The Burial Plot, Elizabeth Mcneal - Lea & Paige
Both Lea and I (Paige) read an ARC of The Burial Plot, so I’ve gone ahead and merged them into one piece so that you can hear both our perspectives side-by-side. Enjoy!
From the first line on the back of the book, Lea was hooked: “Where the cemeteries are full and there is money to be made in death…”
In the early 1800s, burial sites in London are overflowing with corpses, and if you’ve got the stomach for it, there’s a pretty penny to be earned. That’s how Bonnie passes her days with her partner and boyfriend, Crawford. But when a trick goes awry, Bonnie has to flee central London and hide out as a lady’s maid in a manor house, run by recent widower Mr Moncrieff. Here, the strange death of the Lady of the manor has cast a shadow on everyone, especially on Mr Moncrieff and Cissie, their peculiar daughter. As Bonnie’s role in the household evolves and Crawford arrives on the scene again, you find yourself wondering: is Crawford who he says he is? Why did he choose this particular place to send Bonnie to? What is he really up to?
Lea initially struggled to get into the book, whereas Paige was hooked from the first page. But they’re in total agreement that the atmosphere of the book was strong throughout. Lea liked best that it captured the time of the period very well. “I actually saw the house, the carriages, the clothes as I was reading. I was there.” Building on that, Paige thought that the world building was surprisingly thorough considering the writing and descriptions were less floral than the average historical fiction. This made the story much pacier than anticipated! Lea describes the plot as intriguing, leaving the reader wondering more and more: where is this going?
Paige anticipated one of the twists: “It seemed fairly straight-forward as a development from quite early. But the author managed to knock me sideways with three other twists that I NEVER would have guessed! It was a really exciting read.” Lea also said the twist was a surprise as well, describing the story of one with love, jealousy, murder, intrigue, and mystery all coming together.
In balance, the book wasn’t perfection. Paige said, “A more even balance of plot and character may have made this story a bit stronger for me. For example, I absolutely adored Mr Moncrieff’s daughter, Cissie (I suspect she’s autistic!) but I think greater development for supporting characters would have made the whole book a little more juicy. After all we were trying to work out who to trust, and a couple more red herrings wouldn’t have hurt.” And though Lea said it was slow going to begin with, it certainly won’t keep her from picking up Elizabeth Macneal’s two other novels.
Overall, if you pick this one up, you won’t regret it. It’s pacy, exciting, mysterious, atmospheric, and has a hugely satisfying end. But to begin with, you’ll be screaming alongside Lea and Paige for Bonnie to wake up and smell the lies!
Lea & Paige
