Book Review: A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

My Rating: 3.75⭐️

Satirical, humorous, a tad silly yet twisty A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales is a locked room mystery set in Regency-era England. A spoof of Regency-era romances and tropes and Agatha Christie-ish mysteries, the story revolves around twenty-five-year-old Beatrice Steele of Swampshire, England (known for its squelch holes). Beatrice is the eldest of three daughters. Her mother is eager to find her daughters suitable matches given that in the absence of a male heir their assets would be inherited by a distant cousin (the utterly revolting Mr. Martin Grub, who seems quite taken with Beatrice) upon Mr. Steele’s demise. The annual Autumnal Ball at Stabmort Park, hosted by the Ashwoods, one of Swampshire’s most influential families, with a particularly affluent and eligible bachelor in attendance has Mrs. Steele hopeful to make a match for one of her daughters. When a murder takes place at the venue, Beatrice finds herself assisting Inspector Vivek Drake (the former assistant of renowned London detective Sir Huxley of whom Beatrice is a huge fan and whose exploits she secretly follows). The strict code of conduct for Swampshire ladies (as explicitly stated in The Lady’s Guide to Swampshire) forbids them to show any interest in such morbid matters along with other norms failing which might result in being banished or exiled to France. Beatrice is thrilled at the opportunity to try her hand at solving an actual mystery, though she’s not particularly happy about having to work with Inspector Drake. Trapped at the venue due to inclement weather and without any external assistance, Beatrice and Drake leave no stone unturned as they try to find the culprit who is clearly one of the attendees – among whom are Beatrice’s friends and family.   

Evenly paced and well-written, I found this to be a fun read with several laugh-out-loud moments, an interesting cast of characters and an endearing protagonist. I enjoyed the dynamic between Drake and Beatrice and liked how the plot is structured. While the final reveal wasn’t completely unpredictable, I did like how we got there and was surprised several times along the way. There are quite a few sub-plots incorporated into the murder mystery and though all of them weren’t resolved adequately (the plot does get a bit convoluted toward the end), I was satisfied with how the author chose to end this story. However, I would have liked Beatrice’s youngest sister Mary’s storyline to have been explored in more depth beyond the comic (and OTT) element. I appreciated the humor and the twists (a tad OTT but not so much that detracts from the overall reading experience).  Multiple suspects and red-herrings and some truly wacky characters (some with rather telling names) make for an engaging read.

You’ll be entertained, provided you don’t overthink it and choose to enjoy the ride!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.