Historical Mystery Review: Of Hoaxes and Homicide | Anastasia Hastings

“It is a sad day, indeed, when even an orgy does not interest me.”

From the opening line, it’s clear that Anastasia Hastings’s Of Hoaxes and Homicide will be titillating and delightful to read. An engaging historical mystery centered around two half-sisters, a cult, and a murder.

Review | Of Hoaxes and Homicide

The second book in a series where I didn’t read the first, I had no issue jumping into this one without context. Within the first two chapters, Hastings provides a good introduction to the two sisters and how they came to be living on their own at their aunt’s estate, as well as who Miss Hermione is and how it came to be. I imagine the first book delved into these events much more, but I wouldn’t have known I missed anything because I was so engaged from page one in the new story.

Sephora is bored with a capital B. She tries to engage her mind in reading or talking to her half-sister Violet (who she finds rather tedious), but she misses the excitement of solving a mystery, chasing down clues, and unmasking a murderer. It turns out, Violet misses the excitement of solving a mystery too—she just hides it better for the sake of her reputation.

“As a proper lady, I was schooled by my late mama in the well-timed sigh. After long years of practice, I know how to employ the sound to convey longing and express yearning. I appreciate how, used efficiently and with just a modicum of emotion, it might hasten the end of a boring conversation or prolong a favored suitor’s goodbyes, I had never, though, felt it communicate so thoroughly the fact that I was totally, completely, and utterly bored.”

Violet is keeping a secret from her younger sister, Sephora. She has been serving as “Miss Hermione”—the agony aunt who offers advice in a women’s magazine. Sephora has no clue that the anonymous advice giver she has admired for so long was formerly her own aunt Adelia (whose estate the sisters now occupy). When Adelia left with her paramour to pursue an adventure overseas, she left her home and her identity in the hands of Violet. Sephora doesn’t know that her uptight sister Violet is actually Miss Hermione.

When Miss Hermione receives a letter from a woman worried that her daughter has been drawn into a cult called the Hermetic Order of the Children of Aed, she is immediately shocked. The young lady embroiled in the cult is none other than Sephora’s close friend, Margaret. The cult is surrounded by rumors of human sacrifices, magic, orgies, and a ghost in the Abbey where the cult resides.

The cult is the subject of much gossip around town, spurned in part by a novel about the group written by the anonymous surname, Count Orlando. Violet keeps the letter’s contents from Sephora and sets off to the Children’s compound at the Abbey to convince Margaret to come home. But soon after arriving, she is thwarted by a matching ceremony pairing Margaret off with a man who goes by the name Sage in the cult (Margaret confusingly begins to be called Hestia).

When Sage is found murdered and the poison used to take his life is discovered in Margaret’s belongings, Violet knows she must help solve the murder and free Margaret for a crime she has been falsely accused of.

The book is more heavily balanced towards Violet’s narrative than Sephora’s. This is in part logistical since Violet is the one staying at the cult compound and so she is central to the events of the book. Sephora is somewhat out of the loop and is unaware her sister had received the letter to Miss Hermione and was following it. I also suspect that the author favors Violet more than Sephora.

Violet is often portrayed as the smart, wily, diligent one who is more capable of solving a murder. But I think that is a disservice to Sephora, who is portrayed as the more frivolous sister, but who I found to be quite bold and intelligent in her own right. She is much more inclined to action than Violet, and she picks up on more than she is given credit for. I did think she got some redemption by the end of the story for both the reader and from Violet herself.

The mystery is engaging and the cult was fascinating. It’s clear early on that the cult is most interested in wealthy members and their dowry they offer in exchange for being matched and staying in the cult. Margaret seems to have joined the cult initially because she loved a man who was in it, but later she seems to have been charmed by the leader and is staying of her own volition (this is particularly apparent when she is matched to someone other than the man she loves, and she goes along with it willingly).

There were plenty of twists and turns along the way. Sephora’s storyline involves Bunty, the maid and motherly figure to the sisters, and I loved learning more about Bunty’s life and story. Violet’s chapters center around the cult and were equally engaging. The conclusion was satisfying, the writing was pithy, and the story is kept tight with no extraneous chapters or lengthy passages to detract from the mystery.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Summary | Of Hoaxes and Homicide

“Dear Miss Hermione—what is a mother to do?”

Sensible Violet Manville and her very ladylike half-sister Sephora are absolutely bored, thank you very much. And though neither of them would ever admit it aloud, they’re missing the thrill of playing detective.

So when Violet receives a letter from “A Heartbroken Mother” sent to her alter-ego, the Agony Aunt known to the world only as Miss Hermione, her pulse can’t help but quicken. The daughter in question has gotten caught up in a cult: the Hermetic Order of the Children of Aed. Rumors of human sacrifices, mystical doings, and a ghost in the ruined Alburn Abbey where the Children pray have gripped the public conscious, helped along by a series of novels about the group, written by the mysterious Count Orlando, and clearly this girl has fallen prey.

Miss Hermione’s investigation soon collides with very real life when Violet discovers that the runaway daughter in question is Sephora’s dearest friend Margaret. Violet sets off to the Children’s compound in Nottintham to convince her to return to London. But with the dashing-but-frustrating Eli Marsh running around and a member of the Children found poisoned to death, Violet and Sephora—along with their ever-trusty housekeeper Bunty—may have more intrigue than they can manage. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

About the Author | Anastasia Hastings

Anastasia Hastings is one of many pen names used by mystery author

Kylie Logan’s Jazz Ramsey mysteries are set in Cleveland and follow the story of Jazz who has a volunteer passion she loves–she trains and handles cadaver dogs.  They are traditional mysteries which means that like the neighborhood where Jazz lives, the books are a little dark, a bit edgy

Casey Daniels writes the Pepper Martin mysteries with tongue firmly in cheek.  Pepper is chic, sassy, and savvy.  She also has a gift she’d like to return.  She talks to the dead, and solves mysteries for them at the historic cemetery where she works.

Lucy Ness, on the other hand, gives readers stories that are warmer and cozier.  They’re centered on Avery Morgan who gets a job managing a grand women’s club and discovers the ghost of a flapper in the old basement speakeasy.

Mimi Granger is digging into her romance roots and mixing in some mystery mojo for the Love is Murder mysteries.  Watch for the first book, “Death of a Red Hot Rancher.”

What these books have in common is that they’re all mysteries.

Anastasia learned to love a good who-dunnit early thanks to her dad, a Cleveland Police detective who enjoyed Sherlock Holmes stories and spent many of his days off searching for stolen cars. Later, she read her way through every mystery at the library.  Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, and Elizabeth Peters are among her favorites.

Anastasia has a degree in English, experience in journalism, and a love for old cemeteries, dusty archives, the paranormal, and digging into family roots.

She lives with her husband, David, and their dogs. Anastasia enjoys cross stitch, knitting, weaving, stomping through cemeteries, gardening, and sitting on the porch and watching the hummingbirds while she plans her next murder.