I am unable to listen to this book😞 My kindle doesn’t allow audible but I will try to get the book. I really would like to read it as it sounds very interesting by te description.

This book is exactly as advertised and is for anyone who enjoys character driven, dark, emotional, reflective, mysterious, slow paced books, that are historical LGBTQIA+ mysteries you will enjoy this novel

TW: Sexual Abuse, Rape, Incest, Detailed Medical Dissections (Human and Animal)

Bertha Mellish, known for being quiet and reserved, is missing from Mount Holyoke College. Her sister, Florence, is desperate to find her, coming to the campus to see if they can uncover any information. Bertha’s friend, Agnes, is being surprisingly unhelpful about it all. This leads the Mellish family doctor, who seems a little too attached to Bertha, to bring in a private investigator. Will they be able to discover who would want to hurt Bertha and where she could have gone? And most importantly, will they find her alive or at all?

I honestly wasn't sure I was going to like this book for much of the first portion. But as things began to slowly be revealed and come together, I became more engaged (this took about 50 percent of the book though). This story is not plot-driven in the slightest, but instead focuses much more on its characters. There were instances where the book was quite slow because of this, which led to the pacing feeling uneven throughout the read. I liked the idea of the characters, but they never felt alive, engaging, or evoked any emotions from me. There wasn’t much development given to them beyond the Mellish family. While the other characters all had interesting traits, they didn’t feel well incorporated or like they were a real part of those people, which led to everyone feeling flat.

The greatest strength of this work was the author’s attention to the interpersonal relationships of the characters. I enjoyed how information relating to Bertha’s and Florence’s histories was slowly revealed in a meaningful and impactful way. I also quite enjoyed that the author wrote such strong female characters, but that they were still bound by the expectations and patriarchal society of the time. It’s so satisfying when authors don’t create anachronisms for the sake of having strong characters, and this author used those historical regulations and limitations to highlight realistic strengths of women.

This work of historical fiction is quite slow and is more of a character study than a mystery though it was still a fine read. My thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to review this book, which will be published on 6 June 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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

as a lover of contemporary fiction, i wasn’t sure what to expect from a novel set in the 19th century, but something about the plot description intrigued me and i decided to give it a go - and i‘m glad i did! if you’re like me and wouldn’t normally be too keen on historical fiction, don‘t let this stop you from giving “killingly” a try. the style is appropriate for the setting, but the language is still very accessible, making it easy to get into the story.
the book is fairly slow-paced for a mystery. this is a big part of its appeal for me because each major character and their backstories are explored in some detail. this adds more depth to the narrative and allows the reader to experience bertha’s story not as an isolated tale, but as part of a wider context. i loved how katharine beutner explores the reality of young women’s lives at the turn of the century and would definitely recommend the novel.
i listened to the audiobook version and thought that the narrator’s performance felt a bit stilted and unnatural, but that’s likely just personal preference!

An interesting but deeply depressing imagining of what might have happened to Bertha Mellish, a student at Mt Holyoke who went missing in 1897 and whose fate was never determined.

Fictionalized True Crime is tough because in order to create a satisfying narrative, the author pretty much has to “solve” a mystery that was deemed unsolvable in real life.

Beutner did well here giving us a plausible and interesting though exceptionally sad suggestion of what might have befallen Bertha.

The pacing and storytelling here are good, and though my enjoyment of this was greatly tempered by all of the “ick factor” stuff going on with Bertha’s family, her conclusions are viable and I really liked the close examination of Bertha’s life and relationships at college.

I wish an author’s note detailing what was true and what was invented had been included. There is some information available if you research it, but a note at the end of the book would have been welcome and almost feels necessary when fictionalizing an unsolved mystery.

I wasn't able to get into Killingly, unfortunately -- I don't know if it was the narrator (who didn't seem serious enough for the content) or the writing, but I just found myself tuning out, and none of the characters grabbed me. I didn't feel immersed in the setting the way I'd hoped. I wound up deciding not to finish this.

The year is 1897, and a college student named Bertha Mellish has gone missing. Generally described as quiet, the mysteriousness of her disappearance shocks the student body. As time passes, searches expand from nearby trails and bodies of water to nearby cities, with some wondering if she has run away to be with a man (or to escape one).

There are a few people who are more determined than others to find Bertha. First is her older sister Florence, who attended Mount Holyoke years prior. Florence comes to the college with their father, though he is beginning to fall ill, so their family doctor Henry Hammond comes too. Next there is Agnes, Bertha's best friend and confidant. Agnes is also a quiet girl, who spends most of her time focusing on her dream of being a surgeon and escaping her impoverished home.

This novel is a dark and haunting tale of those who did not follow the status quo at the turn of the 20th century. The smart and curious Bertha, studious medical student Agnes, and unwed Florence are the main focus of a tale that is otherwise centered around one of the oldest women's colleges in the country. Throughout the story we face devastating tidbits that remind us that, while Bertha and Agnes were surrounded by women at their college, society's expectations of them is a curse that everyone faced at this time.

That being said, if you are a fan of exciting mystery books, this is not for you. This is more of a reflection of the experiences women had during a turning point in US American history, and the way that their decisions and motivations were perceived by the men around them. There are of course parallels to women's present day experiences that continue to haunt me. But the plot does move slowly. Oh and there is more than a sprinkling of queerness in this book that made it *chefs kiss*.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I just have to say that there were times while I was listening to this that I just kind sat there soaking this all in. The fact that this novel was inspired by the real unsolved disappearance of a student at Mount Holyoke in 1897. This was incredibly asthmeperic. You could picture the school, the grounds and the homes. Most of the main characters were not exactly likable but I think it really serviced this story well.

Rachel Botchan was a very good narrator and she held my attention.

I really wanted to finish this one but I just couldn't. The narration was great, but there were some awkward lilts every now and then. The storyline was interesting but moved extremely slow. I may give this one another try once it's published.

I loved and hated this audiobook. It was a little longer than it needed to be, but honestly in the end it was an enjoyable read. The story is compelling, if a little drawn out, and the characters are relatable (even Agnes). The mystery was one I was not expecting once it finally became clear what happened, but honestly, considering it takes the true story of a disappearance and elaborates it in a true crime fashion. I would recommend it, but remember it can be a little boring at times.

The narration for the audiobook was really what kept me going once my brain got bored with the story at parts.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a chance to listen to this audiobook early.

I like the mystery in this, I found it kept me engaged from the start. I liked the cast of characters and how that played into it also. The subtle politics were a nice surprise. I didn't find myself very scared reading it but more enjoying a suspenseful feeling throughout. Interesting characters that I invested in and kept me listening to this historical mystery. Glad to have read it!

First off, thank you NetGalley and SoHo Crime for giving me an audiobook of this book in exchange for an honest review. I gotta say, the biggest driving point on wanting to read this book is because it was marketed as a LGBTQIA novel, a historical novel with these themes. I am not the biggest fans of historical novels, but I found the idea of basing this book and the entire plot surrounding a real life disappearance and giving it a fictional ending something that more that just spiked my curiosity.

Now, onto the actual review. I think that a lot of this book became extras, I understand that the question surrounding the disappearance to be a secondary plot in this book, leaving the relationships with the characters a more primary plot device. But the book would've been better without it. The book was very slow to pick up, and at some point I found myself dozing off from the story until the plot went back into the actual clues of what might've happened to Bertha. The mystery in itself was very compelling, and the only reason I felt a need to really finish this book. I liked Agnes and Florence up to a certain point, and then I found that both their voices in just the audiobook sample meddled and were somewhat confused. But, the one thing I can say about all this is that, KAM.
I liked that aspect, the social commentary of the role women had back in the late 1800s, and what were the only professions or positions a woman could end up in: sex worker, mother/wife, nurse.

All in all, interesting, with some really strong sections, but as a whole, just, solid.

This was not a standard true crime/ murder mystery/ historical fiction, but I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters. I particularly liked Agnes, Bertha's roommate and best friend. The audiobook was well read. The story was a bit slow, but I am glad I stuck with it. I would have loved to hear more from Bertha herself!

Killingly explores the true story of a young women that went missing from Mount Holyoke College in 1897. Killingly explores the relationships of Bertha Mellish and the effect her disappearance had on their lives. At its heart, this is a story about women in a time when they were not free to be themselves. The approach is pretty literary, focusing more on the characters than the mystery.

I enjoyed listening to Killingly The narration I kept me entertained and hooked the whole time.
Thank you Netgalley for ARC in exchange of my honest feedback

Well, this was everything BUT what says it is.
Murder mystery period drama? I mean, sure, that is the idea, however, I felt it was so generic, and not really mystery, not really murder, not really a period drama. This whole thing has potential, city, setting, and characters but somewhere it went wrong.

The people affected by this missing persons case became real while reading their story. I want it solved!!!

Going into this book, I thought it’d be focused mostly on the crime at hand - what happened to Bertha? However, we learned much more about Agnes and other students of Mount Holyoke College. These women are facing societal fears to earn the education they desire. An admirable cast, for sure! As we learn more about the culture and each person’s experiences, the trouble Bertha faced also came to light.

I nearly abandoned this book halfway through, but I am glad I just took a break and came back. The second half was much more enthralling.

Thank you NetGalley, RB Media, and author Katharine Beutner for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this was not at all what I’d expected it to be. While that isn’t always a bad thing, it was in the case. I found this story to be incredibly boring. I also felt the narrator was a poor choice for the audiobook. Her tone did not fit the story. There is darkness within the novel and the narrator failed to capture that.

I am immensely grateful to Recorded Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.