Killingly

by Katharine Beutner

ONE OF LIT HUB 'S TOP CRIME NOVELS OF 2023

'A story of women who defy strict rules ' KATE MANNING, author of My Notorious Life
' A superb novel, suffused with dread' ELIZABETH MCKENZIE, author of The Dog of the North
KILLINGLY is a haunting, gothic, turn-of-the-century campus thriller about female desire, rage and ambition in the face of convention and patriarchal control.
The young women at Mount Holyoke College are famed for their beauty and virtue - except for Agnes and Bertha. With their strange dresses, scholarly pursuits and intimate friendship, these two students are considered peculiar.
One autumn morning, Bertha is spotted in the woods. Then she vanishes, leaving Agnes to wander the cold university halls alone.
While a search team dredges the pond where Bertha might have drowned, a private detective arrives in town and an investigation ensues, sending shockwaves through the university and the quiet town of Killingly.
Bertha might be gone, but she left behind secrets. Secrets which are beginning to surface, threatening to put her best friend in mortal danger and shatter the peaceful world of Mount Holyoke forever...
PRAISE FOR
'Killingly moves deliberately, achingly, through one young woman's disappearance in 1897 . . . Extraordinary fiction. Now, more than ever, we need to know the truth this story reveals' Julia Phillips, author of National Book Award Finalist Disappearing Earth

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Dark Academia, Historical, Horror, Thriller

361 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2023

About the author

I write fiction and creative nonfiction and teach writing and literature at the College of Wooster. My novel KILLINGLY is forthcoming from Soho Crime and Corvus in the UK in June 2023.

My first novel ALCESTIS, a retelling of the Greek myth, will be reissued by Soho Press in September 2023.

Reviews

[Beata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on scant facts, this historical fiction offers an insight into late 19th century position of women and the mysogeny that prevailed. The mystery around Bertha Mellish's disappearance is well-presented although there are some clues as to what fate she met. Still, the question remains why. The Author did a thorough research and her imagination allowed her to create a tale which is worth reading. My fourth star is for the Author's skills to link little factual information and transform it into a quite lengthy novel. Some warning should be added as there are some scenes of cruelty to animals.
*Many thanks to Katharine Beutner, Atlanctic Books, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a huge disappointment. Being a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, I was really looking forward to this book. The only thing I got out of it was nostalgia for my days on campus. Poorly written, boring, boring, and boring. The author used the premise of a real disappearance as a platform for superficial feminist topics. Would’ve been better as a real crime story than an historical recreation.

[Alex M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read an ARC of this book from the publisher. *Cue my nervousness at being the first person to review this at all* I will admit that 50% of the reason I picked this book up is because I am from Killingly CT, which is a town NO ONE KNOWS OF, and I almost screamed out loud when I saw a book with this title. I was sure it was not referencing the actual town, and when I found out it was, I had to read it. (Seriously I can count on one hand the number of people I have ever met outside of CT who have even heard of this town. It is small. It is nowhere. If the author by any chance has any ties to this town, it's likely she and I are no more than two degrees of separation from each other.)

I enjoyed Beutner's style of writing and thought it fit really well with the time period of the story. However I felt the story dragged a bit (at least for me). I guess I was expecting more excitement to be happening, but it's a rather slow plot that focuses much more on the characters and their interpersonal relationships. This is great! It's just not why I picked the book up. I did find the subtle queer themes really interesting, especially set in that time, where there would not be queer "identities" as we understand them today. This also deals with family trauma, SA, women's rights, and the expectations of women back then. The story slowly unravels and gives you more information as you go.

While the book didn't resonate as much with me personally, it's a fine well-written book and you should read it, especially if you love historical fiction (and especially if you're tickled by seeing "Killingly" and - gasp!! - "Danielson" in print in any fictional book, like me).

[Liz • りず · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Her breath came fast and whispery. These memories of Bertha were like membrane-covered vats of viscous liquid. She could move across their taut surfaces, seemingly secure, until the membrane split and deposited her gasping in the past."
🐈‍⬛📜🩸
Killingly is a chilling tale of mystery, yearning, and dread that is based on the unsolved 1897 disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student.

In her memorable historical depiction of academics, generational trauma, and the dangers faced by women who dared to follow unorthodox careers at the end of the 19th century, Katharine Beutner transforms a real-life unsolved mystery into a spellbinding series of character studies and intrigue. 

A hauntingly gothic thriller about female desire, fury, and ambition in the face of tradition and patriarchal tyranny.
🐈‍⬛📜🩸

[aza · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He didn't tell the police about the long, tearing moments when he wanted to scramble after the girl... but instead swallowed the impossibility of it, knowing that he could never run after a white girl. Not even to save her life."

The year is 1897, and a college student named Bertha Mellish has gone missing. Generally described as quiet, the mysteriousness of her disappearance shocks the student body. As time passes, searches expand from nearby trails and bodies of water to nearby cities, with some wondering if she has run away to be with a man (or to escape one).

There are a few people who are more determined than others to find Bertha. First is her older sister Florence, who attended Mount Holyoke years prior. Florence comes to the college with their father, though he is beginning to fall ill, so their family doctor Henry Hammond comes too. Next there is Agnes, Bertha's best friend and confidant. Agnes is also a quiet girl, who spends most of her time focusing on her dream of being a surgeon and escaping her impoverished home.

This novel is a dark and haunting tale of those who did not follow the status quo at the turn of the 20th century. The smart and curious Bertha, studious medical student Agnes, and unwed Florence are the main focus of a tale that is otherwise centered around one of the oldest women's colleges in the country. Throughout the story we face devastating tidbits that remind us that, while Bertha and Agnes were surrounded by women at their college, society's expectations of them is a curse that everyone faced at this time.

That being said, if you are a fan of exciting mystery books, this is not for you. This is more of a reflection of the experiences women had during a turning point in US American history, and the way that their decisions and motivations were perceived by the men around them. There are of course parallels to women's present day experiences that continue to haunt me. But the plot does move slowly. Oh and there is more than a sprinkling of queerness in this book that made it *chefs kiss*.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Haunting Mystery Based on a Real-Life Disappearance

SUMMARY
Bertha Mellish is a quiet and reserved student at Mount Holyoke College. She disappeared from her room in Porter Hall in 1897. Bertha’s best friend, Agnes Sullivan, is worried, and her much older sister Florence, a school teacher back home in Killingly, Connecticut, is devastated. The nearby pond is dredged to no avail, and the family doctor, who is overly fond of Bertha, hires a private detective who continues the search.

Before her disappearance, Bertha had been quietly seeing a young French man, Joseph Poitier, a millworker back in Killingly. Poitier is nowhere to be found. Was he responsible for Bertha’s disappearance, or were they together? Did she love him? A series of minor thefts have been occurring in Porter Hall just before Bertha’s disappearance, and some Porter Hall girls think Bertha may have been responsible. Did Bertha need money? Agnes, studying to be a surgeon, seems to know more than she is saying about Bertha’s disappearance.


REVIEW
Killingly is a haunting mystery based on the unsolved real-life disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897. The story is seemingly dark, chilling, and atmospheric. The writing skillfully transports us back to a women’s college campus ahead of its time.

Both Agnes and Florence’s characters carry the story. They were stoic and determined for their own reasons. Bertha’s father, a reverend, and the family doctor were creepy, overbearing, and unlikable. While the story was intriguing, the character development could have been better.

Author Katherine Beutner is a feminist author, essayist, and academic who has written one other novel, Alcestis, which was awarded the Edmund White Award for debut fiction in 2011.

I both listened to and read the book. While I enjoyed listening to the story, the narrator’s voice did not seem well-suited for the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher Soho Crime/Recorded Books
Published June 6, 2023
Narrated Rachel Botchan
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

[Soraya Pierre-Louis · Rating 1 out of 5]

ARC review: Easily one of the worst books I’ve read in a few years. The book is historical fiction and about nothing. Bertha Mellish goes missing but the book isn’t about finding her. It’s about her friends and family who constantly send letters to each other that don’t really solve her disappearance. There are queer subtleties throughout the book (Detective Higham is gay but this fact adds nothing to the story. Bertha and her best friend Agnes may have loved each other, it’s unclear). The main character is really Agnes’s Sullivan. The book attempts to cover women’s issues in the late 1890s in Boston (abortion, education, romance, friendship) but lacks depth and lacks character development. Also, Bertha’s mom is her sister Florence as their reverend father raped Florence for many years which Bertha didn’t know. There’s no story, plot, tie to characters or context. You’d think dissecting cats was the main theme of the book because it constantly occurs.

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus)]

once again i have been fooled by comps to Donna Tartt and Sarah Waters...for now i am putting this on hold.

[Yamini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Killingly is based on the real story of the disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897. A girl disappears one day from a boarding college, and her family is anxious to find her but all the investigations are pertaining to be in vain, there is no sign of her - as if she vanished into thin air. The only person who may know all her secrets is her BFF who refuses to reveal any of her secrets.

I feared the book might not be the one for me considering its slow plot building, but thank God for my patience, it turned out to be just another amazing investigating hunt. The peculiarities of characters in the book are very audience-specific n may give you a fair warning - not everyone may like it. But for those who can take a dose of dark and drenching secrets, you may want to pick this up soon. It's been some time since I read this one and my thoughts still refuse to settle on whether what happened is right or wrong. And I may not be the best judge of that. But what I know for sure is that it's real. So freaking real!

Genre: #historicalfiction #lgbtqiap+
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stupendously good! ‘Killingly’ is a phenomenal read.

But it doesn’t match up to the blurb it’s been given (although that might, perhaps, change, prior to publication). It is marketed primarily as a crime novel, but it isn’t that. ‘Killingly’ is most comparable to Laura Purcell’s ‘The Silent Companions’ or ‘Frog Music’ by Emma Donoghue; it’s not unlike Kaite Welsh’s Gothic Sarah Gilchrist series. Just like these novels, ‘Killingly’ is Historical Fiction with a vamped-up feminine drive, as Beutner concludes in her afterword to the ARC that I read:

‘Bertha Mellish lived in a profoundly unequal society. [...] In fictionalizing the aftermath of her disappearance, I’ve tried to consider what it might take for a woman of Bertha’s time to free herself from [marked] constraints and what constraints she might not even be capable of seeing, much less resisting.’

So, once you’ve stopped expecting midnight stabbings on campus grounds and started envisioning a fin-de-siècle intellective gameplay, emotional strategising between contemporary female and male characters; you’re closer to what this novel is. (Although, Chapter One gave me real ‘Dead Man’s Folly’ vibes.)

Katharine Beutner introduces characters as if with the flick of a wand: within a matter of a handful of words, Hey, Presto! Bertha speaks in your ear; Agnes is alive on the page: ‘She skimmed upon the surface of her life like a leaf on water.’

The drama in the novel is simply Hammond and Florence trying to find Bertha, and Agnes obstructing – up to a certain point - the course of the investigations. ‘Killingly’ is a double mystery, you could say: firstly, we want to know what has happened to Bertha; secondly, why Agnes is covering it up. And so, the plot mostly develops in the minds of the characters. The reader resides inside their ‘heads’, reading their feelings as they puzzle out the case:

‘Florence’s feelings were scattered and terrible, like the mess of little foul creatures that scuttle out from an overturned log on the forest floor.’

Yet there is also a sense of authorial distance from the characters, which doesn't dominate the tone, but can subtly affect and shift sympathies and allegiances:

‘[Agnes’ mind] was segmented as the chambers of a shell and similarly armoured. Unless we mean to pry her open, oyster-like, there are things we cannot know about Agnes Sullivan until we have traversed those chambers.’

So, the narrative is substantially cerebral, yet the vehicle by which it is carried is very definitely the body:

‘Mabel’s breath steamed into the tunnel of her ear, her lips brushed the shell of cartilage around it. Agnes raised her arms and enfolded Mabel awkwardly within them. The line of her corset pressed into the inside of Agnes’s elbows. She radiated heat.’

The style of ‘Killingly’ is overwhelmingly corporeal - readers glean more from Florence's sensations in the bathtub and Agnes's sensations as she vomits, than from any actual investigations they conduct. Beutner’s writing is fantastically well-honed and her use of figurative language is inventive, yet precise:

‘The frothy vomit gave off a hot tangy smell. Agnes wiped her mouth with the back of one shaking hand and put the basin on the floor, startled by the painful burst of laughter that had overtaken her. It seemed born from a bubble below her diaphragm – not a bubble -, no; a spiked expansion like the tropical fish she’d seen in a museum in Boston that could blow up to thrice its size.’

‘Killingly’ is carried in the female body, is shaped around the absence of Bertha’s body, fear engendered by frequent images of it: Bertha drowned and bloated on the Auburn cemetery slab; Bertha bloodied and bleeding on the laundry room floor; Bertha emerging from the woods ‘mussed’:

‘Her breath came fast and whispery. These memories of Bertha were like membrane-covered vats of viscous liquid. She could move across their taut surfaces, seemingly secure, until the membrane split and deposited her gasping in the past.’

Animal bodies, too, stand in symbolically for Bertha’s body; it is no coincidence that two of the highlighted pursuits with which the central two girls are preoccupied are a) a debate on vivisection and, b) the dispatch of a living creature and the assemblage of its skeleton for Zoology class.

I knew nothing about the true case of a disappearance upon which ‘Killingly’ is based. But the substance of this novel is not so much the mystery of Bertha’s disappearance, but the push-pull tension between Florence and the despisable Dr Hammond in the opening movements of the story, and the additional aggrievement of Agnes in the latter half. The timing and pacing of this tension does threaten to sag at a certain point as the reader is wearied by the accumulation of hints at, and intimations of, Agnes’ withheld knowledge of what's happened to Bertha. Then, the author intervenes just in time and changes the nature of the plot, which rekindled my interest and involvement.

Katharine Beutner serves Historical Fiction its due in her Author’s Note that accompanies the text, and, had I not read that and understood the reasoning behind certain choices Beutner has made, I would have given the novel a much lower rating. Citations from this extra-textual excerpt of the eARC might be subject to amendment, but it is my sincere hope that the Author’s Note will indeed accompany the final publication – perhaps even siting it before the text. In it, Beutner addresses the problematic decisions that arose when she set out to fictionalise this real-life disappearance, and asserts, among other things, [SPOILERS ALERT] her ‘desire to avoid tokenizing characters of colour’ and her attempt to contextualise 1890s attitudes to abortion within what she terms the ‘landscape of social attitudes’, where ‘[ending] a pregnancy before quickening was largely normalized, seen more as a process of restoring menstruation’. Beutner, to me most pressingly, explicates the complexities of contemporary ‘understanding of identity in relation to sexuality’, where ‘romantic friendships between women was often obscured’, and ‘the pathologization of queer sex was just beginning.’ She attests that, with ‘Killingly’, ‘I don’t want to contribute to a misunderstanding of the danger of abortion in this time period [...] any more than I want Bertha to be perceived as yet another dead fictional queer woman.’ I hope that future readers of ‘Killingly’ who develop similar reservations as I did regarding representation, will be able to digest and deliberate upon these, Beutner’s research outcomes, in her Author's Note, before they make their overall judgement, for this really is a phenomenal novel.

My thanks to the author and to Corvus for the chance to read and review this superb novel via NetGalley. (First published in hardback United States in 2023 by Soho Crime; the edition I read will be published next month in the UK by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.) The proof that I was given the chance to read was uncorrected and changes may be made before the book is printed. Therefore, citations may be subject to alteration.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my blog.

Rep: lesbian mc, gay mc, sapphic side characters

CWs: sexual assault, sexual harassment, past rape, past child sexual abuse, past incest, animal death, self harm, abortion, dissection, medical procedures, assault

Galley provided by publisher

Killingly is a book based on a real life disappearance, that of Bertha Mellish, from Mount Holyoke College in the 19th century. It takes as its springboard the true events — and a fair amount of historical records end up in the book as well — and fictionalises a solution (and a little more).

The book opens following Bertha’s disappearance, when it first becomes known. The POVs mainly flit between Agnes, Bertha’s best friend, Florence, Bertha’s sister, the family’s doctor, Henry Hammond, who is somewhat suspiciously invested in Bertha being found, and Higham, a detective hired by Hammond to investigate the case. Each of them has their own concerns, worries over what might be uncovered, and desires for things to stay hidden (except Higham, who seems pretty keen to throw a spanner in the works of anyone he can).

This isn’t so much a mystery as an in depth series of character studies, I think. The mystery aspect of what happened to Bertha is uncovered (for the reader) by the two thirds mark, so the pull is more in the characters than the mystery. Their motivations and their relationships. This is a very character-driven story. First, by Bertha’s desires (for reasons that become clear), then through Hammond’s obsessive need to discover the truth, even as he despises what he hears. Perhaps not “the truth” then, but a truth that’s palatable to him.

It’s also a book about the time it’s set in. Maybe this is an obvious statement, but what I mean is that the characters it centres are, barring Hammond (who is the face of good society, I suppose you could say), are all people who are precariously positioned within society. Higham is gay, making his living discovering other people’s secrets. Agnes is in love with Bertha and wants to be a surgeon. Florence is a spinster, but with a secret that would turn everyone away from her if it were to be discovered. These are all characters to an extent forging their own paths, as society (Hammond) looms over them with dire predictions of ruined reputations.

Beutner so clearly did a lot of research to write this one and it definitely shows. You can easily believe you’re in 19th century Massachusetts. The book absorbs you and, once it has its hooks in you, it doesn’t let you go. I read the bulk of this one in a single sitting, too compelled by it to even look up.

Really, when this one comes out, I won’t be able to recommend it enough. If you like slowburning and thoughtful historical fiction, this one will definitely be for you.

[Sarah (berriesandbooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed @ 31% because i’m flabbergasted i’ve made it this far through the book and still know about as much as i did in the first chapter. the plot isn’t at a standstill because it hasn’t even started.

[Lorin (paperbackbish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the close of the nineteenth century, a Massachusetts student goes missing from her women's college. Bertha seems to have vanished without a trace, leaving her older sister bereft and desperate for answers. Agnes, Bertha's closest friend, is recalcitrant to speak to anyone and quickly lands herself in the "suspicious" category as rumors abound. The family's doctor and a private investigator also take up the search for Bertha, each of them with particular personal interest in the case. This is a fictional story with many twists and turns, but it is based on an actual unsolved disappearance!

I found Bertha's story to be interesting, but the characters themselves were flat for me. I quite liked the way Agnes's version of events unfolded, that was my favorite aspect of the book for sure! The men are generally creepy (not all of them, but generally), and the women all pretty peculiar. I got a bit confused by the inclusion of so many other students, I had trouble keeping the names straight. Overall, I enjoyed this story, especially since it's based on a real story. I love that fiction can write an ending for someone who hasn't truly gotten one.

Thank you to Katharine Beutner, Soho Crime, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

[talia ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

🍂☕️🪵time turns flames to embers/you'll have new septembers🧣🧦🍁📚

kicking the best month off by participating in the NEW SEPTEMBERS mini readathon hosted by cossette and jamie, two blogs i admire greatly and have been following since forever!

like most readers, i loveeeee autumn and autumnal reads so i was overjoyed to see this readathon was taking place (the graphic is super cute too!).

i AM planning to read a book per prompt and have a really good feeling about this one 🕯📜📖🍁

🍄 BOOK 1: read a book that takes place in september - dreams lie beneath
🍄 BOOK 2: read a book about a haunted house - masters of death
🍄 BOOK 3: read a book with a yellow cover - a far wilder magic
🍄 BOOK 4: read a book that takes place at a private or boarding school - killingly

----------

this might sound soooooo dumb but i genuinely believe that it is ingrained in my psyche to read every single book that is about a missing/haunting girl from a historical women's college because i went to a historical women's college (one of the oldest and most haunted).

you don't get dark academia* the way i do!




*tbh i am starting to (for like the past, three years) really fucking hate that word lmao

[Bryn Greenwood]

A solid read for me. I was quickly invested in the characters, which is what most interests me. Although I accurately predicted most of the plot reveals, they at least had a feeling of inevitability rather than a feeling of glaring obviousness.

[Susan Tunis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1897, Katharine Beutner's Killingly opened like a mystery, sucking me in immediately. It was clear the ensemble of characters assembled by the disappearance of Bertha Mellish, a Mount Holyoke student, had complex histories and hidden agendas.

What happened to Bertha? This is the big question that drives the suspense of the novel. Because it really is more of a suspense novel than a mystery. The ultimate answer to this question comes well before the novel's end--and it did surprise me. But solving the mystery is only a small part of what is happening in this novel. There is a lot of social commentary to be found within the pages, and it's a fascinating look at the period. It's hard not to reflect on women's lives at the time and compare them to today.

The characters of Killingly aren't warm and fuzzy. They led harsh lives. But I cared about them, and was deeply invested in their dramas.

[Teleseparatist · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so happy to receive it from NetGalley - as a fan of Beutner's first novel, I was really happy to see her return, and this novel was still a surprise. The plot / mystery is not that mysterious (though it is well constructed, the pacing does take some getting used to), but the writing on sentence level is just wonderful, and I loved the characters and their ways of looking at the world. Agnes has this moment of thinking about kindness of strange women - or, more accurately, neighbours - and it took my breath away. And I was surprised, in a good way, by the solidarity and hope Beutner manages to imbue this book with. There is life after loss, and women can build each other up.

Warnings should be heeded re: violence, both cruelty to humans (children in particular) and animals (vivisection is a significant theme and I confess, there were moments that chilled me to the bone).

[bookishcharli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If someone could give me all the books based off of real life events that would be GREAT. There’s just something about them that can’t do any wrong to me. I’d never hard of the town of Killingly so was excited to read this book and learn about the events of the unsolved missing persons case. I found I really gelled with the writing style for this one, as you can tell the author did their research on not only the mystery but the time period too (1890’s), especially when it comes to women’s rights (or lack thereof).

The plot was great and the pacing was fantastic. I was fully immersed in this atmospheric read and found it incredibly difficult to put it down once I’d started. I’ll definitely be picking up this author’s back catalogue and future books.

[Krutika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killingly by Katharine Beutner is loosely based on the disappearance of Bertha Mellish back in 1897 from Mount Holyoke College. A few characters are real and some have been fictionalised to suit the story. The book begins with Bertha missing and slowly makes its way to reveal the mystery. The story is solely run by two women, Florence Mellish (sister of Bertha) and Agnes (Bertha’s friend). As is expected in 19th century, women were easily pushed to the side and every action by them had severe consequences. Reputation and dignity were treasured and Katharine has cleverly used this facet to structure her novel.

Killingly is a slow burn murder mystery but at its core is a staunch feminist novel. The men who appear in this book are rarely good. The devious Mellish family doctor, Mister Hammond and Florence’s own father, Reverend John play ominous roles. While Florence, Dr Hammond and Detective Higham are restless to find out what exactly happened to Bertha, Agnes suffers with her conscience. Katharine has breathed life to the book through her writing style that aptly suited that period. It is a well researched novel, one that gives an abundance of importance to the characters.

I often felt that the book could have been cut short without the plot being dragged incessantly. There were few queer references but it was never confirmed. The unnecessary letters that were exchanged between some of the characters didn’t do much to the story. In spite of these flaws, I’m quite looking forward to reading Beutner’s future books. If you are looking for a gothic murder novel, this one may just be up your alley.

Thanks for the copy @penguinindia ✨

[Ashli Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5*

“the whole house contained memories of hurt and joy layered endlessly over one another, like wallpaper pressed continually over older patterns.”

a slow explorative tale of young women and the lengths they’ll go to in order to protect themselves. what they’ll do to live and die with their own choices rather than ones forced upon them by society and men. a boarding school filled with girls trying to gain an education in a world that tells them their biggest importance will always be motherhood and taking care of a husband.

I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would, I think because I was listening to it as an audiobook I was hooked into the elaborate storytelling with beautiful setting more than I would’ve been if I had read it. don’t get me wrong, the plot is painfully slow and even when things are happening it isn’t in a way that’s take your breath away shocking, but it’s subtle. It’s aching and low and thoughtful. I liked seeing how the lives of the students intertwined with one another, I liked getting the history of side characters and the impact of this missing girl on them.

usually plots like this are ones I grow tired of rather quickly, but it worked well here for me.

[Rebecca Brenner Graham · Rating 1 out of 5]

best part is that it takes place at Mount Holyoke. besides that idk

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but deeply depressing imagining of what might have happened to Bertha Mellish, a student at Mt Holyoke who went missing in 1897 and whose fate was never determined.

Fictionalized True Crime is tough because in order to create a satisfying narrative, the author pretty much has to “solve” a mystery that was deemed unsolvable in real life.

Beutner did well here giving us a plausible and interesting though exceptionally sad suggestion of what might have befallen Bertha.

The pacing and storytelling here are good, and though my enjoyment of this was greatly tempered by all of the “ick factor” stuff going on with Bertha’s family, her conclusions are viable and I really liked the close examination of Bertha’s life and relationships at college.

I wish an author’s note detailing what was true and what was invented had been included. There is some information available if you research it, but a note at the end of the book would have been welcome and almost feels necessary when fictionalizing an unsolved mystery.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is discussions of dissection, animal and human. Also self harm and incest, so be wary if these things bother you.

Bertha has disappeared from Holyoake College and everyone seems to be hiding secrets. Especially her roommate, Agnes Sullivan, a pre med student. Her sister Florence is trying hard to figure it out, but she has secrets as well.

Although its not stated, there are queer undertones, but since the author took tiny bits of facts and expanded on it, what is fact or fiction is not clear. What is true is Bertha Mellish was never found.

[Jonas Short · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I’ve read in recent years. Part historical fiction, part tragedy, part detective story, it defies genre in order to forge a unique story of love, loss, and womanhood at the turn of the last century. The interconnected stories of Agnes, Bertha, and Florence as they experiences and encountered myriad traumas at the hands of fellow women and lecherous men. A tour de force and a must read, even if it’s not an easy read.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really tried to like this one, but the plot was just too implausible and convoluted for me. couldn’t manage to find a sympathetic or redeemable character either. I did appreciate the author’s creativity in crafting a fictional world around a real-life event, but the overall execution was lacking.

[Joleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this. immediately, I was obsessed with this premise. a book based on a real unsolved disappearance in Massachusetts – say less. and I was NOT disappointed! Beutner has done a marvelous job crafting a fictional explanation to Bertha Mellish’s 1897 disappearance from Mount Holyoke College. HER MANUSCRIPT BEING REAL & HOW ITS TIED INTO THE STORY?!?! pure gold. this is definitely a character-driven plot and there is little on-page action, but I was still engaged throughout. I rarely read about such quietly determined female leads like Agnes who aren’t reduced to a stereotype by the story’s end, so bravo to that. this book has such beautiful, deliberate prose too. clearly very well researched. I was fascinated by the historical setting/social politics as much as I was the actual mystery. and while I usually hate a male pov, it was so intriguing to read Hammond’s selfish, possessive obsession with Bertha’s disappearance, and so key to delivering this story properly as well. THE CAT ANALOGY!!! I could have done without the detective’s pov though. I will say that some awful things happen to the female leads in this, but I always felt as if the author was respectful towards her characters. there were no gruesome details added just for shock factor. it’s all meant to portray the emotional struggles of women living in a society that hates them so fiercely.

[Leah M]

Thank you to libro.fm for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook. I am providing my honest opinion voluntarily.

DNF @ 26%.

I was so interested in the exploration of an unsolved disappearance from over a century ago, especially since I've been so into true crime stories, even when they don't solve the cold case.

However, this was light years away from what I was expecting. The story didn't really seem to be very plot-driven, but it wasn't exactly character-driven either (at least up to the point where I read). We're tossed into the search after the student has gone missing, with no opportunity to see her life or bond with her at all. Then we're introduced to a ton of characters, but they're all so flat that none really stand out. I was constantly getting everyone mixed up, but the biggest issue was that I found myself getting bored and not wanting to go any further in the story, so I ended up DNFing it.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed to narration of this book. Her voice is clear and concise, and makes it easy to understand with her accent, even with a 1.5 speed. The story itself takes place in the late 1800’s and is about a young woman who goes missing. The writing was pretty good but I found the characters and storyline to be pretty predictable. There were a few aspects of the story that I found surprising and caught my attention, but unfortunately I didn’t really feel a deep connection to any of the characters. You may enjoy this book if you’re into historical fiction and mysteries, but for me it didn’t hold my attention like I’d want it to.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - I really appreciated the time and research the author clearly put into it and was very interested in the plot but it was definitely sort of slow and really stretched out a bit too long at points.

as a Mount Holyoke alum the descriptions of the campus and life there was very touching to me!

[mckenzie rendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

do not understand the hate for this, i really enjoyed it!!! while i do think parts of this were a little too slow and dragged, overall the payout is worth it. the little tidbits of information dropped throughout that slowly add up to reveal the truth was GREAT! only other complaint is that i did not shoot hammond in the face myself, otherwise a great read! thx joleen