#BlogTour: The Red Monarch by Bella Ellis @brontemysteries @HodderBooks @Stevie_Coops #TheRedMonarch #BellaEllis #BronteMysteries #5Stars #recommended

Book Synopsis:

The Brontë sisters’ first poetry collection has just been published, potentially marking an end to their careers as amateur detectors, when Anne receives a letter from her former pupil Lydia Robinson.

Lydia has eloped with a young actor, Harry Roxby, and following her disinheritance, the couple been living in poverty in London. Harry has become embroiled with a criminal gang and is in terrible danger after allegedly losing something very valuable that he was meant to deliver to their leader. The desperate and heavily pregnant Lydia has a week to return what her husband supposedly stole, or he will be killed. She knows there are few people who she can turn to in this time of need, but the sisters agree to help Lydia, beginning a race against time to save Harry’s life.

In doing so, our intrepid sisters come face to face with a terrifying adversary whom even the toughest of the slum-dwellers are afraid of . . . The Red Monarch.

The Red Monarch is published in ebook and hardback on the 18th November 2021. You can pre-order your copy using the links below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this series, not least because I am fascinated by the Brontë sisters and their lives, so I was very excited to read this the latest book in the series .

It was great to be back with the Brontë sisters and following them on another case. This time they are accompanied by their brother and it was nice to get to know him a bit better. The case takes them from the Yorkshire Moors to the notorious slum, the Rookery in London where the meet some very chilling characters and witness some people living in abject poverty. The author does a great job setting the scene so that I felt I could really picture the Rookery in my mind and at some points, smell it too. It was quite hard at times reading about how people lived and how they were abused by the rich and powerful.

The author has created some truly fantastic characters in this book who I loved learning more about. Some of the characters, like Kit, I just wanted to hug but others were truly vile and I was hoping they’d get their just desserts by the end of the book. The reader also learns more about Emily as the story developed which I absolutely loved as she’s always been my favourite sister.

Overall I thought this was a hugely enjoyable, gripping read which I will be recommending to others. There are lots of twists and double crosses that kept me reading as I had to find out who the red monarch was. It was fascinating as well to learn more about the period and especially to explore The Rookery alongside the characters as I’ve heard so much about that place. This is the third book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone I think it would be best to read the books in order so you understand the sisters a bit more.

Huge thanks to Steven from Hodder for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour. If you like historical crime fiction or are fans of the Brontë sisters then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Bella Ellis is the Brontë inspired pen name for the award winning, Sunday Times bestselling author Rowan Coleman. A Brontë devotee for most of her life, Rowan is the author of fourteen novels including The Memory Book, The Summer of Impossible Things and The Girl at the Window.