Name: The Vanished Bride
ISBN: 9780593099056

Bella Ellis

Before they became legendary writers, Charlotte Bront', Emily Bront', and Anne Bront' were detectors in this charming historical mystery. Not yet published novelists, they have well-honed imaginations and are expert readers. And, as Charlotte remarks, "detecting is reading between the lines--it's seeing what is not there."ing what is not there."

The Vanished Bride

Judy McClure

I love it when an author uses either real historic figures or famous beloved literary characters or their creators in their stories. The Bronte sisters become "detectors" in this first book in what I really hope will be a continuing series. Now I've never been able to get into any of the classic Bronte books ... the men in those books would send any sane woman to join a nunnery or become a recluse at the very least ... but I've always been fascinated by the Bronte sisters themselves. Their real, everyday lives would have given any fictional story writer an entire 10 book series worth of juicy fodder and tragic heartache. So I jumped on this book when I saw it recommended (also, that cover!!!) and I really enjoyed it because it makes the Bronte sisters (and their brother Branwell and their father Patrick) so vividly real and human. Strong, independent and creative the Bronte sisters presented in this book are forces of nature in a time when women are considered weak, delicate and in need of protection. Great story ... want more please.

The year is 1845, and Emily, Charlotte and Anne Bronte are sat around the dining room table, laughing merrily as the rain of their Yorkshire summer falls outside. When their brother, Branwell, returns from The Bull Inn, he brings with him the most shocking revelation: that Elizabeth Chester, wife of Robert Chester and mistress of Chester Grange has gone missing - but the bloody scene found in her bedroom suggests she may have been murdered. The governess at Chester Grange is Matilda French, a close friend of Charlotte's, who resolves to pay her a visit the following day. At Chester Grange, the sisters make the acquaintance of Robert, a rumoured cruel man, who is suspected of having driven his first wife to suicide. Determined that he should be brought to justice, the sisters throw themselves into solving the case. As everyone knows, solving a murder requires sense, morals and a very good imagination - qualities which these sisters have more than enough of...

Pam Sartain

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis is a mystery book with the Brontë sisters as the investigators.  Mrs Elizabeth Chester's bedroom is found to be covered in blood, and as Emily, Anne and Charlotte know the young lady who found the room in this state, they hear a first hand account, and so become involved in the mystery of where Mrs Chester is, and if she's alive or dead!

I found this to be a really interesting read as it puts you at the heart of the Brontë family, and is set both in 1851 and in 1845, with Charlotte looking back to their adventures together.  The sisters are quite separate characters, and it made me want to learn more about them, and re-read each of their books!

 The Vanished Bride  was published on 7th November 2019 and is available from  Amazon,   Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

You can follow Bella Ellis on  Twitter ,  Facebook ,  Instagram  and her  website .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Hodder Books .

Heather Harrington

I liked this, but overall I just felt it was a bit meh.

Sarah Williams

3.5/5 stars

What if, before they authored some of the greatest works of fiction of all time, the Brontë sisters were intrepid detectives? Bella Ellis answers that question for us in The Vanished Bride, bringing us into the world of the Brontë sisters and showing us a side of them we may never have otherwise seen. 

The Vanished Bride follows Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Brontë as they investigate the case of a young wife and mother who has gone missing from her bedchamber, leaving an alarming amount of blood and a suspicious husband in her wake. 

The story switches between Emily, Charlotte, and Anne’s perspective, giving us a great glimpse into the mind of each sister. Ellis does a great job capturing each sister’s voice. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Charlotte, I adored Emily. 

“Although Emily had never before broken into the manor house of a suspected murderer in the dead of night, it didn’t occur to her once that this wasn’t something she wouldn’t be perfectly good at.”

Emily’s dauntlessness and unending sense of imagination made her the most entertaining and lovable character by far. 

The mystery is also well crafted. I thought I had figured it out and found myself genuinely surprised by the plot twist at the end. I’ll admit that it took me a while to get into this story. I didn’t feel particularly gripped or invested in the mystery at first and felt like it took a while for Ellis to build a sense of intrigue. The final act of the book, however, made it worth it for me. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

For more reviews, check out my Instagram and my Blog!

The Vanished Bride

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