Brontë Sisters Mysteries

Smart Bitches Trashy Books reviews the first of the so-called Brontë Sisters Mysteries: The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis, giving it a B+.

Oh my goodness, this book made me just ridiculously happy. The Vanished Bride is the first of what I hope will be many in the Brontë Sisters Mysteries series. I found this book to be surprisingly true to what I know about the Brontë’s lives and personalities, and entertaining without diminishing the historical characters.
The story takes place in 1845. All of the Brontë siblings (who have survived so far) are living with their father in Yorkshire. Charlotte recently returned from Brussels nursing a broken heart. Anne and Branwell have lost their positions with a family in York because Branwell had an affair with their employer’s wife. Branwell is also nursing a broken heart, while Anne is furious with him. Emily is relatively content as long as she’s allowed to do exactly as she likes.
The sisters are shocked to learn that a local woman named Elizabeth Chester disappeared from her home, leaving behind a husband, two young children whom she apparently adored, and a pool of blood. Why would the murderer have stolen the body? It can’t have been to conceal the crime, for the blood was left behind. By the same token, it seems unlikely that anyone who bled so much would have survived a kidnapping. And she loved the children too much to abandon them, so she probably didn’t run away. And what of the strange noises and lights at the Grange? The sisters, with a very small amount of help from Branwell, decide to solve the mystery. [...]
I found this book to be interesting, suspenseful, and inspiring. I eagerly await a sequel. At the same time, knowing the eventual fate of the Brontë family casts a sad shadow over the book. At least we have this little island of time in 1845, with all the siblings bringing out the best and worst in each other. (Carrie S.)

Express features actress/impressionist Debra Stephenson.

Explains Debra: “My dad always did impressions – Mickey Mouse, Steptoe and Son, Denis Healey – to amuse me as I was growing up.
When I was six, he taught me to do Margaret Thatcher. Then the first record I had was Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush so I’d sit in my bedroom for hours imitating her voice.” (Richard Barber)

For subscribers only, but Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (France) reviews Jane by Aline Brosh McKenna. AnneBrontë.org has a post on the death of William Weightman.