This novel by Bella Ellis is an impressive debut in the new "Bronte Sisters Mysteries."

Although any story that follows the formula of "legendary author solves crimes" requires a hefty suspension of disbelief, this one had much more to offer. For one thing, the characterizations of each Bronte are spot on! This is an author who knows the facts, but who has also been mesmerized by the Brontes to the point where she has a feel for each independent spirit. Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell come to life on the page. The depiction of Emily in particular has a compelling sense of both humor and passion that can't fail to win over the reader.

The mystery itself was not very complicated, and a careful reader will latch on to at least a partial solution before too many pages are past. Still, the mystery isn't the raison d'être for this series. The best part is getting the chance to watch these beloved but mysterious authors walk and talk on the page, thanks to the authenticity of the author.

Content note: There is description (but not detailed) of some violent episodes. There are also a couple of ghostly moments, but they are not central to the plot, and the reader may interpret them in different ways.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"I wish I was as certain as you, but I fear we may make matters worse." Charlotte frowned deeply.
"But think of that fat baby, and the other quiet child, whatever it was called," Emily said.
---------------------------------
"Emily"--Charlotte slowed her sister's pace by linking arms with her--"you can't just scatter words into the wind like wildflower seed. Words have weight; they have import, meaning and consequence. I fear you gave no consideration to any of those things when you spoke."
"Then let me reassure you, Charlotte," Emily said. "I am all too aware of all of those things. It's just that I only thought of them after I had spoken. Now let us hurry--we are late already, and I am eager to be done with this day, and home again before our own hearth, with our dogs at our feet and our cats on our laps. We have much to discuss."
--------------------------------
"Miss Emily," John said, wiping the building heat of the day off the back of his neck with a kerchief, "I cannot fathom what you are talking about, but I do believe there is no man alive whose interest you couldn't see off with your sharp tongue and fierce looks if the need arose."
"Why, thank you, John Brown," Emily said with a smile, the compliment quite lifting her mood.
--------------------------------
"When it was handed to my master, he said he hadn't heard of any Mr. Bell in Haworth. And him that delivered it said that two bossy and nosy spinsters had given the delivery instructions, and my master told me to bring it up here and ask you about it." He stared at her wide-eyed, as if he expected to be roasted alive in a flame of fury at any second. Instead Charlotte merely shrugged. After all, she and Emily did fit that description perfectly.
"I see," she said. "'Two insistent and curious women' would have been a better way of expressing it, Joseph--make a note of it."
------------------------------
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this digital review copy. ( )

It was fine. I didn't find the mystery all that mysterious, but it wasn't a bad read. Probably more enjoyable if you have an interest on the lives of the Bronte Sisters. ( )

Pluspunt van dit verhaal is dat je je inleeft in de wereld van de Bröntes: je ontmoet Charlotte, verliefd op Monsieur Héger, ook Emily en 'kegge' Anne krijgen een gezicht. Het leven op de pastorie van Haworth, de lange voettochten die toen heel gewoon waren, het verloren genie van broer Branwell, de armoede van Yorkshire, het komt moeiteloos tot leven.Je verneemt waar het pseudoniem Bell zijn oorsprong vindt en hoe de Bröntes plannen van schrijven een beroep te maken en zich als 'spinsters' een volwaardige plaats te veroveren in een mannenmaatschappij. Bovenop krijg je een mysterieuze verdwijning die het vorige aan mekaar bindt. Niet slecht, doet uitkijken naar vervolg, vooral uit interesse voor het leven van de Bröntes. . ( )

December 1851 and Charlotte Bronte is at Haworth Parsonage and reflects on the past. Back to 1845 when the three sisters learn of the disappearance of Mrs Elizabeth Chester, from her room which is covered in blood, too much blood to give hope. She is the second wife of Mr Chester of Chester Grange.
As they are friends with Matilda French, the children's governess, they decide to visit their neighbour on the morrow. Resulting in their determination to solve the mystery.
A slow paced historical mystery, well-written and an enjoyable story with its well-drawn characters. ( )

Great authors are have amazing insights into human nature. They need to understand the motivations behind the actions, reactions, and feelings of their characters. So it's not a far stretch to imagine our favorite authors as detectives and investigators as Bella Ellis does with Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte in The Vanished Bride, the first novel of the Bronte Sisters Mystery series.

Governess Mattie French discovers blood leaking out of her mistress' room one early morning in 1845. Her mistress has vanished but the quantity of blood can only mean murder. Brother Branwell brings this ghastly news to Haworth and Charlotte and Emily realize that their school friend Mattie is the one who discovered her mistress missing. They resolve to walk across the moor to Chester Grange and comfort their friend and perhaps to discover the truth of what happened to Elizabeth Chester. Knowing that Mrs. Chester left behind a child and a young stepchild and that Mr. Chester was not a good man, the three sisters are determined to become lady detectors and solve this troubling case.

Ellis, a play on Emily Bronte's own pen name--Ellis Bell, who is actually novelist Rowan Coleman, takes readers on a fun, cozy mystery ride with the three amateur sleuth and as yet unpublished novelist sisters. The atmosphere often veers toward the gothic and there are common Victorian plot contrivances like gypsies and the supernatural contained here. There are seeds of the sisters' future novels scattered throughout the mystery as well. The sisters have a delightful bickering and bantering way with each other and they are all drawn with curious and lively minds. There is a real sense of them pushing against the strictures placed on women in their time both in their own choices and in their sympathy for the missing Mrs. Chester. Occasionally though, they discuss the lot of women in terms that feel anachronistic. Their observational skills suit them well in detecting. The plotting of the mystery is consistent and the denouement is unexpected but well drawn. Fans of the Brontes who don't mind a little creative license will certainly enjoy this entertaining historical mystery. ( )