I loved this book, it was so brilliantly gothic and atmospheric. The concept of the Bronte sisters solving a mysterious disappearance was excellent and I'm eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.

There′s a lovely comment in the Author′s Note at the back of the book, ″Of course there is no evidence to suggest that the Brontë sisters were ever part-time amateur sleuths. Also there is no evidence to suggest that they were not.″ This delightful disclaimer gives one permission to enjoy the book without feeling weighed down by historical facts.
The book introduces the ideas of ″detectors″ with an article in The Times that the sisters read and comment on with their usual shrewdness. The actual crime they set out to solve has all the gothic overtones of their own works and 19th century contemporary novels, but their understanding of the human character is the key to solving it.
Although the mystery is intriguing and not obviously resolvable – at least for the first two thirds of the book – I found the real draw of the book was the interaction between the family members. There was a poignancy to it which is apparent even if you have only the sparsest knowledge of the tragic family history. But there was also the squabbles, love, history and humour which comes in any close family.
″Emily scowled at her sisters and slammed the door loudly behind her as she stomped out of the house.
″Well,″ Anne said thoughtfully, ′how do you think that Emily took to that idea, Charlotte dear?″
″I think she′s coming round to it,″ Charlotte said.
Another strand of the book is the restrictions on women of that time. The sisters have more freedom than many of the characters, but it is easy to see why they resorted to male pseudonyms giving the surrounding society. The missing wife at the heart of the mystery is only one of many women who have been limited and even crushed by expectations. I think men, as well as women, could emphasise with the struggles that they have to overcome in their attempts to carry out what would be the easiest of tasks in modern times.

The book ends with the suggestion that this may be one of a series, and I would read more, but it works wonderfully well as a standalone book.

What a delightful read for anyone with even a passing interest in the Brontes. Charlotte, Emily and Anne are all together as is their brother Branwell, in body if not in mind half the time, and the gentle dear Parson, their father. Together the sisters decide to become amateur sleuths to solve the mystery of a missing woman who lived locally, in the house where Charlotte's friend is employed. It is a gentle crime story but the characters of the Bronte siblings shine out as they argue and snipe and help and support each other. The storyline has twists and turns but it is the Brontes who star.

I loved this book!
Reimagining the Brontes and their lives as amateur detectors- it's a brilliant idea and so well done.
What I really loved, aside from the mystery itself, is the relationships between the Brontes themselves. They rely on each other and love each other dearly, but they bicker and argue and mock each other in a way that makes them completely come alive.
Society's attitudes towards women and the limited choices open to them are evident and you can share their frustration and disappointments.
Love the book. Can't wait for the next adventure!
Thank you so much Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't know much about the Bronte sisters' personal life even though I'ver read all their books. This book helped me to get closer to the persons behind the authors and and enjoyed it very much to get to know their personalities, ideas and actions. I think the author managed it quite nicely to show the atmosphere of the time and the life in this famous family. The criminal case was for me not that important, in some parts it was not really exciting and I wouldn't see this book as crime fiction. But I would recommed it to anybody being interested in the 19th century and the Brontes and wanting a nice read.

This is a wonderful atmospheric book set in 1845 .The Bronte sisters ,before they wrote their classic masterpieces having all returned to their Fathers Vicarage decide to become "detectors" when they are told of a crime not far away of a young bride who has disappeared leaving her children and husband and the Police don't seem very interested ..This is such a different book set in a time when women were not known for solving crimes .I really enjoyed this book there was even a little bit of the paranormal and we get to know the sisters different personalities and their brother .Many thanks to the Publishers the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review .

The Brontë sisters (occasionally aided, not always helpfully, by Branwell) turn amateur sleuths in the first in a series by Rowan Coleman writing as “Bella Ellis” (I see what she did there).

When a young woman, wife of a local landowner, disappears - apparently murdered - amid a scene of terrifying violence, Charlotte, Emily and Anne feel compelled to become “detectors” in a bid to find out what has become of poor Elizabeth Chester. Limited as they are by their sex (nobody wants to talk of important matters to mere women) and financial resources, they nevertheless have the benefit of intelligence, determination and boundless imagination. The quest to unravel the mystery takes them in interesting and at times frightening directions.

It was an excellent read, with the distinct characters, as we know them, of the Brontë “girls” shining through, and strands of their known history woven throughout (I was drawn to look up “Miss Celia Amelia”, aka Reverend William Weightman, and he did indeed exist). Of course it would be unthinkable that disguised elements of such adventures, had they really occurred, hadn’t made their way into the Brontë sisters’ writings, and elements of the plot clearly echo, or foreshadow - whatever the right word is here - incidents in their novels.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Vanished Bride, but found I enjoyed it very much... a genuinely gripping plot, a very satisfying ending and some insightful observations regarding women’s lives in that era. Coleman is not the first to write about real writers turning detective (Nicola Upson’s excellent “Josephine Tey” series springs to mind), nor is she the first to write a fictionalised account of the lives of the Brontës, but she’s done a great job here of both telling a compelling story and rendering her famous protagonists sympathetic and believable.

Of course, there’s no evidence that Charlotte, Emily and Anne ever really investigated crimes in their spare time. But then - as the author points out in her epilogue - there’s also no evidence that they didn’t.

This was a brilliant story from Bella Ellis, a pseudonym with a nice nod to Emily Bronte's pen name, Ellis Bell. Very well researched and written with a clear love of the Brontes and their history, I fully embraced this fictional story of the Bronte siblings helping to solve a local crime. This book captures the personalities of each of the siblings and their relationships with each other, as many imagine them to be, based on the information we have.

The plot of the book is beautifully crafted too with lots of red herrings and clues throughout which lead to the final revelation and solving the mystery. It was a perfect mystery novel in this sense and kept me guessing and gripped to the end.

My only issue with this book is that the feminist aspects are too advanced for the historical period. It is clearly written with the gift of hindsight of how society would progress and therefore does not quite ring true for Victorian society and attitudes at that time. There is little doubt that the Bronte sisters were questioning in their views of gender stereotypes and roles however the depictions of this in the book often feel a bit like wishful thinking and occasionally push a feminist agenda too hard.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first in what will, hopefully, become a series of mysteries featuring the Bronte sisters as ‘detectors,’ in their words. I am never sure about putting really, historical characters, into fictional settings, but this novel really does utilise the biographies of the Bronte’s and, in no way, does it trivialise, or romanticise, them. Part tribute and part crime story, this is an excellent read.

The novel begins in 1851, with the news that a married woman has gone missing from Chester Grange, where Matilda French, an old school-friend, works as governess. Wish to comfort her, and, naturally curious, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, set out to visit their friend. They learn that this is an unlucky house indeed, as Mr Chester’s first wife, Imogen, killed herself and now Elizabeth has gone missing. Determined to help, the three set out to find out where Elizabeth is and whether she is still alive.

Much of this mystery hints at later novels the Bronte’s wrote. There is also much about the family; of Branwell, drunk and debt-ridden, their father in poor health and the desire that these three sisters have to become independent and find a way to support themselves. The mystery deals with uncomfortable truths, faced by women at the time; the fact that husbands, and fathers, have a great deal of control over women’s lives, of seduction – and the consequences – of domestic abuse, infant mortality and also the lack of a coherent police force to investigate crime. Indeed, one of the most poignant lines, has to come from Mr Bronte, who unwittingly leaves the sisters feeling diminished, when he comments, “your writing is not work, as it is with your brother.”If you enjoy mysteries and have a love for the Bronte sisters, you will love this.

I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this story as sometimes famous authors as characters fall short.
I felt that the story was enjoyable in the most part but I did find myself skipping large sections of the descriptive passages to move the story forward. It is obvious that the author is extremely knowledgeable about the Brontes, but I felt a little less information on them would have helped the story. Gosh could they walk a long way!!
I thought the story was a little unbelievable but enjoyed it overall.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read a preview copy

What an intriguing idea to have the Brontë sisters investigate a crime! Each of the sisters, and their brother, are well rounded characters and I found myself to be drawn into the story as the family were believable _ the plot was a little far-fetched at times;. But overall the book was enjoyable and different.

Although I am a fan of historical fiction and, in particular, of historical mysteries, this novel was not for me. I did not find the Bronte family as detectives an enthralling idea and I thought the plot here was agonisingly slow in its development and somewhat lacking in spark. My interest was not grabbed, and I found my attention wandering.

There will be many lovers of Victorian crime who will jump at the chance of reading this and more in a series. Sadly, I am not among them . I thought this as unremittingly dull as the Yorkshire moors in drizzle.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the digital review copy.

I am sorry but this book is not my cup of tea. I did not like the writing style and it does not seem true to the historical period. The ending is unoriginal. If you are a big fan of the Brontës this book might be for you.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Having lived near Haworth I have always been fascinated by the lives of the Bronte sisters and was pleased to receive a copy of the book to review. It's obvious that the author has researched the family well and woven facts about their lives into,the book even the name Bella Ellis used by the author is a clever twist

The sisters become detectives surrounding a mystery involving a friend from their time at the Boarding school they attended. Their friend is governess to the two,children at the hall. The first wife died under mysterious circumstances and now the second wife has vanished - can the three sisters solve the mystery?

The book was enjoyable and an easy read. Having visited Wycoller on many occasions, a village only accessible on foot, it was easy to picture the hall, the cottages and the small stream. I think you need to know about the Brontes to appreciate a lot of the writing In this book. I'm not sure I would rush to,read any further books should the author decided to make it into a series

Do you remember the late 70s series 'Charlie's Angels' where Charlie runs a detective agency through a speaker phone with his trusted personal assistant John Bosley and employs three beautiful women to be super sleuths?
Well close your eyes and picture three other women, Charlotte, Emily and Anne all living in a parsonage on the wild moors of Yorkshire alongside their brother, the bold, drunken Branwell and their father the Vicar of Howarth who also are sleuthing detectives.
Seems crazy. Well not to the imagination of this author who says she is a huge fan of the Brontes, and it shows in her details about the old Parsonage and surrounding countryside of Howarth and the lives of the three young women who were to become both famous and yet tragic writers of some of the most famous Victorian novels of the 19th century.
So what's the plot? Contrived somewhat as the sisters know Matilda (Maggie) French who is the governess at Chester Grange, a big pile of a house and estate, where one morning she discovers her mistress's bedroom covered with blood, signs of a huge struggle - yet no body to be found. Just as the sisters are reading of the new Detectives being employed by the Metropolitan Police in far away London they receive news of the dastardly crime down the road and set off keen to solve the mystery.
Written at a cracking pace, I couldn't help but smile at the placing of so many Bronte themes in the plot. A young governess who may love her Master. Violence towards a young bride. Children taken on by a stepmother when the first wife has mysteriously killed herself and of course a fire! It's all interwoven with narration from the point of view of the three sisters. Thoughtful Charlotte (more the detective than the others), Emily who's far too forceful for her own good and says things out of turn (but gets them out of scrapes) and dear Anne (always dismissed but quietly clever and an observer of the smallest of facts that no one else has noticed).
The plot takes us to familiar scenes for Bronte fans, the Black Bull inn where Branwell drinks and destroys his life, the towns of Bradford and Leeds and the windswept seaside at Scarborough. All the short traumas of the sister's lives are played out through the tale and yet this detection seems to draw them together. It's a tangled plot with lots of potential suspects but I enjoyed the ride. Aspects of a good Gothic tale of folklore, gypsies, ghosts and strange goings on also appear which set the scene marvellously amongst the heather on the wild moors with rain and wind never stopping the gallant girls.
We are left with an obvious second novel and why not! Great fun and if you love the Brontes and are not a stuck up academic you'll go with the flow. There may even be a TV series...... after all if Charlie can do it....

Seems that I am going to be out of step with most of the people who reviewed this book. I have truly have no idea what all the fuss is about. Whilst agreeing that the Brontë Sisters were really very independently minded for women in the mid 19th Century, this story is beyond credible. I cannot imagine, even in the 21st Century, that three women, aged 29, 27 and 25, could achieve what the Brontë Sisters achieved in this fiction set in 1845; especially by bumbling around, mostly incoherently. I sincerely thought this story was going to be a real page turner but it was not to be.

Having read and enjoyed “Mr Rochester” by Sarah Shoemaker and “The Girl at the Window” by Rowan Coleman, I was looking forward to a new Brontë fanfiction book. However, the register of “The Vanished Bride” is way off the mark for a mid-19th century setting. It’s more like: The Famous Five do the Brontës.
A wife (not a bride!) has disappeared leaving a lot of blood behind and the Brontë sisters, portrayed as one-dimensional characters, don their bonnets to solve the case.
Awkward nods to a jumble of the Brontë’s own story plots, down to the author’s assumed name of “Bella Ellis”...per-lease!
I guess it would appeal to a heavy-duty Brontë fan, but sadly it is not for me. Just made it to ***; shan’t bother with any sequels.

When I first came across this book I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to read it, as I’m never very keen on books about famous authors solving crimes. However, the Brontë sisters books have been amongst my favourites for years and I was curious find out what this book was all about. So, I was delighted to find that I thoroughly enjoyed The Vanished Bride, and that it is not all a flight of fancy, although of course the story of how they became ‘detectors’, or amateur sleuths, is pure imagination.

‘Bella Ellis’ is the Brontë inspired pen name for the author Rowan Coleman, who has been a Brontë devotee for most of her life. I haven’t read any of her other books but I’ll be looking out for them now. The Vanished Bride is historical fiction that brings the period (1845) and the setting vividly to life, Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their brother, Branwell becoming real people before my eyes in their home in the Parsonage at Howarth.

I think it helps that is not all pure fiction – in the Author’s Note she explains that it is based on biological facts or inspired by them. The book begins with a short passage in 1851 when Charlotte is alone in the Parsonage her sisters, brother and father had all died and she looks back to the year 1845 when they were all together. That is fact – and in the following September they began to consider writing for their living.

The mystery whilst it is well plotted is not to difficult to solve and I had predicted the basics of it quite early on in the book, although I didn’t guess the full detail until much later on. But the real joy of the book is in the historical detail and the depiction of the characters and the insights given to their personalities through their conversation. The story is told through each of the sisters eyes, each one clearly distinctive, whilst Emily is the standout character. All three are clearly individuals, women caught in a society dominated by men and each wanting to lead independent lives.

The book ends as a letter arrives for the sisters presenting a new case for them to investigate. Their curiosity is immediately ‘taking flight’ – and so is mine!

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an e-book review copy via NetGalley

It seems this is something of a marmite read, there are so many enthusiastic reviews but I’m afraid, despite my best efforts I can’t finish it. From the opening pages when I read Charlotte’s musing, ‘Here they had laughed and argued as she had written Jane Eyre, and her sisters their own great works, not one of them guessing at the whirlwind they were inviting into their small humble lives’ I feared that I was in for a cliched sentimental read. Reading on I was proved right. It is well researched and the mystery is a good one, but overall I found it just too twee.
This seems to be the first in a planned series of Bronte detective stories, it seems they will be popular, but not for me I’m afraid.

'Oh dear, I do worry about all the deceit that comes with detecting. It doesn't seem very godly at all'.

When I started this I thought to myself, who dreams up this kind of stuff, the Brontè sisters as investigators! Now however I'm like this is genius, the Brontè sisters are detectives! Or 'Detectors' as they like to call themselves.

From the first page you can tell how much this author adores these sisters and I was astonished when reading the back notes how much fact is woven into this piece of fiction, it's just incredible and researched to a whole new level. The fact and fiction worked so well together and I feel that although the plot is fiction, I understand the lives of girls, who they were, their surroundings, their upbringings so much more.

This isn't a book, this literally came alive in my hands, it's very well crafted and so three dimensional I felt like a forth sister.

Easily four stars.