Recently published, I was very excited to read Elizabeth Macneal’s new novel The Burial Plot. I have read her first and second books and love the way that she takes me to another place and time. The atmosphere of her novels are second to none, in my opinion. With strong female characters and intriguing historical themes, I am always intrigued. In this case, we learn about the building of huge and gothic Victorian cemeteries. Inspired.
Bonnie, the main character is going to be hard to forget. She is damaged but brave, a victim of her upbringing and her relationship with a abusive man, but also a very well written heroine. I loved her.
Elizabeth Macneal had such a talent with historic thrillers that are atmospheric and clever. I reckon her books will become classics.
Also want to give a shout out to the cover artist - WOW!

Struggling to survive in 19th century London, Bonnie is forced to follow her lover Crawford’s latest plan in order to escape prison.

In her new role as a lady’s maid for the Moncriefs, Bonnie warms to her sensitive teenage ward and the widowed lord of the manor.

Dumping bodies and pocketing part of the burial costs is just one of Crawford’s current money-making schemes and the next part of his plot is for Bonnie to persuade Mr Moncrief to build a vast cemetery on the grounds, with Crawford in charge.

Not content with the cemetery plans, Crawford also has sights on Bonnie charming her way into the Moncrief family. He is full of dangerous secrets and Bonnie soon realises it is no coincidence at all that he sent her here.

Yet Bonnie has secrets of her own and now has nothing but her wits and charm to unveil the burial plot and reclaim her life.

There were many things I liked about this book and many things I struggled with, I think ultimately it just was a bit slower-paced and not as "gothic" as I would have liked

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. Bonnie runs away from home to avoid marrying a husband chosen by her father, and is “saved” by Crawford. They begin conning men out of money until a theft goes wrong one night and leaves Bonnie on the run again.

There were so many twists in this book that I didn’t see coming. It was engaging and hard to put down. I was rooting for Bonnie the whole way through despite some of the questionable decisions she made.

This was my first read by Elizabeth Macneal and definitely won’t be my last.

In late 1830s London, Bonnie Fairchild falls in with the charismatic Crawford, a handsome swindler who makes her go weak at the knees while running a rat-baiting betting racket and picking pockets. His biggest wheeze is scamming money out of those wanting to bury loved ones in London’s overburdened cemeteries. It stinks. Literally.

When a theft goes wrong Bonnie flees from the law, hiding as a maid at Endellion, a Neo-Gothic house on the banks of the Thames inhabited by Mr Moncrieff, an eccentric architect in mourning for his wife, and his strange daughter, Cissie. When Bonnie half-jokingly suggests it would be a good spot of a burial ground, she unwittingly opens up the possibility of a brighter future for herself, but Crawford has other plans. Not nice ones. But at Endellion, nothing is quite as it seems…

I’m up to my eyes in academic reading and entries for the Cheshire Novel Prize at the moment and needed something not too heavy for a mental pause this weekend. This fitted the bill very well. It zips along and is delightfully atmospheric, with echoes of Victorian sensation novels, plus ‘The Turn of the Screw’ and ‘Rebecca’. Bonnie makes mistakes, but is a wholly sympathetic heroine; Crawford is a villain you can really enjoy hating, so rotten that flies buzz around him. Moncrieff seems almost unbelievably credulous, but it’s a small thing, and perhaps, like his house, there’s more to him than meets the eye (or perhaps not).

Out now.

Big thanks to @netgalley & @picadorbooks for the eARC!

Too plot-coincidence and twist driven for complete suspension of disbelief 3.5 rating, raised

Maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn’t read and thoroughly got immersed in 2 of Macneal’s earlier novels, Circus of Wonders, and her first novel, The Doll Factory.

Though Macneal is as ever magnificent at evoking historical dark and Gothic atmosphere, I found this one to be somewhat formulaic, the sudden twists and turns of our feisty, intelligent – even cunning, central character’s affections, actions and attitudes, not really credible.

Set at the tail end of the 1830’s, we first of all have a slightly implausible plotline to create the possibility for Bonnie, from an upright but impoverished family, to get educated, involving someone who has decided he will marry her from the look in her eyes as a newborn. Bonnie runs away from this creepy man to the big City (who wouldn’t?) on her wedding day. She then manages to escape the obvious horrible from frying pan to fire solution, falling in with some clear crooks but able to choose her romantic soulmate.

There are various unlikely circumstances which then necessitate her to flee, adopting a fake identity and suddenly get welcomed as nursemaid to a disturbed young girl with a tragic past.

Many (very many) plot twists, turns and changes in loyalty will occur – right up to and including an unlikely possibility of Bonnie’s deceptions being uncovered on the very last page

Some of the twists ARE pretty good, but I really saw what many of the major ones were going to be from very early on. This was because, unlike her earlier books, I wasn’t fully immersed, but found myself creating, in my imagination, the plot lines which the author might use. Not all of which seemed as if they were coherent with Bonnie’s particular character.

I love the double meaning of the book’s title

It’s 1839 and Bonnie Fairchild has just killed a man. She didn’t intend to do it, but it has still happened and now she needs to escape from London, quickly, before she is caught. Bonnie is no stranger to crime – since fleeing to London to avoid an arranged marriage, she and her lover Crawford have been making their living through theft and fraud. This is the first time something has gone wrong, but Crawford thinks he has found a solution: Bonnie will apply for the position of lady’s maid at Endellion House, a grand estate outside the city owned by the wealthy Mr Moncrieff. Nobody will ever think to look for her there!

Arriving at Endellion House, Bonnie finds her new employer to be a sad, subdued man who devotes his time to designing mausoleums for his dead wife who drowned several months earlier. Meanwhile, his teenage daughter, Cissie, seems to have retreated into a fantasy world, writing imaginary love letters to herself. Then, just as Bonnie is beginning to make sense of this eccentric, unhappy household, Crawford reappears with another great scheme in mind…

I enjoyed both of Elizabeth Macneal’s previous novels, The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders, so I was expecting good things from this one and I wasn’t disappointed at all; I think it’s probably my favourite of the three. Although I correctly predicted some of the twists and turns of the plot, there were others I didn’t see coming at all. One of the things that is obvious from the beginning, at least to the reader, is that Crawford is a con man who is using and manipulating Bonnie for his own purposes – and even though Bonnie is at least partly aware of this, she has convinced herself that she’s in love with him and so finds it impossible to free herself of him. The relationship between Bonnie and Crawford is the driving force behind the novel and is what kept me turning the pages, anxious to see what plan Crawford would come up with next and whether Bonnie would ever escape his grip.

The Burial Plot also gives some insights into the Victorian fascination with the rituals of death and mourning. The mourning industry in the 19th century was huge, with large sums of money being spent on clothes, accessories and elaborate funerals. At the beginning of the novel, Crawford has a job managing several private burial grounds in London but these are quickly becoming overcrowded and insanitary, leading to the creation of large, modern cemeteries such as Highgate, further away from central London. When Bonnie arrives at Endellion House, she suggests to Mr Moncrieff that he should build a cemetery like Highgate on his land so that he can bury his wife in style and then make money from selling the other burial plots. This storyline forms an important part of the novel and adds another layer of interest.

I loved this and am already looking forward to Elizabeth Macneal’s next book, whatever and whenever that may be!

I just reviewed The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal. #TheBurialPlot #NetGalley

Brilliant from start to finish!

After reading a few duds, this beautiful book came along to rescue me from a book-slump!

Engaging from start to finish, you are constantly wondering WHERE this story is going to go.

Elizabeth MacNeal does it again and, if the beautiful cover isn’t enough to entice you to read this, this marvellous author will!

This book made me feel like someone was watching me, a feeling of dread forever lurking in the corner of my eyes.

We follow Bonnie, beginning in London, 1839 as she tries to find a life that protects her from the mistakes she's made and thode made against her.

Bonnie ends up working in a failing country house as the family deal with a down turn in fortunes; following the mother's death. Bonnie has an idea to build a cemetry and the master of the house, Aubrey Moncrieff thinks its a great idea.

Crawford, Bonnie's partner who helped guide her to this new position decides he can help turn around both of their own fortunes. Cissi, Aubrey's daughter finds comfort with Bonnie, but the atmosphere is charged and th reader knows something is not going well.

I really enjoyed how the author made my skin crawl reading this book. The feeling of dread made reading it such a page turner, even though I dreaded what would come next. I think this is a great read for those who enjoy gothic literary fiction or books that make you hate someone as if they've wronged you personally.

The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

To avoid marrying the husband chosen by her father, Bonnie runs away and finds herself penniless in London in 1839. Crawford ‘rescues’ her, teaching her his trickery and using Bonnie to lure rich men into alleyways so he can rob them, until one night things go wrong and a wealthy man is left in puddle of blood. Bonnie needs to flee and Crawford now helps her secure a position as a lady’s maid in a stately home on the Thames, where Bonnie finds a household in grieving following the death of the wife and mother. Mr Moncrieff her employer is an architect designing mausoleums for his dead wife and Cissie his daughter is mentally unwell, writing imaginary love letters to herself from a wealthy suitor. But Bonnie feels safe and increasingly happy until Crawford worm his way into her new life and Bonnie starts to wonder what really happened to Mrs Moncrieff and did Crawford plan everything that has happened to her from the beginning?

It's no secret I love gothic reads but even I struggle to express how much I loved this book. Bonnie is a brilliant character who I was rooting for throughout, despite her murky start, and I could see how easily led a vulnerable young woman could be faced with a character like Crawford. The writing created an atmosphere that made it impossible to put down, and the rich historical detail and the backstory made this so satisfying to read. Elizabeth Macneal can do wrong – this is gothic at its greatest.

The Burial Plot is another atmospheric read by Elizabeth Macneal. I loved the storyline and the characters and couldn't put this own down

The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed The Doll Factory I keen to read this new novel. It is set in London during the Victorian period and there are links to the building of Highgate cemetery and the problem of accommodating all of the dead of the city.
The main character is Bonnie who has been promised by her gardener father to the local vicar when she comes of age. In a chilling comment the vicar mentions how he knew she was destined to be his as he christened her as a baby. One the eve of her wedding she escapes to London but is launched into another damaging relationship.
She meets up with Crawford who becomes her lover and engages her in stealing from unsuspecting men by luring them into alleyways to be set upon by Crawford and his friend Rex. One night the trick goes wrong and Bonnie finds herself with a dead man at her feet. She has to escape!
The author evokes the period through rich descriptions of the poverty, grime and dirt of the time. She describes the attitude to women in chilling detail. Bonnie will need to draw on all her hidden strength to cope with the situations in which she finds herself. This is a carefully plotted book although some of the things which Bonnie only discovers towards the end of the novel seem obvious to the reader earlier.
This is a very interesting Victorian Gothic novel which people who like this genre will wholeheartedly enjoy. I will be recommending this book to members of my various book groups. Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

THE BURIAL PLOT

Elizabeth Macneal

"But she knew, as he did , that she would do as he asked, that she had already felt the tug towards him, like being dragged underwater."

A story full of secrets and manipulation, just dark enough with a perfect gothic setting. I felt so disgusted by some of the characters, sometimes that makes me not enjoy a book but the plot of this one absolutely kept me going, it's a proper twisty page-turner.

"Sometimes it seemed as though the cemetery was readying itself for them all, the brick graves yawning open, impatient."

Big thanks to Netgalley for the Advanced digital copy.

Wow. This is intense. I loved The Doll Factory, but I think this is my favourite?

This had my heart racing and feeling pretty stressed out (in the best way). I was absolutely desperate for Bonnie to just see Crawford for what he was - from the very start I was screaming at her to just catch on!

I can’t say more without spoilers, so I will just end saying that this was emotional, tense, and heartwarming.

Absolutely loved it.

My thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. I loved Elizabeth Macneal’s debut book The Doll Factory and really enjoyed this too. More please!!! Bonnie and her great love, Crawford, live with Crawford’s sidekick,Rex, and they all make their living by nefarious means. Bonnie is used to flirt with rich gentlemen who believe they are going to be sexually satisfied by her…. and the two men appear on the scene to rob said gentlemen. One day Bonnie believes she has accidentally killed a man and Crawford persuades her to apply for a lady’s maid at a grand house he ‘coincidentally’ has engravings of as art work. Soon, Crawford arrives at the grand house under the pretext that (a) he is Bonnie’s brother and (b) he will be of huge help to the master of the house who wishes to build a cemetery where his late wife’s body can lay in a gran£ mausoleum, at the same time making money to be able to keep the house and household.

Bonnie is persuaded to carefully ensure that Aubrey Moncrieff falls in love with her, Crawford having told her he is the bastard brother and that, eventually, the house will be theirs … Bonnie and Crawford’s. So it begins but Bonnie falls in love with Aubrey and cares deeply for his child, Cissie. Bonnie gradually learns that Crawford may have his own plans and is using her as a pawn. Manipulation almost at its best but I’m pleased to say Bonnie is wiley enough to outwit him.

Now, this is a plot to get your teeth into, very dark and Gothic in tone.
Bonnie Crawford is the main character. She had been promised in marriage to an elderly rector, but she wanted more from life and ran away to London. Once there, she met two men, Rex and Crawford, and they all three scammed rich men, Bonnie offered sex, but the men were attacked and robbed by Rex and Crawford.
This novel is set amongst the burial grounds of London. Overcrowded, bodies are buried three deep, eventually being dug up, decanted out of their coffins, which are then resold, whilst corpses are covered with quicklime, and later, the bones are broken up and ground up into fertilizer. That sounds gruesome, but today, that is almost green and eco friendly.
Bonnie gets a job as a lady’s maid. Mr Montcrieff is the owner of Endellion House, his wife died recently and left a daughter, Cissie, a simple soul, Bonnie is also tasked with caring for her.
Bonnie gradually gains the confidence of Montcrieff, and by using his desire to create a lasting monument to his wife, suggests he uses his vast land acreage to create a cemetery. The money will save the family fortune and create an inheritance for Cissie.
Evil deeds are performed and both Bonnie and Cissie are put in great danger. Many dark secrets are revealed and Bonnie must decide what is most important to her, will the truth ruin all future plans, and how can she protect Cissie from evil.
Very detailed research, strong female characters and cruel manipulation employed.
I enjoyed this latest novel,I have read the previous books and this is a brilliant story. A five star read.
My thanks to Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

Admittedly I was drawn to this book by the title alone but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Bonnie leaves home to go to London to start anew and meets Crawford and his ‘dog’, Rex. After a terrible incident, she leaves London to apply for a job in Endellion House where a bereaved Master and his daughter reside.

There were so many twists and turns in this story; I thought I’d figured it out early on but little did I know what was to come.

Definitely one for thrill fans.

‘The Burial Plot’ is a remarkable novel that introduces us to Bonnie, a young woman placed into a large house as the lady’s maid to an adolescent girl by her conniving lover, Crawford. Crawford’s plan is to engineer the downfall of the current owner, Aubrey Moncrieff, and take everything for himself. Grieving over the death of his wife, his insular daughter and his mounting debts, Moncrieff is a prime target – but will Bonnie and Crawford succeed?

This novel has all the hallmarks of my favourite type of read – historical fiction with a gothic feel, a large and interesting house, lady’s maids, deceit, twists, turns, and a handsome villain! That said, I would have loved a bit more detail about the plans and construction of the cemetery, to really get a feel for this interesting part of Victorian history, or perhaps a more extensive author note at the end.

I enjoyed Bonnie’s journey from being part of a gang of thieves to the mistress of a large house, having to dodge the machinations of the men in her life at every turn. Her growth in understanding her relationships - from her desire for Crawford, to her realisation of being used and ‘gaslit’, to finding individuals who can offer comfort and stability - is satisfying.

The story delivered some great twists and I raced through the second half of the book to find out whether Bonnie was able to escape Crawford’s influence and the fate of Aubrey and the cemetery. I enjoyed the ending of the novel, which alludes to Bonnie still having some secrets from Aubrey – will he find them out, or does he already have an idea of her past now? An enigmatic ending, which I shall enjoy pondering over.

Many thanks to the publishers of ‘The Burial Plot’ and to NetGalley for the advance copy on which this review is based.

Excellent book; I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day!

Atmospheric, very engaging characters and unexpected twists.

This was my first book by Elizabeth MacNeal & I was NOT disappointed! Set in Victorian London, Bonnie has run away from one life and has to do it again with the help of her criminal lover, Crawford. Just as Bonnie starts to settle into life as a lady's maid for a widowed gentleman's daughter, Crawford is back and Bonnie can't help but do the things he asks of her. Crawford is the ultimate conman & Bonnie is easily manipulated, will she work out what he's capable of in time to save the life she now has or will it all fall apart?


I received this book free via NetGalley in exchange for my review. I really enjoyed the book, it was well written & the majority of the characters were fully formed. The only character I thought needed a bit more substance was Rex. He was just there.