsenic with Austen is the first book in the Crime with the Classics series by author Katherine Bolger Hyde. This is the first book by author Bolger Hyde that I have read.

Arsenic with Austen is a great start to a new series. Katherine Bolger Hyde's has a great way with words. I found her writing style addictive. I had a hard time putting down Arsenic with Austen. 

I loved the characters and I loved the setting. The Oregon Coast is gorgeous and magical. Hyde captures it quite well. The old house Emily inherits is going to be the perfect location for future books in the series.  The characters were all well written. I could relate to the main character, Emily Cavanaugh as we are close in age. Bravo for giving her a love life!

I am not a fan of Jane Austen's books and that did not affect my enjoyment of the novel at all. Since this series is Crime with the Classics, I imagine the other books will feature other classic authors.

Overall a good mystery. I basically had it figured out early but not the details. The book was so well written and enjoyable that it didn't matter that the mystery was easily solved.

Great book. Eagerly looking forward to the next in the series! Well done Katherine Bolger Hyde!

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