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Last week, I wrote about the relaunch of Doctor Who on Disney+, plus some memories of my earliest experiences with Doctor Who.

Book: A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
Genre: Mystery novel
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: 2023

Source: e-book borrowed from the library

Summary: In this Regency era mystery, Beatrice Steele has an unseemly interest in the crime columns that she clandestinely reads in the newspaper. When a murder happens in her small town, will she be up for the job of solving the mystery? Even if she proves herself capable, will anyone believe her?

Thoughts: The title, A Most Agreeable Murder, clued me into the possibility that this novel would be something of a parody. I was less prepared for the surreal elements, but they just add to the fun.

Beatrice doesn’t deal with the normal restrictions on a lady that we all know from Jane Austen. Beatrice lives in Swampshire, a township in England that prides itself on following its own strict etiquette. Her fascination with crime must be a carefully guarded secret because it won’t be seen as a simple eccentricity. Beatrice risks being banished from her home and ruining the prospects of her two sisters at the same time.

Swampshire has alarming weather, glowing frogs, and squelch holes where sinners sink, never to be heard from again.

The new arrivals to this setting are a wealthy bachelor and his business companion, an inspector that Beatrice recognizes from the newspaper. While she struggles to hide that forbidden knowledge, the wealthy bachelor gets himself killed. The weather traps everyone in the house — with a murderer on the loose!

Appeal: A Most Agreeable Murder will appeal to readers who like their murder mysteries to be a far distance from real life and to be distinctly funny. For me, this was the perfect book as we approach Halloween, since I prefer the humorous rather than the horrific aspects of the holiday.

Beatrice Steele feels like a character who could carry a series. According to Storygraph, the next installment of her story will be published in 2025, A Terribly Nasty Business.

Have you read this book? What did you think?