Arsenic with Austen
A Mystery
-
- £9.99
-
- £9.99
Publisher 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The execution falls short of the well-conceived concept of Hyde's first novel, a contemporary series launch. Widowed Reed College literature professor Emily Cavanaugh travels to the peaceful seaside retreat of Stony Beach, Ore., after her late great-aunt, Beatrice Runcible, leaves her $6 million, a mansion, and most of the buildings in town. It isn't long before Emily hears rumors that Aunt Beatrice may have been murdered to clear the way for a resort development that she vehemently opposed. Now the property belongs to Emily, who's equally determined to maintain the town's character. Another suspicious death and a couple of close calls show that someone wants Emily out of the way as well. There's no mistaking who's on Emily's side and who's against her. The good guys are charming, and the bad guys are mustache-twirling villains. Hopefully, Hyde will give her characters more depth in the sequel.
