Last week I got to share with you the first novel in Katie Oliver’s Jane Austen Tea Society Mysteries series. I don’t know about you, but I go through phases when I’m choosing books to read, and at the moment I am firmly in a cosy mystery phase, so I’m really grateful to Berkley and Austenprose for sending me copies of all the books in this series. They perfectly fit that mood for the nights drawing in with a hot drink and a candle burning!

So without further ado, here is my review of the second novel in the series, A Murderous Persuasion…

For Sale

When Jane Austen lit professor Phaedra Brighton’s aunt Wendy says she is going to have to sell the Laurel Springs Inn – which is not only a family business, but where Phaedra lives, in the carriage house out back – Phaedra springs into action to help Wendy invigorate the business.

Her solution? A Jane Austen-themed murder mystery week. Totally immersive, and based upon Austen’s final novel Persuasion, a colourful cast of characters assemble at the Inn to be transported back to the Regency and solve a mystery.

Except it isn’t long before the fictional murder mystery is turned into a true murder investigation when obnoxious and unlikeable Regency fiction author Harriet Overton is found dead in the garden with an arrow in her chest.

Time for investigation

Now the Inn is at the middle of a murder inquiry, and despite being told by her friend Detective Morelli to stay out of it, Phaedra can’t help but completely embed herself in what is going on.

Not only is her aunt’s business on the line, but also Wendy’s heart, as her childhood sweetheart turns up in their town out of the blue and starts trying to romance her.

Naturally suspicious, Phaedra finds herself trying to solve more mysteries than one, with Morelli soon having to accept that this Austen-loving professor was never going to keep out of it.

A little bit of romance

Not only is there a mystery to be unravelled, but also there’s the small matter of the sparks between Phaedra and her fellow literature professor at Somerset University, Shakespeare expert Mark Selden.

He willingly ropes himself into helping her out with the Persuasion-themed week, and the two of them become closer and closer as they facilitate the activities and sleuth their way through the novel.

I like that Oliver tries to incorporate lots of different aspects of Austen’s novels into the mysteries without making them two on the nose: lost lovers returning, a Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet-style enemies to lovers, bonds between sisters… We get to see more of Phaedra’s sister Hannah, a chef, in this novel, which is fun to see the dynamic between sisters.

Essence of small town

I also really enjoy the set up of the world of the Jane Austen Tea Society. I feel that if you like books set in small towns in addition to Austen, this is a great series for you. Not only are there copious Austen references, but there is that small town, interesting characters feel to shows like Gilmore Girls or Hart of Dixie in Phaedra’s town of Laurel Springs.

I can almost picture the main street, with its quaint little shops, including Phaedra and Hannah’s parents’ bookshop, The Poison Pen. The Poison Pen sells exclusively mysteries – very on theme! – and counts as the frequent meeting place for Phaedra and her two best friends Lucy and Marisol, who make up the Tea Society.

It’s a perfect background to a continuing series, as different characters receive their starring roles, and as I raced through A Murderous Persuasion to try and piece together the clues in who might have had it in for Harriet Overton (spoiler alert: I am not the Nancy Drew I thought I was…), I thoroughly enjoyed my window into Phaedra’s world.

I hope that if you decide to pick up A Murderous Persuasion that you enjoy it as much as I did. Now I can’t wait to share with you the latest book in the series next week, Cyanide and Sensibility!

Thank you to Berkley and Austenprose for sending me copies of Katie Oliver’s books in exchange for honest review.