Do you remember the late 70s series 'Charlie's Angels' where Charlie runs a detective agency through a speaker phone with his trusted personal assistant John Bosley and employs three beautiful women to be super sleuths?
Well close your eyes and picture three other women, Charlotte, Emily and Anne all living in a parsonage on the wild moors of Yorkshire alongside their brother, the bold, drunken Branwell and their father the Vicar of Howarth who also are sleuthing detectives.
Seems crazy. Well not to the imagination of this author who says she is a huge fan of the Brontes, and it shows in her details about the old Parsonage and surrounding countryside of Howarth and the lives of the three young women who were to become both famous and yet tragic writers of some of the most famous Victorian novels of the 19th century.
So what's the plot? Contrived somewhat as the sisters know Matilda (Maggie) French who is the governess at Chester Grange, a big pile of a house and estate, where one morning she discovers her mistress's bedroom covered with blood, signs of a huge struggle - yet no body to be found. Just as the sisters are reading of the new Detectives being employed by the Metropolitan Police in far away London they receive news of the dastardly crime down the road and set off keen to solve the mystery.
Written at a cracking pace, I couldn't help but smile at the placing of so many Bronte themes in the plot. A young governess who may love her Master. Violence towards a young bride. Children taken on by a stepmother when the first wife has mysteriously killed herself and of course a fire! It's all interwoven with narration from the point of view of the three sisters. Thoughtful Charlotte (more the detective than the others), Emily who's far too forceful for her own good and says things out of turn (but gets them out of scrapes) and dear Anne (always dismissed but quietly clever and an observer of the smallest of facts that no one else has noticed).
The plot takes us to familiar scenes for Bronte fans, the Black Bull inn where Branwell drinks and destroys his life, the towns of Bradford and Leeds and the windswept seaside at Scarborough. All the short traumas of the sister's lives are played out through the tale and yet this detection seems to draw them together. It's a tangled plot with lots of potential suspects but I enjoyed the ride. Aspects of a good Gothic tale of folklore, gypsies, ghosts and strange goings on also appear which set the scene marvellously amongst the heather on the wild moors with rain and wind never stopping the gallant girls.
We are left with an obvious second novel and why not! Great fun and if you love the Brontes and are not a stuck up academic you'll go with the flow. There may even be a TV series...... after all if Charlie can do it....

Seems that I am going to be out of step with most of the people who reviewed this book. I have truly have no idea what all the fuss is about. Whilst agreeing that the Brontë Sisters were really very independently minded for women in the mid 19th Century, this story is beyond credible. I cannot imagine, even in the 21st Century, that three women, aged 29, 27 and 25, could achieve what the Brontë Sisters achieved in this fiction set in 1845; especially by bumbling around, mostly incoherently. I sincerely thought this story was going to be a real page turner but it was not to be.

Having read and enjoyed “Mr Rochester” by Sarah Shoemaker and “The Girl at the Window” by Rowan Coleman, I was looking forward to a new Brontë fanfiction book. However, the register of “The Vanished Bride” is way off the mark for a mid-19th century setting. It’s more like: The Famous Five do the Brontës.
A wife (not a bride!) has disappeared leaving a lot of blood behind and the Brontë sisters, portrayed as one-dimensional characters, don their bonnets to solve the case.
Awkward nods to a jumble of the Brontë’s own story plots, down to the author’s assumed name of “Bella Ellis”...per-lease!
I guess it would appeal to a heavy-duty Brontë fan, but sadly it is not for me. Just made it to ***; shan’t bother with any sequels.

When I first came across this book I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to read it, as I’m never very keen on books about famous authors solving crimes. However, the Brontë sisters books have been amongst my favourites for years and I was curious find out what this book was all about. So, I was delighted to find that I thoroughly enjoyed The Vanished Bride, and that it is not all a flight of fancy, although of course the story of how they became ‘detectors’, or amateur sleuths, is pure imagination.

‘Bella Ellis’ is the Brontë inspired pen name for the author Rowan Coleman, who has been a Brontë devotee for most of her life. I haven’t read any of her other books but I’ll be looking out for them now. The Vanished Bride is historical fiction that brings the period (1845) and the setting vividly to life, Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their brother, Branwell becoming real people before my eyes in their home in the Parsonage at Howarth.

I think it helps that is not all pure fiction – in the Author’s Note she explains that it is based on biological facts or inspired by them. The book begins with a short passage in 1851 when Charlotte is alone in the Parsonage her sisters, brother and father had all died and she looks back to the year 1845 when they were all together. That is fact – and in the following September they began to consider writing for their living.

The mystery whilst it is well plotted is not to difficult to solve and I had predicted the basics of it quite early on in the book, although I didn’t guess the full detail until much later on. But the real joy of the book is in the historical detail and the depiction of the characters and the insights given to their personalities through their conversation. The story is told through each of the sisters eyes, each one clearly distinctive, whilst Emily is the standout character. All three are clearly individuals, women caught in a society dominated by men and each wanting to lead independent lives.

The book ends as a letter arrives for the sisters presenting a new case for them to investigate. Their curiosity is immediately ‘taking flight’ – and so is mine!

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an e-book review copy via NetGalley

It seems this is something of a marmite read, there are so many enthusiastic reviews but I’m afraid, despite my best efforts I can’t finish it. From the opening pages when I read Charlotte’s musing, ‘Here they had laughed and argued as she had written Jane Eyre, and her sisters their own great works, not one of them guessing at the whirlwind they were inviting into their small humble lives’ I feared that I was in for a cliched sentimental read. Reading on I was proved right. It is well researched and the mystery is a good one, but overall I found it just too twee.
This seems to be the first in a planned series of Bronte detective stories, it seems they will be popular, but not for me I’m afraid.

'Oh dear, I do worry about all the deceit that comes with detecting. It doesn't seem very godly at all'.

When I started this I thought to myself, who dreams up this kind of stuff, the Brontè sisters as investigators! Now however I'm like this is genius, the Brontè sisters are detectives! Or 'Detectors' as they like to call themselves.

From the first page you can tell how much this author adores these sisters and I was astonished when reading the back notes how much fact is woven into this piece of fiction, it's just incredible and researched to a whole new level. The fact and fiction worked so well together and I feel that although the plot is fiction, I understand the lives of girls, who they were, their surroundings, their upbringings so much more.

This isn't a book, this literally came alive in my hands, it's very well crafted and so three dimensional I felt like a forth sister.

Easily four stars.

Like most hardcore bibliophiles I grew up devouring the 'classics'. Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights (my personal favourite), Frankenstein.

So, unsurprisingly, I have grown into an adult with a deep love of the uncanny, the macabre, the period piece, the surreal, the gothic, the antihero and the wild willed woman.

That's why when I saw the blurb for The Vanished Bride I knew I needed to read it and as quickly as possible.

Therefore, as you can imagine, I was suitably thrilled when Hodder & Stoughton, via NetGalley, granted me an E-Arc of The Vanished Bride in exchange for a review - which I am more than happy to share here.

Firstly can we take a moment to address the amazing pen name the author uses - Bella Ellis! A proper homage to the forbiddle and inspirational Brontë sisters that are the inspiration and focus of the book.

It is apparent from the very start of The Vanished Bride that Ellis has a passion and deep knowledge of the Brontë family, their lives, their scandals and their voices. And this passion gives way to a truly captivating story following, and told to us by, Charlotte, Emily and Anne.

What Ellis has done is reanimate the three Brontë sisters by giving them their own adventure beyond and outside of their writings. She has expertly woven fact into the fiction to such a masterful level that at some points in the story I forgot that this wasn't the sisters telling me their real life 'detecting' (mis)adventures.

And that is wonderfully refreshing story telling.

The Vanished Bride is told from all three sisters perspectives. Multiple POV is a writing style that I relish as I think a story is much more richly told when many voices are telling it. And Ellis gives each women her own voice. Her own identity forged with realism.

Charlotte is empathetic and compassionate.

Anne is gentle and devoted.

Emily is bold and fearless.

And Emily always was my favourite sister.

And Ellis does her proud.

In fact she does them all proud. Really showcasing their almost brazen spirits through their imagined murder mystery solving antics.

In The Vanished Bride Ellis gives us a murder mystery that features the otherworldly and uncanny: themes that I grew up loving. We have a Heathcliffian antihero, a gothic mansion in Chester Grange and many, many strong willed, determined, fierce women (not unlike Catherine Earnshaw - if a little tamer) who are not afraid to rail against the constructs of their society.

This book really did give me everything I wanted:

1. Strong female leads

2. Lush descriptive passages (chapter 19 is a particularly beautiful and haunting example of this and possibly my favourite chapter in the whole book!)

3. Witty dialogue

4. Red herrings and twisty plot turns

5. And all set to the backdrop of the Yorkshire Moors (complete with lashing rain and howling winds)

I couldn't work out the ending until it was upon me and that is something special. Being swallowed up by the story and being along for the ride, not knowing the destination until you arrive.

When I finished this book I felt the beginnings of an epic book hangover coming on and so I took to the web to do some digging. The Vanished Bride is subtitled as The Brontë Mysteries - leading me to hopefully believe that there may be more stories to come!

Mainly The Vanished Bride brought back all the things I miss about period pieces.

I would solidly recommend this book to anyone even if historical fiction isn't your jam because I can attest that this book is more than just bonnets and petticoats!

Give it a go.

I'm giving The Vanished Bride five stars - easily, and can honestly say this is now one of my top three books of 2019 (it only took me two days to read it all - I couldn't put it down) and I think that Charlotte, Emily and Anne would be thrilled and pleased with this tale of their imagined lives.

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis is available for pre-order in all the normal places and will be released in hardback on 7th November 2019 and paperback on the 14th May 2020.

Thanks again to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me this opportunity.

Bye for now and remember to keep on reading,

Lottie

Thank you to NetGalley for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This charming, well-researched little detective story imagines the Brontë siblings trying to solve the mystery of a woman whose body disappears after her room is painted with blood. Ellis has thought very carefully about accurately tying in the historical details of the siblings’ lives with the fictional account, and a lot of love has clearly gone into recreating their characters. I have read a lot about the Brontës and their works and was convinced by the feisty, well-defined characters Ellis has formed.

Although Brontë purists may strongly dislike this book (as purists are wont to do), they should be best placed to appreciate the multiple hints towards the sisters’ writing in the detective story, particularly Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Even knowing the books well, there were definitely elements I missed until I stopped to think about it, as I was carried along by the story itself.

It was really nice to have a nod towards the fact that in the 1840s detection was very much in its infancy. One of my main criticisms, however, is that though the sisters are from the offset determined to solve the mystery with their own intellect, I felt that the final conclusion involved a bit too much guesswork and being filled in by other characters, which was a little disappointing.

Hopefully it is not giving too much away to say that I did struggle to understand the killer’s motive in this book. Additionally, the mystery of why Elizabeth became so afraid of Chester immediately before their marriage is never really explained. Also I didn’t see the need to have each chapter headed by the sister’s name whose perspective it would be from; as the book is told in the third person we are always told this anyway.

Those minor quibbles aside, this was a great concept for a book and really nicely planned out and written, with the promise of further mysteries for the Brontës to solve.

As soon as I heard this was coming out, I had that feeling it was the book I had been waiting to read. A book where the Bronte sisters themselves played the role of detectives? I mean why has someone not written this before? I’m pleased they haven’t as Rowan Coleman is the only writer I think who could have done it and made it into this fine mystery.

The brilliant thing is is that she’s not just written a mystery out of nowhere, she’s actually used many real facts and events from the Bronte family life, so it shines with authenticity from the off. It’s set in Yorkshire, at their house in Haworth (now the Bronte Parsonage of course) and it would be perfect for a booktrail! The year is 1845 and it was a time when the Bronte family were once again all together in one roof for at least several months. Even more interesting is the fact that this was also the time before any of the Brontes started writing their books. So you really get a sense that you are meeting these wonderful, real historical people before they become famous writers. IT’s like time travelling and it felt great reading it knowing what became of these women later on in real life.

I could really believe this story could happen and had they all lived longer, maybe it would have done. When the Bronte sisters living in a Parsonage in Haworth, hear about the horrendous crime involving a missing mother, they decide to become "lady detectors" and I was swept up in this magical world from the start.

It was sad to finish this book but then it’s only the first one of a brand new brilliant series and coming from a die-hard Bronte fan, I can’t wait!

It’s 1851 and the prologue to the book sees Charlotte, now the last surviving member of the Brontë family, looking back on her and her sisters’ lives before they became famous authors. It underlines how tragically short their lives were, Emily having died in 1848 and Anne in 1849. Charlotte herself was to die in 1855.

The book’s very engaging premise is that the sisters were enterprising ‘detectors’ before they were novelists and The Vanished Bride represents their first case undertaken in 1845 (before, for example, the publication of Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights in 1847). In a clever nod to the fact that the Brontë sisters’ novels and poems were initially published under pseudonyms (Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell) in order to disguise their gender, the author has adopted Bella Ellis as her pen-name for this new series of historical mysteries. That’s only one of very many clever nods to the works of the Brontë sisters that feature in The Vanished Bride and readers who are familiar with any of the novels of the Brontës will have great fun in spotting the allusions. I know I did but I probably missed just as many more. (There is also at least one allusion to another famous fictional detective in the reference to what might be described as a ‘curious incident’.)

The book also makes references to events in the lives of the sisters. There is one especially poignant scene where Charlotte and Anne visit Scarborough as part of their investigation and Anne remarks that, apart from Haworth, Scarborough is ‘the only other place in the world that she ever wished to be…standing on the clifftops, marvelling at the boundless magnitude of the sea, and wondering at what might lie beyond it’.

The sisters take it in turns to relate the story and, as well as making engaging narrators, it allows the reader to appreciate their different strengths when it comes to the art of ‘detecting’, neatly mirroring what you might imagine were their characters in real-life. For example, Emily is all action, emotional and instinct, whereas Anne is methodical and thoughtful, and Charlotte is in her element when dealing with people and eliciting information. Collectively, the sisters find their gender is a positive advantage on a number of occasions, something very different from the position they find themselves in as members of society. Fans of Branwell Brontë will be pleased to know that he also features, although very much in an assisting role.

I wouldn’t want what I’ve said so far to put off readers who are unfamiliar with the lives or works of the Brontë sisters because The Vanished Bride works perfectly well as an engaging historical mystery even without such knowledge (although, I suspect readers may be tempted to pick up one of the sisters’ novels afterwards). The sisters’ investigation involves everything you’d expect from a mystery: examining the scene of the crime, looking for evidence, interviewing suspects, even a bit of undercover work and an early outing for what we’d probably recognise today as psychological profiling. Those with good powers of observation may pick up clues along the way but you definitely won’t know if they were significant or ‘red herrings’ until the final chapters.

The Vanished Bride is an accomplished, entertaining historical mystery that is also great fun for Brontë fans. I shall certainly be looking out for future books in the series.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley

I always love a Bronte spin-off and this didn't disappoint. It's a quirky little whodunnit, not too taxing but with plenty of tension and Gothic atmosphere as well as lots of references to the Brontes' lives and elements which may have influenced their later writings. Branwell comes off as comic relief, rather than the depressing failure he is normally portrayed as and the whole thing works pretty well. I would read more in the series, should it evolve into one.

DNF 50% (my third dnf this week...)

I'm afraid that in spite of the many glowing reviews singing this book's praises I'm not going to finish reading it. I started The Vanished Bride hoping to read a Gothic tale featuring the Brontë sisters...soon I realised that the story and writing of The Vanished Bride were closer to those found in a cozy detective novel.
The sisters themselves were perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Bella Ellis' book. I'm sure that it's not an easy endeavour to attempt to create a fictional tale featuring such literary icons however giving them one note personalities is not the solution.
Charlotte is the serious one, Anne is the sensitive one, and Emily is the supposedly headstrong one. Ellis' portrayal of Emily does the woman no favours. Ellis' Emily is rude and arrogant, and most of her actions seem very unbelievable as she is somehow learned on detective methods that were yet part of the 'popular' knowledge. Just because she's read one article mentioning the appearance of a certain type of policeman in London doesn't mean that she should know what a murder investigation would entail. Worse still is that she was so very grating. The typical child-detective that is a little more than a busybody know-it-all.
Their views regarding the female question were handled in such a heavy-handed way. They seemed walking-and-talking manifestos rather than real women...the way they comment on the gender inequities seemed far too modern...their language and opinions seem far too current and representative of the feminist movement today (perhaps a bit of wishful thinking on the part of today's readers).
There are many cheesy references that make it seem as if the events taking place in The Vanished Bride influenced the Brontë's own novels (for example 'the woman in the attic') that seem so clumsy as to lack any sort of subtlety. I struggled to reconcile Ellis' Brontë sisters with the real ones...
The writing is as simplistic as its story and its characters often resorting to cliché phrases such as “Their world was at once very small and also infinite” and “Charlotte was quiet for a very long moment—a moment into which she compressed a lifetime of agony and rage”.
If you enjoy light-mystery-reads, and you are not as a punctilious reader as I am, you might be able to find The Vanished Bride to be more entertaining than I did.
DNF 50% (my third dnf this week...)

I'm afraid that in spite of the many glowing reviews singing this book's praises I'm not going to finish reading it. I started The Vanished Bride hoping to read a Gothic tale featuring the Brontë sisters...soon I realised that the story and writing of The Vanished Bride were closer to those found in a cozy detective novel.
The sisters themselves were perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Bella Ellis' book. I'm sure that it's not an easy endeavour to attempt to create a fictional tale featuring such literary icons however giving them one note personalities is not the solution.
Charlotte is the serious one, Anne is the sensitive one, and Emily is the supposedly headstrong one. Ellis' portrayal of Emily does the woman no favours. Ellis' Emily is rude and arrogant, and most of her actions seem very unbelievable as she is somehow learned on detective methods that were yet part of the 'popular' knowledge. Just because she's read one article mentioning the appearance of a certain type of policeman in London doesn't mean that she should know what a murder investigation would entail. Worse still is that she was so very grating. The typical child-detective that is a little more than a busybody know-it-all.
Their views regarding the female question were handled in such a heavy-handed way. They seemed walking-and-talking manifestos rather than real women...the way they comment on the gender inequities seemed far too modern...their language and opinions seem far too current and representative of the feminist movement today (perhaps a bit of wishful thinking on the part of today's readers).
There are many cheesy references that make it seem as if the events taking place in The Vanished Bride influenced the Brontë's own novels (for example 'the woman in the attic') that seem so clumsy as to lack any sort of subtlety. I struggled to reconcile Ellis' Brontë sisters with the real ones...
The writing is as simplistic as its story and its characters often resorting to cliché phrases such as “Their world was at once very small and also infinite” and “Charlotte was quiet for a very long moment—a moment into which she compressed a lifetime of agony and rage”.
If you enjoy light-mystery-reads, and you are not as a punctilious reader as I am, you might be able to find The Vanished Bride to be more entertaining than I did.

~ I was given an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review, I'm not associated with the author or publisher in any way and the views expressed are completely unbiased and entirely my own. ~

My rating: 3*

'The Vanished Bride' is the first and as yet only published book in the Bronte Sisters Mystery series by Bella Ellis.

It's a suspenseful, atmospheric mystery set in 1845 Yorkshire with fictionalized versions of Emily, Charlotte and Anne Bronte as the main characters. Here they play the part of 'lady detectors' when a gruesome crime is committed near their home and they feel compelled to get the the bottom of the mystery.

The story is told in the third person, however it switches between each sisters narratives which felt a little unnecessary given the latter. I think maybe the story overall wouldve benefitted from one main narrator as the sisters characterisations felt one dimensional, and it was impossible to distinguish between each. Fortunately the plot was compelling enough that this didn't prevent me from wanting to see it through to it's conclusion. It will be interesting to see what the sisters get up to in future insallments as well.

~ Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title ~

You can tell that this author loves the Brontë sisters and has done a lot of research about them. It is clever the way she has woven in known facts into this very fictional story. If you are a fan of the Brontë's then you will love this book. I am not too sure as I cannot see the three of them acting in such a 20th century manner.

What an utterly delightful read! I was totally enchanted by the Bronte sisters and their little adventure as 'detectors'. As well as the lighthearted premise, there is also a very good 'whodunnit' running alongside. This book would be a wonderful Sunday evening costume drama.

Chances are high that you’ve never though to yourself “What if the Brontë sisters were amateur detectives before becoming famous authors?”, neither did I but after reading the premise to this book I knew that I had to read it.

I’m really happy that I did that as the story is a very well-crafted mystery with enjoyable character and settings. It kept me guessing and trying to solves the clues alongside the characters, and it wasn’t until the very end that I discovered who had done the murder. It was a real page turner and it clung to my mind, as even when I had to go and do other things my thoughts were still on what would happen next in the story.

One thing that made the book really connect with me was, besides from the mystery itself, the three main characters. It really added to the whole thing to experiencing the events trough these sisters eyes as the POV changed between them. I highly enjoyed Emily parts as she’s the most adventurous sister with a affection for dogs, but all three sisters added something good to the mix.

The book is a bit slow at the beginning but gets gradually better, with the last third of the book being such a thrilling read. I was afraid that I would grow bored after a while because it seemed that the whole thing was solved in the beginning. But instead of just dragging on there was always some new twist or turn that kept the story feeling fresh as it progressed.

This is a unique historical mystery
I loved this book. I loved being able to live alongside the Bronte sisters for a while.
Intriguing, well written and great fun

This is a clever idea based on the author's fascination with the Bronte sisters. The basic story of domestic abuse and murder rolls on acceptably but the real attraction of the book is in its reflection of the attitudes to women at that time. It deals well with the Brontes' rebellion against these assumptions. The interaction between the sisters and with their alcoholic brother adds humour to the story but it is actually more serious than just that. These scenarios add to the understanding of the frustration of intelligent women at that time. The book has an Agatha Christie feel to it. It is well written and carefully researched.

Whilst this type of book is not my usual go to genre, it did not disappoint and I am grateful to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the premise of the story is simply brilliant

While I love to watch costume dramas on tv I rarely read anything prior to late 20th century so this was a wee change for me. I have limited knowledge of the Brontë family but the story worked okay despite that and in contrast the authors knowledge of the family fall shone through. In this age of DNA and CCTV it highlights how much effort was involved in being a ‘detector’ historically. A good read which I would think fans of the Brontë sisters would appreciate.