Of Manners and Murder: A Dear Miss Hermione Mystery

by Anastasia Hastings

Overview

Of Manners and Murder is the first in the delightful new Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings.

"Evokes the shocking revelations of Wilkie Collins, the social acuity of Jane Austen and the comic melodrama of Oscar Wilde."—Wall Street Journal

1885: London, England. When Violet's Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, "Miss Hermione," in Violet's hands.

And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she finds that Ivy is already dead.

She'll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250848567
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Series:	A Dear Miss Hermione Mystery , #1
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	114,381
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ANASTASIA HASTINGS has, over a thirty-year-career, published over sixty novels in a number of different genres and under a number of names—Miss Hermione would approve. Anastasia lives outside of Cleveland with her husband, David, and her Airedale, Eliot Ness, who is a ribbon-winning show dog when he's outside and a couch potato when he's home. Of Manners and Murder is the first in the Dear Miss Hermione mystery series.

Editorial Reviews

12/19/2022

Set in 1885, this witty series launch from Hastings (a pseudonym of Connie Laux, author of the League of Literary Ladies series) introduces Violet Manville, who has been living for a year in the London home of her aunt Adelia. Violet’s life is upended when her relative admits to being Miss Hermione, the author of the British Empire’s most popular agony aunt column. Adelia adds that she’s leaving immediately on a journey of undetermined duration with her lover and insists that Violet take over Miss Hermione during her absence, despite Violet’s lack of experience. That new role becomes even more unsettling when Violet reads the letter Adelia wants her to address first, from Ivy, a new bride who sought guidance earlier. Ivy’s second missive states that she suspects someone will murder her—and is accompanied by pictures of two men Ivy apparently suspects. Violet traces Ivy, but only after she has died in an apparent accident. Given the letter’s contents, Violet resolves to get justice for Ivy by turning detective. Hastings imbues her endearing lead with sufficient depth to make the plot plausible. Allison Montclair readers will be eager for the sequel. Agent: Gail Fortune, Gail Fortune Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A 2024 Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee!

“Delightful . . . The book’s thrilling denouement evokes the shocking revelations of Wilkie Collins, the social acuity of Jane Austen and the comic melodrama of Oscar Wilde.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Highly recommended series debut for fans of cozy sub-genre.”—Mystery Tribune

“[The] characters add to the charm of this welcome new series.”—The Akron Beacon Journal, "Book Talk" column

“[A] witty series launch…Hastings imbues her endearing lead with sufficient depth to make the plot plausible. Allison Montclair readers will be eager for the sequel.”—Publishers Weekly

“A series of surprising revelations leads to a shocking conclusion. The first in a series steeped in Victorian mores offers a dashing heroine and an impressive pile of red herrings.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Satisfying… includes tricky plot twists and a beautifully described Victorian setting.”—Booklist

“An entertaining historical mystery.”—Library Journal

“The writing is crisp and witty, and the plot wonderfully intertwined with all the characters, with nothing superfluous.”—Historical Novel Society

“Funny at times, this series debut is also an adventurous and thoughtful look at a time when women’s lives were on the brink of change. And it’s a puzzling whodunit to boot.”—First Clue Newsletter

"A delightful and engrossing first entry in the Dear Miss Hermione series. With an intriguing mystery, a dash of familial turmoil, and a blossoming romance, Of Manners and Murder is great fun from start to finish. I eagerly await Miss Hermione's next escapade!"—Ashley Weaver, author of the Amory Ames and Electra McDonnell series

From the Publisher

01/01/2023

In Hastings's 1885 London, "Dear Miss Hermione" is one of the most popular Agony Aunt newspaper columns, and Violet Manville is shocked when her Aunt Adelia announces she's running off to the continent with her latest beau and leaving the advice column in Violet's capable hands. Although Adelia persuades Violet that she can handle anything that comes up, the first letter Violet receives is from a nervous young wife who claims that someone is trying to kill her. Violet wants to assure her correspondent that it's all in her imagination, so she takes the train to the village where the letters were posted, to talk in person. She's too late, arriving during Ivy Armstrong's funeral. While she investigates the clues Ivy left, Violet's half-sister Sephora conducts a secret romance with a handsome man. When Sephora's suitor disappears, she turns for advice to "Dear Miss Hermione." In a surprising finale, the sisters' investigations converge. VERDICT There are a few twists in this entertaining historical mystery, the start of a new series by the multi-pseudonymous Hastings (author of Murder of a Mail-Order Bride under the name Mimi Granger). A good accompaniment will be Mary Winters's "Lady Agony" mystery Murder in Postscript (a March 2023 debut).—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2022-12-14
A letter to a Victorian advice columnist introduces a clever young woman to murder.

“Dear Miss Hermione” is just Aunt Adelia to Violet Manville, a practical bluestocking whose younger half sister Sephora’s nose is always in the clouds. The two girls have lived with Adelia since their father died. Now, leaving London for a trip to the Continent, Adelia puts Violet in charge of writing her column, confident that her niece's common sense and adventurous spirit make her perfect for the job. While Sephora busies herself falling for a dashing, mysterious man, Violet struggles to reply to a letter from a recently married woman uneasy in her role and fearful that someone’s trying to kill her. Although the letter is unsigned, Violet hopes to identify the correspondent. With the help of Bunty, their knowledgeable housekeeper, she discovers that the writer’s name may be Ivy and that she probably lives in the Essex village of Willingdale. Newspaper clippings enclosed with the letter concern a vicar, a doctor, a lady, and a member of the gentry. They all seem like unlikely murderers, but Violet sets off for Willingdale to investigate. She arrives just in time for the funeral of Ivy Clague Armstrong, who supposedly fell off a bridge and drowned. Pretending to be an old schoolmate, Violet inserts herself into the group of Ivy’s friends and soon concludes that she was murdered. As Sephora grieves when her new love vanishes from London, Violet learns a great deal about Ivy’s life, including her mother’s rumored madness. A series of surprising revelations leads to a shocking conclusion.

The first in a series steeped in Victorian mores offers a dashing heroine and an impressive pile of red herrings.

Kirkus Reviews