Pride, Prejudice and Poison (A June Austen Society Mystery # 1)
Author: Elizabeth Blake
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 23, 2019
2 Stars


Pride, Prejudice and Poison is a cozy mystery that takes place in Kirkbymoorside, a village in North Yorkshire. Most of the key players in the book belong to the local Jane Austen Society. Their current president is Sylvia Pemberthy. Sylvia does not seem to be well liked, both for her governing skills and for personal reasons. When Sylvia winds up dead, there is a long list of suspects to be sorted through. That task falls to Detective Inspector Peter Hemming and Sergeant Rashid Jarral. Farnsworth Appleby becomes the prime suspect when it is learned that Sylvia had been poisoned, and Farnsworth was the one who had served her the tea. Erin Coleridge, a close friend of Farnsworth’s and crime aficionado, decides she must help prove Farnsworth’s innocence. Erin quickly learns that solving a crime is much harder than reading about one, and it is much more dangerous. DI Hemming works hard to solve the case before someone else is killed.

I went into this book with high hopes as I thought a mystery centered around Jane Austen and her novels sounded like fun. However, I didn’t particularly enjoy the first 2/3 of this story. The writing wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. The plot seemed slow, and the characters were hard to connect with, both of which made it difficult to focus on the story. The Jane Austen quotes were overdone and proved to be a hinderance to the story as well.

The last 1/3 of the book was pretty good. The pace picked up, and I found myself more invested in the story. I was anxious to learn the who and the why. I enjoyed how the author wrapped up the story.


Thank to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book. #NetGalley #PridePrejudiceAndPoison

think this series is full of potential but this said I'm in two minds about this instalment.
Let's start with the positive: I appreciated the setting, almost all the characters and the style of writing.
The cons: Erin grated on my nerve, I found her cold and couldn't connect to this character, too many Austen quotes and the uneven pace.
The mystery was a bit meh, it was more a sort of "things discovered by chance" than a puzzle.
I think i will try to read further instalment in this series because, as already said, there's a lot of potential.
This one has all the issues of the first instalment in a series, the other will surely be better.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Stopped at 25%
ZERO STARS

This book was just so....no. Just no. It was like someone handed her a "basic cozy formula" check-sheet and she decided to use ALL of them. New in town? Check. Single? Check. Bookstore owner? Check. At odds with the deceased? Check. Best friend suspected of the murder? Check and CHECK.
L O V E T R I A N G L E? Unfortunately, CHECK. Cop who is dark and moody and has a dark past and is part of the love triangle? CHECK. See where I am going? Every single trope that you can have in a cozy is in this book. And then add Jane Austen and a brazillion quotes by her and you have a very typical, very boring, very meh book. Even the "mystery" wasn't exciting and the reveal was so bland that I could barely bring myself to care about it.

I will not be reading any more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pride, Prejudice and Poison is the first in a new cozy mystery series which follows Erin as she interferes in a police murder investigation.

Erin owns the local bookshop in the sleepy, little British village of Kirkbymoorside and is also a member of the Jane Austen Society. It is at a meeting for this very society that the society's president is murdered. And in true cozy mystery, who-done-it fashion everyone is a suspect and everyone is pointing fingers at those around them.

I had high hopes for this book, I was intuiged by the idea of a mystery centered aound a Jane Austen Society. The Austen quotes were quirky and entertaining at first, but the quickly got old and annoying, at least for me because they were constant.

I love Austen but if people were constantly quoting her at me in every situation, no matter how relevant, let alone if someone had just been murdered, I would loose my patience pretty quick.

The characters were flat and really stuck to their assigned stereotypes, which also got old fairly quick. But these characters were still entertaining. I cannot say that was the case for our protagonist though.

I found Erin to be dull and annoying and I didn't relate to her at all and so was not invested in what happened to her. Which stunk because she stuck her nose into everything and it would have been more fun if I was invested in what happened to her.

With all her snooping though, she never unearths any groundbreaking or helpful clues. Anything helpful she finds, she stumbles upon merely by accident. When it was randomly revealed that she was secretly fluent enough in German to understand what she overheard, I lost all respect and patience for her character and her sleuthing. It seemed like lazy writing and characterization that the protagonists keeps randomly having the exact knowledge needed for the situation.

The book had a slow start, the first several chapters are merely to introduce us to the town, society, and many characters. Once the murder happens though, things do begin to pick up and the story get more interesting.

I was a bit diappointed that the murder was a bit anit-climatic. There's a scream and they see a body and then boom, scene change. And people are acting almost as though it never happened afterward. If there wasn't a police investigation would these people have even cared?

I knew who the murder was very shortly after the murder happend, I wish the hints had been a little more subtle and the red herrings a little more convincing.

All in all this is an entertaining cozy mystery, with the slightest suggestion of a romance which goes no where. Leaving all the suspense for the next in the series I suppose.

If you love Austen and are a big fan of cozy mysteries, I think you'll find it entertaining and a fairly quick read. But I don't think this book is for everybody.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books who shared an ARC with me via NetGalley, this is my honest review.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars, it was okay.

First in a new series, it was okay.

This started off kind of slow, which is sort of the be expected in the first of a series, as the author introduces all the main characters, but even expecting it a bit, I struggled to stay interested. Eventually things picked up and I started to get in to the story. There does need to be some better character development, as they all felt a bit one dimensional and only there to fill a certain type. Erin especially seems a bit dull.

And after a bit all the Austen quotes got old. Yes, it's the Jane Austen Society, but it started to feel slightly obsessive and annoying.

Also, after the slow build up, the end seemed a bit rushed.

All in all, I find the idea of the series interesting and I am willing to give the author some time to settle in, and hopefully flesh her characters out a bit more.

I have to give this one a 3 star rating. The mystery is very well crafted and I liked the setting of the used bookstore and the small town. What brought it down a star or two was what I thought was an overuse of Austen quotes. I admit I'm not as well versed as these characters regarding Jane Austen and that may have frustrated me a bit. I wanted to skip over the quotes the more I read. Now, if you are as into Austen as these people, then those quotes will probably not bother you at all.
The mystery itself kept my attention start to finish but I did find myself a bit distracted by the changes in point of view. Erin and her friend, Farnsworth are great and the budding romance for Erin was a nice touch. Erin makes a very good sleuth and I look forward to seeing how things evolve in the next book. In the meantime maybe I should brush up on my Jane Austen.

Bookstores are one of my favorite places. I would love to visit this one and have some tea and talk with Erin and her friends. If you love Jane Austen, you will love the Jane Austen Society and the quotes throughout the story. Some of these folks are really on their Jane Austen game. The competition of the quotes! These characters are great and I enjoyed getting to know them. I think you will too. Do you have any “cat ladies” in your life? It was fun to see how some of the relationships progressed. I hope you’ll give this book a try. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

A charming, cozy mystery! Pride, Prejudice and Poison is the perfect book to curl up in a chair with a blanket and cocoa. A book that any Austen fan will love, with plenty of quotes and references along the way. A great start to a new series, and I'm eager for the next one!

I wanted to like this book. The premise sounds like fun. The president of a Jane Austen club is murdered, and the main character, a used book store owner named Erin Coleridge, works to prove the innocence of her best friend, Farnsworth Appleby who is the police’s main suspect. But there were just so many things about the story that were irritating. First of all, a Jane Austen quote here and there is charming. But when there’s one on every page, it gets tiresome. As does Erin’s and Farnsworth’s habit of popping into posh accents and “elegant” speech at odd moments. At one point, the author says that a character’s behavior reminded Erin of “her mother’s energetic embrace of life, an appetite so fierce that in the end it devoured her.” Her mother died of cancer. To equate someone’s zest for life with a horrible disease is just bizarre.
On the plus side, the mystery itself was entertaining, and I liked the characters, especially Farnsworth, the crazy cat lady, and DI Hemmings. While I can’t recommend this book, I hope she’ll write another one in the series and that it will be better. There are a lot of good ideas here; I just hope Ms.Blake can work the bugs out if there’s a continuation of the series.
I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest reviews.

Pride, Prejudice and Poison is an enjoyable cozy mystery that will have you guessing until the end. The story takes place in Kirkmoorsby England which seems to be a very quaint little village where not much happens. The stories main character is a rare bookshop owner and an apparent amateur sleuth. The village is comprised of common English folk. The majority of people that live there apparently all belong to The Jane Austen Society. Very early in the story, the president of the society is poisoned and the number of suspects are many.

Elizabeth Blake’s storyline and telling will keep the reader interested and entertained. I found the book easy to read and enjoyable. I like the characters and the way she developed them.

I would recommend this book to my friends that enjoy cozies.

For me, the strongest part of this book is the mystery. Yay! The mystery itself is well-crafted. We are given several very credible suspects and we never quite know who to trust beyond Erin and the police. Opportunities and motives abound. Everyone has a secret and the true culprit can really be just about anyone living in this sleepy little town. Readers will definitely be kept guessing right until the end, even though several good clues are left for us to follow.

The Jane Austen element: The members of the Jane Austen Society sure do know their books and can quote from them at will. Perhaps a bit too much. The first few quotes are entertaining enough but it gets redundant and distracting soon enough. Additionally, Farnsworth and Erin like to go off on tangents using Austen era speech patterns. The first time it was cute. The next four or so times, not so much. However, it does add an element of quirk to the story and I’m sure many readers will enjoy it.

A few of the things I didn’t too much like:

As actions unfold and the protagonist gives her theories and speaks to others in town, some bits do get repetitive, especially when POVs change and some of the same events are rehashed.
At times the descriptions go on a bit or just seem unnecessary to push the story along.
Perspectives change a bit too frequently for my liking. We jump from Erin to Hemming to Farnsworth, to another character and so forth. It’s a touch distracting.
Erin is part of a group of four friends, but she is closest to Farnsworth. Although these ladies are supposed to be good friends there is a lot of behind the back suspicions and uncharitable thoughts.
Overall, I was dithering between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one. I eventually pushed it up to the 4 for a couple of reasons:

I think the murder mystery is well-plotted and quite engrossing.
Although I never ended up really liking the main character I did get sucked into the budding romance between her and Detective Hemming… and I’m a sucker for a romantic subplot in a cozy.
I definitely do want to try the next book in the series before I make up my mind for sure.

3,5*

In a small town where they all know each other, in a small Jane Austen Society in a used bookstore, a murder was commited. Sylvia, whom a lot of people had reasons for killing, has been posioned.

An investigation that will make you believe any of them could have commited this crime and a fantastic story about secrets in a small town and how well you know your neighbours.

Erin, the owner of the bookstore decides to get to the bottom of this crime and does her own investigations alongside the police.

Why was Sylvia murdered and who did it?

PRIDE, PREJUDICE & POISON begins Elizabeth Blake’s new Cozy Mystery series, Jane Austen Society Mystery with a story that is full of Jane Austen book lovers, but maybe not so many love the others in their group. Everything you really need to know about this story is in the Cover Description – and because it’s a Cozy Mystery you’ll not find any clues in this review — I don’t spoil the story for the readers who have just discovered this delightful tale.

As this is the first story in the new series I expected some world building but nothing was overwhelming and fit into the story well. You’ll find lots and lots of Jane Austen quotes. And while amusing for the first few chapters, it quickly became an overload aspect of the story, at least it felt that way to me. I’m all for a good Jane Austen quote but maybe as the heading to the chapters instead. It became a distraction at one point, maybe it was meant to keep our eyes off of “whodunit” but I could do with a few less in the rest of the series – that’s my opinion, not a criticism.

The characters are well-written, the plot flows with red herrings tossed here and there. I’m enjoying the possible romantic involvement and hope to see that play out during the rest of the series.

I enjoyed myself, did not figure out who the killer was until told (which is always a good thing to me), and PRIDE, PREJUDICE & POISON held enough of my curiosity to now want to know what comes next. If you enjoy Cozy Mysteries, then you’ll want to get in at the start of this new series.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Erin runs a used bookstore where the Kirkbymoorside fans of Jane Austen - also known as the Jane Austen Society - meet every month. During one particular heated meeting between the elder and younger members, the Society president gets murdered. The means? Poison. The main suspect? Erin's friend, Farnsworth. Thus, Erin is pressured to solve the murder and prove Farnsworth's innocence, because it seems that the list of people who had the motive and opportunity to kill the victim is very long.

I'm a sucker for anything that has Jane Austen as the main theme, whether it be romance, mystery or other genres. And like the locals of Kirkbybmoorside, I'm also a huge fan and I worship at the altar of Jane Austen. (Also at Agatha Christie's fine, but that's a whole other thing I'm a sucker for as well.) So I have to admit I was excited about this book.

I think that because of the length of the book (there are more chapters than the usual cozy mystery novel), there are more character introductions and plot backgrounds introduced in the first few chapters. Also, despite the length, I didn't feel connected with the cozy mystery protagonist and her group of friends. Erin remains to be the usual standard cozy mystery heroine, and except for running a used bookstore, there's nothing else that separates her from other heroines who are bookshop owners. I'm a Jane Austen fan, and I understand that this is a Jane Austen-themed story, but I was bogged down by the constant referencing and quoting from Jane Austen and her bodies of work, to the point that I don't even get why there's a need to cite this or that. The length of the book maybe gave way to a huge list of suspects for the murder. What I find interesting and a shining point of this book is the identity of the real murderer and what the motivation for the crime is, which is something human and personal.

However, now that introductions are made and everything is explained about Erin and the Jane Austen Society, I would like to see more of the story and where it would lead in later books.

Wow. Infighting in a Jane Austen society? Sure but one would not expect it to result in murder! Erin, who runs the local bookshop cafe finds herself both a suspect and an investigator when Sylvia Pemberthy, the President of the Society, is poisoned. Cozy readers know there's more to the story-that Pemberthy was disliked by more than a few. Luckily, DI Peter Hadley is happy to let Erin poke around. He's also a nice potential romantic interest and he's got a great partner in Sargent Rashid Jarrel. You, like me, may well tire after a bit of all the Austen references (I hope she tones these down in the next installment) but it is, afterall very much fan fiction. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Erin's intrepid, Hadley is nice, and Jarrel is fun. Looking forward to the next one!

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Ms. Blake has written the coziest of cozy mysteries. A delight to read, perfect for fans of Jane Austen and voracious readers. The book hits all the right notes to be engaging and enjoyable. A first in a series that I look forward to reading more of.

5 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.

I love the premise of this book. I love Jane Austen, I love cozy crime, I love a feisty female heroine and a dreamy, too easy to fall for detective. So I was very excited to be able to read this book. I did love the characters, I did not love the all too often "quotes" by Jane Austen, I felt this was a little overdone. I would have loved the book more if the dead ends / red herrings that take you down the wrong route to the wrong suspect perhaps seemed a little more fleshed out and "real" instead of feeling like they were just plonked into the story. I was loving this read up until about three quarters of the way through when I had finally had enough of what I will call "inconsistencies" in the story - I don't mind incredulous things happening in the story, this is all part of the escapism for me, but when a character is nursing their "early morning coffee" one minute - and then after a phone call or a visit from someone they are then all of a sudden enjoying the "sunset" - I feel like I must have accidentally missed about ten pages? Also at one point, just as another example, she was sitting on her front porch with her friends and someone was coming down her driveway from the road - and the next minute she was enjoying the view out of the back of her house? There were things like this in this book too often that repeatedly took me out of the story. I got a little frustrated. I loved the detective, and would have liked a bit more at the end to happen between the two of them as a result of all of the angst leading up to it. The end felt too abrupt. I really liked the characters and the premise and the Jane Austen / bookshop theme. I really liked Farnsworth the eccentric friend of the main protagonist, and I really liked Hetty and Pru, along with the Police Officer Jarral - I felt they were really well written. A good editor is all that this book needs.

Pride, Prejudice and Poison by  Elizabeth Blake is the first book in the Jane Austen Society Mystery, and it is off to a good start. I love Jane Austen, so I was very excited to read this book. Erin Coleridge is an antiquarian used bookstore owner in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England. Erin holds the Jane Austen Society meetings in her bookstore, and when the president of the society dies, she is determined to find the truth. I really enjoyed this cozy mystery, and look forward to the next book in the series.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher, Crooked Lane Books. Thank you.

I am a huge Jane Austen fan so I was delighted to read this for review. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley . My opinion is my own.
Pride, Prejudice and Poison by Elizabeth Blake is the first book in Jane Austen Society Mystery series.
The location and setting is a wonderful small English village in North Yorkshire.. The author really brought the village life to the center point of this charming mystery. The basis of the plot surrounds a Jane Austen Society and its members. The members do not all get along with the exception of their love of Jane Austen. They are all of different backgrounds and the small village is ripe with gossip and innuendo.,
I like the charcter of Erin who is savvy , smart and does not suffer fools.. She runs the antiquarian bookstore and has a wonderful knowledge of Jane Austen. When the president of the society is murdered she is determined to find out who killed the president . There is a handsome detective she works with and soon suspects abound amid the small village and suspicions run deep.
I loved this book and the depiction of a small village life in England. This is a charming series with likable charcters and a fun sleuth.. The sleuth did keep me guessing to the conclusion. Well done to the author !
Throughout the book is every Jane Austen fans dream, quotes of her books throughout. A perfect start to a new cozy series and I look forward to the next in series.,

Pride, Prejudice and Poison
(A Jane Austen Society Mystery #1)
by Elizabeth Blake

Hardcover, 336 pages
Expected publication: August 13th 2019 by Crooked Lane Books





Goodreads synopsis:
Perfect for fans of Laura Levine and Stephanie Barron, Elizabeth Blake’s Jane Austen Society mystery debut is a mirthfully morbid merger of manners and murder.

In this Austen-tatious debut, antiquarian bookstore proprietor Erin Coleridge uses her sense and sensibility to deduce who killed the president of the local Jane Austen Society.

Erin Coleridge’s used bookstore in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England is a meeting place for the villagers and, in particular, for the local Jane Austen Society. At the Society’s monthly meeting, matters come to a head between the old guard and its young turks. After the meeting breaks for tea, persuasion gives way to murder—with extreme prejudice—when president Sylvia Pemberthy falls dead to the floor. Poisoned? Presumably…but by whom? And was Sylvia the only target?

Handsome—but shy—Detective Inspector Peter Hemming and charismatic Sergeant Rashid Jarral arrive at the scene. The long suspect list includes Sylvia’s lover Kurt Becker and his tightly wound wife Suzanne. Or, perhaps, the killer was Sylvia’s own cuckolded husband, Jerome. Among the many Society members who may have had her in their sights is dashing Jonathan Alder, who was heard having a royal battle of words with the late president the night before.

Then, when Jonathan Alder narrowly avoids becoming the next victim, Farnsworth (the town’s “cat lady”) persuades a seriously time-crunched Erin to help DI Hadley. But the killer is more devious than anyone imagines.

***

5 Stars

This is the first book in the A Jane Austen Society Mystery by Elizabeth Blake.

I have to admit first off that I am not a Jane Austen fan. But I fell in love with this book anyway. Practically every character quotes some person from a Jane Austen novel throughout the course of this book. It was pretty fun listening to the quips. Some of the comparisons between Austen character and people were lost on me since I didn’t know the backstory well enough but I managed to muddle through despite that fact.

This book is centered around the Jane Austen Society of which Erin Coleridge is a member. She is the owner of the local bookstore and closet sleuth on the side. Okay, maybe not closet sleuth. Everyone knows how Erin wants to get to the bottom of a mystery. So when the president of the Society winds up dead, Erin is on the case! So are two detectives from York: DI Peter Hemming and DS Rashid Jarral. This is their first case together and methinks this won’t be their last.

There are quite as gaggle of suspects but no one really believes any of them would stoop to such an act. When Erin’s snooping is recognized by the bad guy, she becomes a target as well. During the course of the investigation DI Hemming and Erin find a growing attachment to each other that neither of them move forward with much to my dismay. When Erin kisses Jonathan Adler early in the book I wonder what I may be missing because it is obvious she and DI Hemming are meant for each other.

The farther I read the more I fell in love with this little hamlet and its residents. And I look forward to more books in this series because seriously there needs to be more than a mere goodbye between Erin and DI Hemming!

Highly recommended.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.