The Diabolical Bones – Bella Ellis

Book Title: The Diabolical Bones

Series: Bronte Sisters Mystery #2

Author:  Bella Ellis

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49349159-the-diabolical-bones

Release Date:  2/16/21

Star Rating:

 Disclaimer: I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have a long lasting love for the Bronte sisters (I mean among book bloggers that has to be pretty common right?). I’ve read all their books, and Jane Eyre is of course one of my five favorite books of all time. So when I heard there is a mystery series that features the sisters I was very excited to read it.

Haworth Parsonage, February 1846: The Brontë sisters— Anne, Emily, and Charlotte—are busy with their literary pursuits. As they query publishers for their poetry, each sister hopes to write a full-length novel that will thrill the reading public. They’re also hoping for a new case for their fledgling detecting enterprise, Bell Brothers and Company solicitors. On a bitterly cold February evening, their housekeeper Tabby tells them of a grim discovery at Scar Top House, an old farmhouse belonging to the Bradshaw family. A set of bones has been found bricked up in a chimney breast inside the ancient home.

Tabby says it’s bad doings, and dark omens for all of them. The rattled housekeeper gives them a warning, telling the sisters of a chilling rumour attached to the family. The villagers believe that, on the verge of bankruptcy, Clifton Bradshaw sold his soul to the devil in return for great riches. Does this have anything to do with the bones found in the Bradshaw house? The sisters are intrigued by the story and feel compelled to investigate. But Anne, Emily, and Charlotte soon learn that true evil has set a murderous trap and they’ve been lured right into it… – Goodreads

I really enjoyed reading this book. I feel like the characters as they were written were very distinct and close to what we know of the sisters and their personalities. There were no strange moments that pulled me away from my enjoyment of the book or that didn’t jive with what I know of them. The environments were also very moody in just the right way, the moors figure largely of course, and the surrounding neighbors were excellently portrayed.

The mystery centered in the book itself was a lot of fun, and figuring it out made the book hard to put down. Just what you want from a book like this. I really need to pick up the other two books in the series. I’m not sure if each book is dedicated to a different sister, but I felt like this book really focused on Emily, and events in this book seemed to serve as inspiration for her later writings in Wuthering Heights. It’s full of easter eggs for people who love the books written by the sisters. It’s a great, easy, thriller of a book and I hope that if you are Bronte fans you will like this series.