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A review by gabberjaws
Death at the Manor by Katharine Schellman
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I want to start off the review by saying that my absolute favourite thing about this series is how firmly the author refuses to hide behind the racist refrain that diversity in regency stories is anachronistic. There's a Black MC; there's a biracial, brown MC; there's a disabled supporting character (whose disability we actually forget about sometimes because it doesn't define his character); and there have been austistic characters. Finding out Susan and Eliza were a couple IN THE TEXT. AS CANON. instead of it remaining subtext the whole time was the cherry on top.
Death at the Manor is, due to its gothic vibes, an edgier and slightly saucier entry to this franchise. Don't get me wrong, it's still an incredibly cozy mystery novel, just like its predecessors, but it's definitely a little darker than it's older siblings.
I'm still not 100% sure how much I liked DatMs foray into the gothic fields, but thought the mystery was very well done. The Howdunit was pretty obvious from the get-go, but the Who and Why dunits didn't become really obvious until about 60% of the way through. Which is another thing I like about this series; it's hard to guess the culprit based on vibes, like with most other cozy mysteries. We, the readers, have to examine and collect evidence right alongside the MCs. It's great!
I also really enjoyed getting to see things from Ofelia's perspective a little more. We're getting to see her step off of Lily's coat-tails and become an active investigator, and we're also getting to step out of Lily's head and see things from outside her field of view, which is also really nice.
The biggest let-down in this book for me was probably Captain Hartley's absence. His character lends a bit of levity and cheekiness to the cast that no one else quite fills. Not even Ned, though he tries. I think the tone of this novel could have really used some of the Hartley charm remind us of the series' less serious roots. But maybe that's just me.
Death at the Manor is, due to its gothic vibes, an edgier and slightly saucier entry to this franchise. Don't get me wrong, it's still an incredibly cozy mystery novel, just like its predecessors, but it's definitely a little darker than it's older siblings.
I'm still not 100% sure how much I liked DatMs foray into the gothic fields, but thought the mystery was very well done. The Howdunit was pretty obvious from the get-go, but the Who and Why dunits didn't become really obvious until about 60% of the way through. Which is another thing I like about this series; it's hard to guess the culprit based on vibes, like with most other cozy mysteries. We, the readers, have to examine and collect evidence right alongside the MCs. It's great!
I also really enjoyed getting to see things from Ofelia's perspective a little more. We're getting to see her step off of Lily's coat-tails and become an active investigator, and we're also getting to step out of Lily's head and see things from outside her field of view, which is also really nice.
The biggest let-down in this book for me was probably Captain Hartley's absence. His character lends a bit of levity and cheekiness to the cast that no one else quite fills. Not even Ned, though he tries. I think the tone of this novel could have really used some of the Hartley charm remind us of the series' less serious roots. But maybe that's just me.