Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to request this book because I am from the Mount Holyoke area! I enjoyed the town/building references, but that was about it. I felt this book started abruptly? As my reading experience went on, I felt I didn’t care about a single character. Unfortunately, it was quite boring and a drag to read. I felt myself skimming at times.

A historical novel based on the mysterious disappearance of an actual Mt. Holyoke student in 1897. This novel imagines how and why Bertha Mellish, a junior at Mt. Holyoke disappeared. Her roommate, Agnes Sullivan, seems to know more than she is saying and is obstinately tight-lipped about Bertha. The family doctor sees suspects in everyone Bertha ever knew and her sister, Florence, just wants her found safely.
What actually happened to Bertha? This story tries to figure out that very question. Using actual correspondence and historical documents found by the author and sprinkled throughout the story, KIllingly offers an actual explanation for the unexplainable.

*Special thanks thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for this e-arc.*

Bertha Mellish goes missing. When her sister and father come to see where she is, they are panicked. Is she still alive? Is she missing? As the mystery unfolds, her friend knows more than she is saying, but will she share what she knows? Will Bertha be found?

This book – nominally a kind of lit-fic mystery about a missing young woman, really something like a historical fiction character study with light mystery elements – was slow-paced, but unspooled its plot threads in a really compelling and satisfying way. The twists in the plot were very well-foreshadowed while still surprising (I only got some of them!) and the crafting of the story, overall, was really lovely.

I enjoyed it on the whole, especially for its complex central characters, though it sometimes had trouble completely keeping my attention, and the historical setting was crafted really nicely. I’d definitely say it's worth checking the content warnings before reading, because it deals with a lot of very heavy content, but I recommend it!

Thanks to Soho Press and Netgalley for the ARC!

I am so conflicted about this book! I loved the mystery aspect of the story, the relationship between Bertha and Agnes, the surprises that were revealed along the way, and the twist that helps end the story. But, There was so much of the story that I felt was just out of my grasp, things that didn't quite make sense but felt like I should understand them. Add to that the weirdness with the cat dissection and putting together the skeleton. That whole part of the book could easily have been left out. It was distracting. I know why the author included it but felt the same point could have been done in a better way.

Killingly is a story based on the real-life disappearance of a student in 1897, a premise I was immediately intrigued by, especially because of its comparison to the works of Donna Tartt. However, I think this comparison is quite misleading. While it takes place in New England in a dark academic setting, this is pretty much where the similarities end. I know it's not necessarily fair to compare against an iconic novel like The Secret History, but if it's self-described as "perfect for fans of Donna Tartt," then it's automatically going to be in the minds of the readers. I think my biggest qualm with Killingly is that, while the plot itself is interesting, I didn't feel connected to it. I was completely indifferent about the characters, unlike with the books it's compared to. Personally, no matter how interesting the premise of a book may be, I need to care about the characters, and in this case, they lacked depth. However, if you are the type of person who loves more plot-driven historical fiction, then you may really enjoy this book.

It’s refreshing to open a novel and have no idea what to expect. Katherine Beutner’s elegiac, melancholy Killingly fictionalizes the true story of the disappearance of Mt. Holyoke student Bertha Mellish in 1897. Told through the eyes of Bertha’s closest friend, Agnes, and her older sister, Florence, the puzzle of her disappearance is both confounding and heartbreaking. To the general Mt. Holyoke student population, Bertha and Agnes were what we would recognize today as “grinds,” living for their studies, not socializing.

It’s clearer as you read that both young women were exceptionally intelligent – and Agnes’ intelligence and intellectual curiosity is so great that reading her texts literally puts her into another universe. She and Bertha obviously understood one another if no one else did. There’s an undercurrent through the book of young female sexuality – the other girls have what they refer to as “crushes” for other girls, and spend much of their time on picnics and at parties. Agnes’ complicated feelings for Bertha certainly include love.

Bertha’s sister, Florence, is almost unhinged with grief, but she’s confined and often shut out by the men around her – her father, Bertha’s hometown suitor, Dr. Hammond, and the detective the family hires to try and find Bertha. When a possible person turns up in a Boston hospital that might be Bertha, her father and Dr. Hammond head there to see if it is, indeed, her. They refuse to let Florence accompany them. When Mr. Mellish discovers it’s not Bertha after all, he suffers a stroke. Layered onto Florence’s grief is the now added responsibility of caring for her father while trying to find her sister.

An underlying theme of this novel are the lack of choices many of the women have. Florence herself left college after a year because of an illness, and has ended up teaching in her home town of Killingly and caring for her parents. Her mother is a little mentally out of it, and Florence and her father don’t even share the news of Bertha’s disappearance with her at first. This strait jacket of a home life, where Florence is hemmed not just by family but by grief for her sister’s loss, is difficult to read about, in part, I think, because it’s so real.

Agnes is grieving as well, of course. Bertha was her only friend, and she is now left to make her own lonely way in the world. In 1897, for a woman to become a doctor, as Agnes plans to do, is almost revolutionary. Many of the other girls are at Mt. Holyoke for an education, certainly, but their ultimate destination is marriage. Agnes is not left alone to study, either. Bertha’s hometown suitor, Mr. Hammond, badgers her for answers, as does the hired detective. She and Florence have more of an understanding of one another.

Beutner has obviously invented a solution to this mystery, one that seems to stand apart from the reality of whatever may have happened to the real Bertha Mellish, who was never found. However, Beutner’s story bears an emotional truth that honors the real story. As Agnes moves ahead, spending the next summer as a companion to a wealthy woman, she thinks to herself: she “hated feeling so beholden. But from the first, from Miss Kelly recommending her to the college, she had been pulled up the ladder of women as surely as if she had stepped from one cupped bridge of hands to another.” That’s the positive in this story about women.

Beutner also writes of the violence of women’s lives, their lack of agency, and their frustration and heartbreak. It’s a shattering picture. Bertha Mellish is the nexus of the story, but she’s certainly not the whole story, which unrolls in an unexpected and original way. This is a powerful and heartbreaking read.

First, if you're sensitive to the topic of incest, older men lusting after just barely women they've known since they were children, the death of animals in order to dissect them, abortion, or suicide... then I suggest staying away from this book.

** This includes potential spoilers.**
I'm very torn about how to rate this book. If the story was purely fiction with some historical facts, and not based on a real person who disappeared, then I would have given it a higher rating. The story itself is well told, and good if you want to explore any of the sensitive topics I listed above. Things such as those did (and do) happen so writing about them in a historical fiction book is one way to explore how such topics would affect a person in a particular time period. However, I find it rather... distasteful... to take the life of a real person that disappeared and add in such wild speculation about what could possibly have happened to them when there is zero proof, or even rumor, that such a thing might have happened. It's a dangerous line with historical fiction. The author does explain in her afterward of the story that it is "deeply fictionalized" and that "Bertha Mellish was never found, nor does it seem that a suicide note, or other clear evidence of her fate, was ever discovered" with the additions that she has "no direct evidence that Florence Mellish was Bertha's mother" and that her "answers for what happened to Berth are fabricated"... it still seems to me to be extremely disrespectful and distasteful. The author does not mention whether she tried to seek out any potential remaining family that might be (even distantly) related to Bertha or the Mellish family to get their approval for this fiction. Also, one can't say that all readers will read the explanation from the author about what is real vs what was imagination which brings out an issue that historical fiction authors need to consider... is the fiction doing damage to the real parts of the story? Someone who reads this book but doesn't read what the author fictionalized will run under the assumption that there was enough proof that this could be a likely scenario for what happened to the real Bertha. However, it is just as likely that NONE of this is remotely true, in which case the author has now potentially damaged the reputation of an entire family.

Based on that and the sensitive topics in the book, I wouldn't recommend it to most people. As long as one has the understanding that although Bertha was a real person, but a lot of events in the story are complete fiction with absolutely no proof that any such thing happened, it is an interesting read.

A Haunting Mystery Based on a Real-Life Disappearance

SUMMARY
Bertha Mellish is a quiet and reserved student at Mount Holyoke College. She disappeared from her room in Porter Hall in 1897. Bertha’s best friend, Agnes Sullivan, is worried, and her much older sister Florence, a school teacher back home in Killingly, Connecticut, is devastated. The nearby pond is dredged to no avail, and the family doctor, who is overly fond of Bertha, hires a private detective who continues the search.

Before her disappearance, Bertha had been quietly seeing a young French man, Joseph Poitier, a millworker back in Killingly. Poitier is nowhere to be found. Was he responsible for Bertha’s disappearance, or were they together? Did she love him? A series of minor thefts have been occurring in Porter Hall just before Bertha’s disappearance, and some Porter Hall girls think Bertha may have been responsible. Did Bertha need money? Agnes, studying to be a surgeon, seems to know more than she is saying about Bertha’s disappearance.


REVIEW
Killingly is a haunting mystery based on the unsolved real-life disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897. The story is seemingly dark, chilling, and atmospheric. The writing skillfully transports us back to a women’s college campus ahead of its time.

Both Agnes and Florence’s characters carry the story. They were stoic and determined for their own reasons. Bertha’s father, a reverend, and the family doctor were creepy, overbearing, and unlikable. While the story was intriguing, the character development could have been better.

Author Katherine Beutner is a feminist author, essayist, and academic who has written one other novel, Alcestis, which was awarded the Edmund White Award for debut fiction in 2011.

I both listened to and read the book. While I enjoyed listening to the story, the narrator’s voice did not seem well-suited for the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher Soho Crime/Recorded Books
Published June 6, 2023
Narrated Rachel Botchan
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

In 1897, the disappearance of a quiet young college student dismays and disrupts her fellow students at Mount Holyoke. The story expands beyond Bertha’s story to encompass the requirements and pitfalls faced by women at the turn of the twentieth century. Although the plot itself is not quite a page-turner, and may be deemed as too slow for those who like their mysteries more intense, the suspense is well done and the characters stay in your mind after you finish.

An interesting read, great for any fan of long-cold case true crime. The historical aspect of this novel made it a bit difficult for me to read, but that's a me problem. The plot and characters are well developed, and the pace was good.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the copy of Killingly by Katherine Beutner. This was classified as Historical Fiction and Mystery and Thrillers but I was disappointed because I never got a feeling for the Mystery and Thriller part. I appreciated the historical fiction aspect but the dated language/writing was tough for me at first. This is an era you rarely read about so if you love historical fiction you should give this one a try!

Killingly is a fictional book written around an actual event…the unsolved disappearance of a Mount Holyoke College student, Bertha Mellish in 1897 Massachusetts. While intriguing, the various characters, possible reasons for Bertha’s disappearance and if she is still alive or dead all seemed a little melodramatic for me.

I liked this book overall. I found the historical setting and variations in character motivations and views on the book’s core mystery interesting. I also found the prose gripping; it made me want to keep reading. Content Warning: Viewers sensitive to rape and incest should be aware they occur in the book, though they are not described graphically. That said, I found little queer focus in the book. It felt much more a novel about feminism and reproductive rights.

I liked this one, but wasn't OMG amazed by it in the end. A second or third round purchase for most libraries.

This book was definitely interesting and well written. I found it to be very fascinating and fast paced. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy historical novels.

Based on a true crime in the late 1800s, the author has done a very good job of recreating what it must have been like for women to attend Mount Holyoke College. The very atmosphere feels surreal, even menacing. Clearly depicted is what young women who had dreams of a professional life faced at the time. The culture of the female collegians is quite interesting with a look at queerness, feminism, bullying, religion and expectations for young women.

Bertha Mellish is a loner as is her closest friend Agnes. Both desire a career rather than a traditional life. Both are secretive and stand-offish, finding most of the other female students vapid. But when Bertha disappears the school and its students are scrutinized. No one can explain, or at least is willing to, the disappearance. Bertha’s sister Florence and her elderly minister father arrive to conduct a search. They also bring the family doctor as well as a private investigator. Soon it becomes evident that many secrets are hidden by many of the characters. Eventually it is revealed that the Mellishs' home town of Killingly Ct is where the mystery truly begins.

Whenever one reads historical fiction you begin to wonder what part of the story is fact and what is fiction. Fortunately, the author’s notes at the end explains much along with her research techniques and sources. It is a true crime mystery offered up as historical fiction which shines a light on the late 1800s in a very fascinating way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for the e-galley.

This just wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with the characters. I requested the ARC because I generally enjoy dark academia and the cover is gorgeous, but I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction. I do respect that it tried to tackle some big women's issues, but ultimately I just didn't really enjoy it. I'm sure it has an audience who will enjoy it.

In 1897, a Mount Holyoke College junior named Bertha Mellish disappears from campus overnight, leaving no word for her family. It’s a time when female college students are still considered “queer” (in the old sense of peculiar as well as the modern understanding of the word), although the college founder and administrators insist that their primary purpose is to produce excellent wives and mothers. But even this community of oddities considers Bertha strange, by which the other girls mean that she pays too little attention to parties and boys, too much to her schoolwork and social causes.

Bertha’s only true friend is Agnes Sullivan, a young woman from a poor Boston family who has been forced to conceal her Catholic upbringing to gain admission to the college. Agnes, a would-be doctor (an even greater anomaly in late 19th-century culture than a woman with a college education, although not inconceivable), grieves Bertha’s absence but insists she has no idea where Bertha might be. Dragging the rivers and lakes turns up nothing, supposed sightings of the missing girl lead nowhere, and the police would be willing to write the case off as closed if only her relatives and the family doctor would let it go.

Almost from the beginning, it’s clear that Agnes knows far more than she lets on, but finding out what really happened to Bertha and why is a long, winding trail of suspense. Through the overlapping stories of Agnes, Bertha’s sister Florence, Dr. Henry Hammond, and the inspector whom Hammond hires to find the missing girl, Katharine Beutner keeps us on the edge of our seats as she unravels their tangle of secrets and lies. Perhaps the most intriguing element is knowing that however fictional the plot and many of the characters, the story derives from the real-life disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897, the mystery of which has never been solved.

I plan to interview this author for the New Books Network (link below) in early June 2023.

So I will start with the positives-- most prominently that I found this to be an extremely well written piece of work; it was perfectly fitting for the time period and the subject matter. I loooove when authors take inspiration from true historical events (in this case, the disappearance of Bertha Mellish, and weave it throughout their novel. And I really believe that Beutner incorporated this IMPECCABLY! The blurb of Killingly being perfect for fans of Sarah Waters and Donna Tartt is basically what drew me in; I've never read Donna Tartt (shock, I know), but Sarah Waters is one of my favorite authors and I will read anything that is minusculely comparative to Sarah Waters.
However, I found this read to draaag and just overall, be rather slow-paced. Granted, this story is less about being plot driven, and more character focused. I don't take issue in that, I am not against character-driven novels, but I guess my expectations were more of the former. The slow pace is really what did it for me but there is 100% an audience for this that will love it far more than I did.