Misery hates company A novel

Hobbs introduces aspiring archaeologist Miss Marigold Manners in this amusing debut and series launch set in 1894 Boston. Marigold's socialite parents have just died, leaving her without property to inherit or sufficient funds to continue her education. Facing an uncertain future, the witty and confident 21-year-old receives a letter from her mother's cousin, Sophronia Hatchet, summoning her to Great Misery Island--a largely abandoned blip off the coast of Massachusetts--so Sophronia can right a "great and godless wrong" her "man" did to Marigold's mother. Curious, Marigold heads to the island and finds the Hatchet home in disrepair, with her cousins beaten down by their patriarch, the Bible-thumping Ellery Hatchet. Marigold tries to get her taciturn relatives, including Sophronia, talking, but most are brooding and tight-lipped. When someone turns up dead and a local girl goes missing, Marigold suspects the tragedies might be connected to the secrets the Hatchets are harboring. The narrative carries unmistakable echoes of Stella Gibbons's Cold Comfort Farm, and the mystery only kicks in toward the end, but Marigold is such good company that readers are unlikely to care. A sequel would be welcome. Agent: Danielle Egan Miller, Browne & Miller Literary. (Nov.)

DEBUT In 1894, after her parents' deaths, Miss Marigold Manners learns that most of the family money is gone, so she can't continue her education at Wellesley College. She writes to relatives for help but only hears back from Sophronia Sedgewick Hatchet, a distant relation who lives on Great Misery Island off the coast of Massachusetts. The letter sounds mysterious, as Sophronia says she has to be forgiven for wrongs to Marigold's deceased mother. Marigold travels by train but ends up rowing herself over to the island where she finds a ramshackle place, three odd cousins, the ranting uncle who owns it, and women who lock themselves away. Marigold decides to clean up the island and help her cousins move on with their lives. She feels successful until first one body, then another shows up. When Marigold becomes a murder suspect, the intrepid heroine turns amateur sleuth. She might uncover a killer, but when family secrets are revealed, even Marigold is shocked. VERDICT With its old-fashioned language and slow pace, this historical mystery, which recalls Crimson Peak and Cold Comfort Farm, isn't for everyone. However, the gothic atmosphere and family secrets will appeal to some.--Lesa Holstine

A modern woman of 1894 faces the vicissitudes of fortune. Marigold Manners, who grew up in a wealthy Boston family, planned to use her Wellesley education to pursue a career in archeology, but it all comes to nought when her parents die after burning through their entire fortune, leaving her with a modest annuity and no home. Although she's mightily attracted to Harvard-educated lawyer Jonathan Cabot Cox, who returns her feelings, she has no plans to marry. A letter from her mother's cousin Sophronia Hatchet of Great Misery Island, off the New England coast, claims that "my man once did your mother…a great and godless wrong" that must be repaired, and she invites Marigold to come see for herself. Her courage is tested when she arrives to find a moldering house, a hardscrabble farm, and an assortment of truly odd relatives. Her handsome cousins Wilbert and Seviah have crude manners and no clue about any wrongdoing. The household also includes her cousin Daisy, a stunningly beautiful replica of Marigold's mother; Cleon, a general servant; Ellery Hatchet, a religious fanatic; his unseen mother, Alva, who rules the roost; and Lucy Dove, a Black woman hired to care for Alva. Marigold rolls up her sleeves and slowly cleans up the place while setting her cousins on a path to a better life. Great Misery poses many mysteries to be solved, beginning but not ending with the deaths of several local women. With help from Cab Cox and several other friends, Marigold eventually uncovers a shocking tale of evil. A humdinger introduction to a new series whose characters bring to mind those of both Emily Brontë and L.M. Montgomery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.