The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, take center stage in this period mystery set in 1845, Yorkshire. The sisters, newly home from schooling and jobs, are settling into life with their father and brother at the family home. Mattie, a friend of the family visits the house with a troubling story. Mrs. Chester, the lady of the manor next door, has disappeared, and even more troubling still, Mattie found only a pool of blood in the lady's room. The sisters set out to sift through the clues and learn more about the manor and its inhabitants. At the top of their list is Mr. Chester, the lord of the manor who has a fiery temper and has previously lost a wife under mysterious circumstance. As the sisters dig deeper, even Mattie, the family friend and governess to the victim's children, is not above suspicion.
As a longtime Bronte fan, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their personalities come to life in the pages of the story. The book was at times dark and others lighthearted and humorous. I often felt as though I had the mystery solved before another clue was dropped leading in a completely different direction. The sisters pushed against the standards of conformity often thrust upon women at this stage in history, rebelling against the traditional role of mother/caretaker, and undertaking a non-traditional career as detective and later author. I enjoyed learning about their lives prior to their fame and getting a peak into mid 19th century England. I look forward to further adventures featuring the fearless Bronte trio.

"The Vanished Bride" is a mystery set in 1845 in England. Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë were each view point characters, and the story focused almost more on describing their lives and relationships than on the mystery. While I did learn a lot about them, I didn't particularly care for them as people. They tended to be rude just because they didn't feel like being polite. They also had childish fights about who would lead the questioning or if a clue was important or not. But, hey, lots of character development, and they were creative and resourceful (and often deceitful) in their efforts to solve the mystery.

There's a ghost (only seen by Emily) wanting peace. There's an abused wife that's vanished from the manor house and a series of clues that the constable never looked for. By about halfway through, I knew what had happened and who was involved (though I didn't have enough information yet to assign the right actions to the right people). The point of the story seemed to be that a woman should never marry (a man, anyway) but should forge their own, brilliant path in life. Their feminism was based on the concerns of their time period rather than modern feminism, and the author showed what life could be like for women at that time.

There were a few uses of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this to fans of historical-writers-becoming-sleuths novels.

The Vanished Bride was such a delight! I was a little worried that a mystery featuring the Bronte sisters as detectives would be cheesy, but it turned out to be great. Ellis clearly has done her research, and all three sisters are beautifully rendered (and their interactions are frequently hilarious). (I also have to add that I loved the author's note at the end - I was so happy to learn a funny little anecdote about Emily in the book was true.) Anyway, the three sisters hear that a neighbor, for whom a friend of theirs is governess, has gone missing. There seems to have been violent foul play, and the Brontes - inspired by reports of new "detectors" solving crimes - decide to investigate. The mystery itself feels reflective of the sisters' real life books, with domestic violence, women's roles, and gothic houses all coming to the fore. The mystery was interesting, but I was much more interested in the Brontes - they struggle with the confines allotted to them, but are determined to make their own ways. This one is recommended to anyone who enjoys gothic mysteries, the Brontes, or both.

A little meandering, but quaint, pleasant. A tiny twinge of the supernatural and a healthy dose of early feminism rounded this book out nicely.

The Bronte siblings are brought to life in this Gothic mystery. A childhood friend of Charlotte's has asked for help when her mistress seems to have been the victim of a brutal crime. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne put their individual talents and personalities to use, becoming detectors trying to find out what happened to the missing young woman. There is no body, but they believe she would never have left her young children behind with her brutal husband. It's clear that all of the characters have secrets and regrets of their own as the investigation unfolds. Brother Branwell is portrayed as a worry to his sisters because of his drinking and unfocused life. The three sisters are at loose ends professionally, considering starting up a school for girls, but writing is clearly in their future, as is their search for independence. Fans of the Bronte's works may enjoy this fictitious glimpse into their lives, based on the author's research and own admiration.

I was not able to get into this book. I do not do well with books that change the POV. I'm not sure if the chapters took place at different times or just changed the POV. If you can handle such things, I recommend this book, it seemed like it would be interesting.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#TheVanishedBride #NetGalley
A fun, take on a pair of sisters whom we have fallen in love with over the years. The Bronte sisters are not only writers, but sleuths in this novel. The family, mystery, and clever plot twists make for an entertaining mystery novel that will make you wish for a sequel.

Imagine, if you will, the Bronte sisters as amateur detectives. The language is very similar to novels written many years ago, slightly old-fashioned, but fitting to the area of England where the Bronte sisters and their brother, Bramwell, lived. The family lived with their father, a local pastor, and even though they were very poor, certain standards must be kept. The family all dabbled at their writing, but no one paid much attention to it at the setting of this story.

There has been a murder in their neighborhood, and since the children's maid at that house is their friend, the sisters set out to investigate. What they learn about the family is a much darker story, with tentacles reaching far and wide. Each sister has their own way of going about investigating, and somehow it all comes together in an enjoyable story. There are enough facts based on history that the story feels believable. Bramwell also plays a part in the story.

This book was very well written. The concept is fascinating as well. Though there were a few places that felt over dramatic or out of character, for the most part this story read well very enjoyable read!

This is a great period piece book written when the Bronte sisters were living back at the parsonage in Haworth with their brother Branwell and their father. They have not found their niche of writing yet and Branwell is having a hard time coping with a loss. The author has written the story in the the style of that time period so I can truly imagine the girls being very prim and proper as they go about solving this mystery. They have decided to try their hand at being detectors and the mystery they are trying to solve is an appropriate one for them. A very well written story and I would pick up a sequel to see where the sisters go from here.

Ellis poses the question, what if the famous Bronte sister were sleuths as well as writers? Emily, Charlotte and Anne have been captivated by the story of a young mother taken from her home, left behind, a pool of blood and her children. Quickly deciding their superior intelligence will also make them more than adequate detectives, the sisters set out to solve the crime. As they were in real life, Ellis’s versions of the Bronte’s are feminists, determined to find the missing woman, even as they put their own lives in jeopardy. This novel was great fun, as a huge fan of the Bronte’s, I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of murder and mayhem, and it was nice to see the rather unknown Anne given a chance to shine