First Lines Friday | 8/16/24 – Adventures in Literature

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
Finally… reveal the book!

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We finally made it to Friday and I couldn’t be more excited! I’m currently reading a few books that I’m looking forward to finishing up over the weekend. Long stretches of uninterrupted reading time….

But, as it’s Friday let’s dive into this week’s FIRST LINES FRIDAY. Today, I’m featuring an Emma Knightley (Jane Austen) retelling that features a witty murder mystery in the small village of Highbury. Have you guessed the book yet?

Well keep on reading!!

Now onto FIRST LINES FRIDAY!

Emma Knightley fancied herself quite adept at managing awkward social situations. Murder, however, was not one of them, especially murder in their village church. Those circumstances struck her as particularly awkward.

“Is she dead?” Harriet Martin asked in a horrified whisper.

Emma took a hesitant step toward the crumpled heap lying on the shallow steps that led up to the chancel. Steeling herself, she leaned down to press two fingers to the woman’s exposed wrist and felt for a pulse.

First Lines Friday reveal…….

Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly

Coming October 22, 2024

Preorder Now

First in a captivating new series, Jane Austen’s Emma Knightley entertains a different role in Highbury—going from clever matchmaker to Regency England’s shrewdest sleuth.

Less than one year into her marriage to respected magistrate George Knightley, Emma has grown unusually content in her newfound partnership and refreshed sense of independence. The height of summer sees the former Miss Woodhouse gracefully balancing the meticulous management of her elegant family estate and a flurry of social engagements, with few worries apart from her beloved father’s health . . .  

But cheery circumstances change in an instant when Emma and Harriet Martin, now the wife of one of Mr. Knightley’s tenant farmers, discover a hideous shock at the local church. The corpse of Mrs. Augusta Elton, the vicar’s wife, has been discarded on the altar steps—the ornate necklace she often wore stripped from her neck . . .  

As a chilling murder mystery blooms and chaos descends upon the tranquil village of Highbury, the question isn’t simply who committed the crime, but who wasn’t secretly wishing for the unpleasant woman’s demise. When suspicions suddenly fall on a harmless local, Emma—armed with wit, unwavering determination, and extensive social connections—realizes she must discreetly navigate an investigation of her own to protect the innocent and expose the ruthless culprit hiding in plain sight.