I absolutely loved this book. It is fast, fun, witty, and a pleasure to read.
Summary: Miss Mary Bennet’s life is thrown into turmoil upon the death of her father. He’s left the estate to a relative and Mary, her younger sister Kitty and their mother are now at the mercy of relatives who will take them in.
Their best bet are the married sister: Jane the eldest (Mrs. Bingley), Elizabeth (Mrs. Darcy), and Lydia the first to marry (Mrs. Wickham). But Mary wants none of it. She’d like to be independent, play the pianoforte, and read. Not get married off.
The four sisters (Lydia is absent) are sitting with their mother making funeral arrangements when one of the movers ends up stealing some rings. Mary is quick to deduce what’s happened and stops the theft. This seems unrelated to a strange nighttime visit from an unknown relative Lady Trafford who comes to pay respects to the dead Mr. Bennet. And yet, this book is full of twists and turns.
Mary ends up accepting Lady Trafford’s offer to train as a governess. But Lady Trafford is not all she seems and Mary is often left alone in her castle where she seeks to discover the truth about Lady Trafford and her intentions.
I don’t want to spoil any of the fun. But I do want to say this is a delightful mystery, very much in the Austen style. So glad I picked this one up.