Monday, September 17, 2012

Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd


Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd

A Novel


The style is in keeping but Lynn Shepherd has dramatically changed the lead characters of Mansfield Park. Fanny Price is not the down trodden poor relation so viciously put upon by Mrs Norris. 

In this story she is completely the opposite to the original, she is an orphaned heiress with property and a large fortune and Mrs Norris cannot do enough for her.

She is mean and haughty and treats her cousins with distain, while acting as if butter would not melt in her mouth. And, if that is not different enough, Mary Crawford in this alternate Mansfield Park is intelligent, thoughtful kind and caring just knowing that should make you want to find out more.

But, add murder of a most brutal kind and a thief catcher brought in to solve the terrible crime. A man who will use any means to catch his villain including physical violence and spying.

Everyone in the household starts to look guilty and one disaster is soon followed in quick succession by more.

This is a good who dunnit in it’s own right, I am usually too quick to work out who the killer is, but, this one was a pretty good mystery through to the climax. Mixing Austen and murder rather well.

I certainly found it hard to put it down once I had got into the story.

I do hope Lynn Shepherd keeps up the good work and writes us some more Austen murder mysteries.



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