WHAT would happen if Georgiana, younger sister of Pride and
Prejudice’s swoonworthy hero Fitzwilliam Darcy, met Branwell, the troubled only
brother of the famous Brontë sisters, shining stars of the 19th century literary
firmament?
It’s an intriguing premise which is tackled with relish by
Cornwall-based Amelia Blackwell (pictured below) in the second of her time-travelling Miss Darcy
Investigates adventures, part of a debut cosy crime series which began with A
Crime Through Time and was inspired by last year’s 250th anniversary celebrations
of Jane Austen’s birth.
Taking the leading role in these quirky and original mysteries is the delectable Miss Georgiana Darcy, best known to Austen fans as Mr Darcy’s meek and naïve sister but here transformed into a rather cute but canny detective travelling backwards and forwards through time and space from Pemberley in 1799 to solve murders with a literary twist. And after falling for an Irish security guard named Quinn, a man ‘with an exceptionally pleasing countenance,’ on her first time-travel journey to a film set in Devon in 1995 – where she had to reckon with the misunderstandings and mysteries of life and love in the late 20th century – we find Georgiana back at Pemberley in 1799 and despairing of ever again meeting her new beau Quinn.
When the Motorola finally buzzes back to life, Georgiana finds herself in 1845, only forty-six years in the future, and at gloomy Thorp Green Hall in Yorkshire. It’s the home of the ageing Reverend Robinson and his decades younger wife… and also the place where Branwell and Anne Brontë are employed as the children’s tutor and governess. Mistaken for the eldest and troublesome daughter Lydia’s ‘special companion,’ Georgiana settles in but anticipates she has been drawn to Thorp Green Hall for a reason… to investigate another murder. However, even before she discovers the cook’s father dead on a chopping block, Georgiana finds herself entangled in a web of passion, deception, and danger centred on the eccentric, haunted Branwell.
It seems Branwell is engaged in a perilous affair with Mrs
Robinson and experiencing a series of sinister omens and terrifying encounters.
As Georgiana uncovers the secrets of the house, and learns more about the
origins of her time-travelling, she must find the killer and save the Brontë
siblings from an evil plot… thus preventing, of course, a most terrible loss to
future readers everywhere.
Blackwell’s ingenious blend of crime, time travel, all
things Austen-esque, and now the Brontë siblings, delivers an atmospheric
murder mystery while allowing readers a fresh and fun perspective on much-loved
fictional Austen characters, and a glimpse into the real lives of characters
like Anne, youngest of the famous sisters, and the tragic Branwell whose
turbulent, alcohol-addicted life ended at the early age of 31.
And Thorp Green Hall and its dark secrets proves to be a deliciously
brooding backdrop and a wonderful foil for the unsuspecting Georgiana who must
negotiate not just another leap in time but also the scandals, volatile
emotions, dangers and eccentricities of the hall’s residents while making
discoveries about her own ability to move backwards and forwards through time.
Much of the comedy element comes from Georgiana’s 18th
century upper-class sensibilities coming head-to-head with her growing
metamorphosis from ingénue to, if not quite woman of the world, a woman who is
at least more self-aware and steadily becoming accustomed to the seemingly
murderous ways of a future world.
And once again, Blackwell’s depth of research, including
digging out some hidden corners and characters from real history, her clever allusions
to the works of Austen, the Brontës, D.H.Lawrence and even Charles Webb’s The
Graduate, shine through in this book-powered, time-travelling odyssey. A true
literary treat!
(Macmillan, hardback, £18.99)