Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean
by Lynne F. Maxwell
February 23rd, 2010
Bellfield Hall
by Anna Dean
Minotaur Books, February 2010, $23.99
Capitalizing on the perennial popularity of Jane Austen-inspired books, Anna Dean has written a subtle mystery certain to appeal to the Austen in all of us. As one might suspect, marriage, misperception, and perfidy are major themes in Bellfield Hall, a historical with currency for present-day readers. Dean employs first-person narration, which creates for readers a sense of immediacy and a vested interest in the novel’s clever narrative threads.
Narrator Dido Kent, a woman well past the first blush of youth, travels to Bellfield Hall to assist her niece, Catherine, who is engaged to Richard Montague, heir apparent to the estate. For Dido the match seems suspicious since her niece is neither propertied nor titled. Even more suspicious, though, is Richard’s renunciation of the engagement after the silent appearance of a visitor and his hasty, inexplicable departure from the engagement party. Catherine remains convinced that Richard still loves her, even after the corpse of a young woman surfaces outside the mansion, leading some to attribute the murder to Richard. It remains for Dido to discover where Richard is hiding, why he fled, and who murdered the young woman—a tall order for anyone. As is universally true, Dido’s perceptions are necessarily limited, so despite her astute sleuthing, she doesn’t see the truth immediately. Fortunately, though, she doesn’t remain clueless for long. One hopes to see Dido soon in a welcome reprise to this masterful mystery. Austen fans, rejoice!
Reviewed by Lynne Maxwell
More from Mystery Scene and this author
- Read the first chapter of Bellfield Hall at the publisher’s site.
- Purchase Bellfield Hall at Amazon.com
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