Misery Hates Company
by Elizabeth Hobbs
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Miss Marigold Manners may be steeped in the etiquette of her old-money Boston family, but she is also an accomplished, modern woman and an avid student of archaeology who can handle any situation with poise. When the death of her parents leaves her too destitute to pursue her academic career and she receives a letter from a distant relative on Great Misery Island, Marigold decides she must do what any person of superior sense and greater-than-average curiosity would: she mounts her trusty show more bicycle and heads up the craggy, fog-shrouded coast of New England for a date with fate. Marigold arrives at Hatchet Farm, a moldering, gothic pile of a house inhabited by relatives so mired in the sins of the past, they have no future. She sets out to modernize the recluses with a brisk, ruthless efficiency, but her well-intentioned plans to manage their lives lead to malice-and murder. Marigold spies a body floating in the stormy waters surrounding the island, and her suspicions immediately turn to her hostile, weapon-wielding relatives when one of the local girls turns up missing. And she might not be the only one. When another dead body is found in the garden of the estate, Marigold finds herself accused. She must enlist the help of an eccentric, colorful cast of friends and found family to save herself-and everything she holds dear. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this novel, the first in a series.
This is a funny, tongue-in-cheek historical mystery, with one Miss Marigold Manners firmly in the starring role. Set in the 1890s, as the Victorian world transitioned to modernity, Marigold is very much a New Woman of the age. Like many of her female peers, she wants to make her way into male-dominated higher learning, and the sort of career previously reserved for men, in this instance, archaeology. Her ambitions come to an abrupt and tragic halt when her parents’ sudden deaths reveal the family’s penury. Just then, as readers might hope, long estranged relatives, the aptly-named Hatchets of Hatchet Farm, invite her to stay with them on show more the just as aptly named Grand Misery Island.
There she finds kin who can hardly stand each other, and, despite their invitation, seem none too pleased to take her into their fold. But, in a manner very reminiscent of the classic send-up of rural life, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (see the wonderful film with Kate Beckinsale), Marigold quickly recovers from her initial discomfort at their oddness and disdain. Like Flora Poste, the heroine of that story, she carefully works her way into their insular lives. As both the rundown old manor residents and the townspeople slowly warm to her, her cousin reveals some family secrets, pointing to a mystery, and then a murder, that the ever-curious Marigold, trained in piecing together scant evidence, feels compelled to resolve. Of course she does, but, since this is her debut, this is only an enticing beginning to the further adventures of Miss Marigold Manners.
The writing is consistently good, true to the historical nature of the setting, and the ‘Gay Nineties’ context is faithfully presented. If it’s a bit slow in the first few chapters, it definitely picks up the tempo as Marigold pursues the mystery. Her friendship with Cab is sweet, and promises further romantic development. All in all, this book is a treat. show less
This is a funny, tongue-in-cheek historical mystery, with one Miss Marigold Manners firmly in the starring role. Set in the 1890s, as the Victorian world transitioned to modernity, Marigold is very much a New Woman of the age. Like many of her female peers, she wants to make her way into male-dominated higher learning, and the sort of career previously reserved for men, in this instance, archaeology. Her ambitions come to an abrupt and tragic halt when her parents’ sudden deaths reveal the family’s penury. Just then, as readers might hope, long estranged relatives, the aptly-named Hatchets of Hatchet Farm, invite her to stay with them on show more the just as aptly named Grand Misery Island.
There she finds kin who can hardly stand each other, and, despite their invitation, seem none too pleased to take her into their fold. But, in a manner very reminiscent of the classic send-up of rural life, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (see the wonderful film with Kate Beckinsale), Marigold quickly recovers from her initial discomfort at their oddness and disdain. Like Flora Poste, the heroine of that story, she carefully works her way into their insular lives. As both the rundown old manor residents and the townspeople slowly warm to her, her cousin reveals some family secrets, pointing to a mystery, and then a murder, that the ever-curious Marigold, trained in piecing together scant evidence, feels compelled to resolve. Of course she does, but, since this is her debut, this is only an enticing beginning to the further adventures of Miss Marigold Manners.
The writing is consistently good, true to the historical nature of the setting, and the ‘Gay Nineties’ context is faithfully presented. If it’s a bit slow in the first few chapters, it definitely picks up the tempo as Marigold pursues the mystery. Her friendship with Cab is sweet, and promises further romantic development. All in all, this book is a treat. show less
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Kindle Historical Fiction
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- Misery Hates Company
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