Basically, this whole book is a retelling of the trope: "our heroine's parents die and now she needs to go live with far flung crazy relatives, but she is a plucky woman and will civilize them and make their lives better". To be honest, I have no problems with this trope; I like a story where everything's broken and the main character fixes everything. However, this one just felt just slightly _off_. For starters, the main character is a "modern" woman (for 1894) who not only has friends she could stay with, but also could presumably get a job. Because of this, I just couldn't figure out why she did what she did and the trope only works if the heroine has no other options. Other than that, this was a fun read. I just wish that the backstory made more sense.

Sometimes I have the most delightful reading adventures when I eschew all the details and simply dive into a book because a title or a cover caught my eye. Misery Hates Company simply fascinated me for a title and I launched in with no idea to genre, blurb, or friendly recommendation. What a smashing surprise this turned out to be.

Misery Hates Company turned out to be a little bit of historical mystery mingled with a retelling of Stella Gibbons‘ scream of a classical historical comedy Cold Comfort Farms.

Marigold Manners is larger than life and an amusing sole narrator of the story. Her parents flitted about the globe spending and living high while Marigold confounded them with her interest in studying at Wellesley and choosing to become a classical scholar and hoped to go into archeology. But, with their death, she is not surprised to learn that there is barely a competence for her to live on and she needs to step away from her college endeavors to find a way to earn a living.
Her best friend, Isabelle, a wealthy fashionable Boston society diva wants her to stay with her. Marigold has enough pride to say she’ll go it alone, but first she must satisfy curiosity by responding to one of a handful of extended family offers to stay with them. The intriguing letter from her mother’s cousin on Great Misery Island has her leaving behind glittering society for rustic island life and the oddest family of whom anyone can boast, the cursed Hacketts. Marigold is a modern, managing sort, but even she is challenged by her cousin’s creepy and hostile household in a dirty, decrepid farmhouse.

I loved the gothic atmosphere Elizabeth Hobbs created in this New England setting and American Gilded Age backdrop. It smacked of authenticity right down to the local dialogue, but also had entertaining, larger than life eccentric characters in Marigold and her Hackett family among a varied cast of characters from all strata of local society.

The mystery comes on gradually in the background with Marigold’s intro to her family and figuring out how to manage their situation to amusing results taking up the bulk of the story. Marigold’s own personality is revealed and developed as the story progresses. She’s got a strong character and big plans, but there is that vulnerability that her gentleman friend, Cab, brings out.

Misery Hates Company stands alone, but also has a feel of being the launchpad for further adventures in managing and mystery for Marigold. I really hope there is more. This sparkled and will be a standout read of the year for me.

I’ve not yet read "Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons, so I can’t assess if this retelling with a murder mystery twist does the original justice, but I can definitely say I enjoyed this story of Miss Marigold Manners meeting relatives she didn’t know she had, and finding ways to have a big impact on all their lives.

After the influenza deaths of her parents, Marigold discovers her parents used up all their inheritance, leaving little for her, and nixing her plans to head to Greece for an archaeological dig. The Manners’ lawyers contact all known relatives, asking who would be willing to take her in, and the Hatchetts of Misery Island (25 miles from her home of Boston) invite her, saying it’s time to right a wrong against Esmé, Marigold’s mother.

She finds a house and farm beyone dirty and in poor shape, while the residents are resentful, suspicious of her and not happy she’s descended on them.

Irrepressible, plucky and always positive, Marigold rolls up her sleeves and begins cleaning, first the kitchen, then the laundry. With each change, her cousins Daisy, Seviah, and Wilbert warm up to her, as she finds ways to connect with them and their interests or passions, while aunt Sophronia keeps implying she’ll reveal the truth, but instead dispenses cryptic statements. Sophronia’s husband, the insufferable, bible-quoting and always close to violence Ellery scares Marigold, while her grandmother Ava hides out in her room all day.

When Ellery is found dead in an herb garden Marigold created, suspicion falls on her, as she had threatened him when he attempted to destroy her plantings. Luckily, Marigold has made friends both on Misery and on the mainland, and a potential beau, Cab Cox, has shown up who happens to be a lawyer. Marigold begins digging, in earnest, into the history of her relatives and their rivals, and gradually unearths some deeply shocking facts about her family, while also solving the mystery.

I don't know whether it was Marigold's can-do attitude to everything, her kindness and respect for others, her sometimes amusing phrasing, the intriguing characters, or the mystery at the heart of her life, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The plot moves quickly, and even though author Elizabeth Hobbs introduces several characters, many with secrets and motives for murder, I never felt lost or bored. I particularly enjoyed the way the dialogue echoed that of people who would have lived during this period, and there is a snappiness to it, particularly when Marigold is interacting with people similar in age to her, that I really liked.

I liked the way the story diverted from the bones of Gibbons' original, to explain the reasons for the Hatchetts' isolation and strangeness, the mistrust amongst the inhabitants of the town for them, and the various missing people mentioned throughout this novel.

Marigold is a joy, and I loved her assertiveness, her plans for her future, and the way things were left off with her beau. I do wonder if there will be more to Marigold's story eventually, as I would love to watch her "manage" others as she works towards her goal of becoming an archaeologist.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Crooked Lane Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Great premise, but the story’s execution just didn’t work for me.

Reasons:

I did not like Marigold, who is our only narrating character. The defining word that kept coming to my mind was “haughty.” Every now and then she’d do something that made me like her a little, but it didn’t stick.

The pace is sluggish.

The murder mystery aspect doesn’t begin until 70% into the book. It drives me crazy when a major event is given away in the synopsis that doesn’t even happen until near the end. So the final third is where the mystery comes in. Before that, we spend a lot of time with Marigold correcting people, judging people, fixing people, and generally proving how much better and how much smarter she is.

The rest of the characters are over-the-top weird and unlikable. They’re also background props to make Marigold look good.

This all tries to turn itself around in that final third, but it was too little too late.

Of course, this is only my opinion. Others have enjoyed this one, and you might too.

*Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for the free eARC, provided via NetGalley.*

Marigold has been left destitute and when an invitation arrives to visit a hitherto unheard of relation, she decides to do so hoping for an adventure and a better future. She did not envisage a crumbling pile, Gothic influenced relations, feudal family control and a family who had deliberately cut themselves off from the community and who lived in squalid splendor.

Setting to clear out the physical mess as well as the secrets of the family was an arduous process but one which Marigold was determined to undertake. There is plenty of malice buried for generations and murder as well.

Plenty to keep you interested, a good commentary on the social norms at the time.

This was not a book I enjoyed. I usually like the books by the publisher but this has very unlikeable characters and I was not able to finish the book. Since I didn't read it all the way through, I cannot provide a more detailed review.

Cozy murder mystery with a twist that almost broke my brain.

Marigold Manners estranged parents died leaving her penniless, causing her to drop out of college and, temporarily, delay her plans to go to Greece for an archeological expedition. Instead, she has to rely on the hospitality, or inhospitality, of distant relatives who live on Misery Island-- a real place off the coast of the North Shore of Massachusetts.

Misery Island is packed with Marigold's miserable cousins but she is determined to make life on the island better, and when Marigold is determined, there is no stopping her. She makes quick work of cleaning the place up, making friend with her cousins, and winning over the people on the mainland.

This was a fun cozy mystery that starts with a dead body and ends with a... no spoilers. I loved that there was a little bit of romance and the colorful cast of supporting characters. There was a twist at the end of the book that pulled me out of the story but I think that many people may enjoy it more. Overall it was a fun read, perfect for a quiet afternoon, a warm blanket, and a cup of tea.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Elizabeth Hobbs, and Netgalley for the e-ARC of Misery Hates Company in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Elizabeth Hobbs for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Misery Hates Company coming out November 5, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I read this was supposed to be an adaptation of Cold Comfort Farm. I’ve only seen the movie and I was obsessed with that. I didn’t quite see the connection with this book. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, but then I wasn’t quite on board with Marigold’s character progression. There were some things I didn’t like about her character. The ending wasn’t my favorite. I would check out other books by this author though.

I did not know what to expect, but it wasn't a New England-ish Cold Comfort Farm with mystery and murder thrown in! What a cast of characters Marigold meets on Great Misery Island when she visits recently found relatives. She is a New Woman and is determined to forge her own path forward after her parents' deaths. Marigold is an interesting mix of Flora from Cold Comfort Farm and Emma Woodhouse from Emma. Great Misery is much more intimidating and dangerous though than either of those heroines experienced. This is a compelling story!

I know a number of reviewers enjoyed this book, I’m sorry but this wasn’t for me. I did finish the book and I must admit I found the latter part of the book to be more engaging. I did like the main character of Marigold, she was quite managing with her relatives but she did have their best interests at heart. There were some happy outcomes but I couldn’t understand why Marigold wasn’t told the secret earlier. On the whole though, I found it to be a bit depressing, which is not something I look for in a book, especially on a dull November day. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this arc.

When I read and decided to request an arc for this book, the first sentence read “A young woman is invited to a mysterious relative’s estate and winds up entangled in a murder investigation in this witty historical mystery that pits the gothic eeriness of Crimson Peak against the comic absurdities of Cold Comfort Farm.” It was the bit about “Cold Comfort Farm” that reeled me in.

How readers take to Marigold will depend on how much they like managing characters. She is modern for her time, intelligent, well educated, and quickly sees beneath the outward camouflage of what people present to her. Or thinks she does. The inhabitants of Great Misery are just as astonished at Marigold as she is with them. But few are initially happy she came and not all of them are eventually happy at her interventions.

Marigold is adept at putting two and two together and realizing what is causing her relations to act as they do as well as devising solutions that will give them what they want. Her Boston friend mutters to her about her interference but Marigold shoots back that she is just facilitating things and giving her family the choice. After weeks there though, she still hasn’t learned what “great wrong” was done to her mother.

All along, there have been bits and pieces dropped about a missing woman, who turns up dead, and the possibility that there are more dead girls. The creepy atmosphere on the island gets creepier and finally a dead body appears. The list of people who wanted this person dead is wide but of course Marigold, with her interfering ways, is initially fingered for the crime. This is where the plot gets much, much darker. All the truly creepy elements are brought together to determine the murderer, the reasons for this murder, and what was done to the missing girls. Marigold finally (!) learns what the wrong done to her family is and it’s convoluted, sad, and one that truly reaches across generations.

Marigold learns not only things about her family’s past but more about herself. To say that all this shocks her is an understatement. And yet there she also remains true to a core element of herself. I was both pleased as well as frustrated about this. Most of the characters will probably alternately entertain and annoy readers. The book took awhile to fully engage me but once I was, I zipped through it to learn its secrets. B

Though Marigold Manners family is an old one, she is not surprised to learn upon her parents deaths that they have left her nothing. So her lawyer sends out letters to the furthest reaches of her family and a letter comes back from her mother's cousin, Sophronia, inviting Marigold to Great Misery, an island near Salem. Once she arrives though, things start to become eerie. Almost everyone she meets on the way out to the island tells her she shouldn't want to go there. And she immediately starts to wonder when she gets there. There are arguments and talks of a curse. And something in the ocean that looks like a woman. It very well may have been a woman because it seems like there have been many dead young women washing up on the shore.
With a family that is as antagonistic as they are "not right," Marigold has a hard road to climb.
This story was set up as a mystery and it was more of a thriller. Marigold and the atmosphere were both well-developed but other characters felt a bit thin. The ending was a bit out of left field for me but I overall liked the book more than not and think later books by Hobbs may be more enjoyable.

Three stars
This book comes out November 5, 2024
ARC kindly provided by Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I really wasn't sure what to make of this story. It just seemed more silly than anything and not eccentric or quirky as the author seemed to be trying for. Also I just didn't take to the characters including Marigold who was just so awful and full of herself. This meant I lost interest and didn't really care who died, who the murderer was or what happened in general. A total miss for me I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Broke after her parents’ deaths, Boston socialite Marigold goes to stay with estranged relatives on a gothic New England estate. Her attempts to modernize her reclusive family’s lives lead to chaos, murder, and accusations against her. With eccentric friends by her side, Marigold must solve the crime and confront shocking secrets that threaten her very identity.

I liked Marigold and the ironic tone of the book. The combination of irony and the Gothic setting didn’t work for me. The setting was less Gothic and more strange and off-putting. It was difficult to understand the motivations of the characters.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

When her parents die of influenza, Marigold Manners learns that they have left her penniless. She is forced to withdrawal from school and abandon her plans to join an archaeological expedition in Greece, and at the attorney’s suggestion, she writes to relatives. With no desire to live off the generosity of her dear friend Isabella Dana, Marigold accepts an intriguing invitation to visit her mother’s cousin on the island of Great Misery, Massachusetts. Marigold has never heard of Sophronia Hatchet, but the island is not that far from Boston, and she can’t ignore the cryptic message Sophronia sent her.

She optimistically sets out for Great Misery but was totally unprepared for the cold and even hostile reception she is met with from the family nor the filthy and desolate house. But ever the problem solver, Marigold doesn’t let their behavior affect her and sets out to clean the house and get to know her cousins. Slowly Marigold breaks though the walls her family has erected and then sets out to help them achieve their dreams. She is further surprised when she finds her old friend (and something of a secret crush) Jonathan “Cab” Cox on the mainland. Cab is there to help his uncle with a legal matter, a request he took knowing Marigold was staying nearby. But it turns out that Marigold will be the one in need of his legal assistance when a body turns up in her garden and she is the prime suspect!

This was a very well written novel, but I don’t know if I would really call it a mystery, it read more like historical women’s fiction with a murder and lots of surprising and interesting twists, along with a budding romance. Overall, this was an interesting, well written story with lots of intrigue, wonderful characters, complex relationships, lots of twists, shocking revelations and a murder. I would definitely read the next installment and would happily recommend this title to those who enjoy a slightly dark, intriguing read.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Hobbs' début is funny and written with great wit. I should have loved it, but I didn't, even though it's lauded as a combo of Crimson Peak (don't know this) and Knives Out (meh). I would disagree: I think Hobbs is definitely nodding to Stella Gibson's Cold Comfort Farm here, à la New England. Quite clever and well done. So, what turned me off my read? I think the style is so clever, so witty, it is distancing. I never could approach the story, or be immersed in it because I kept thinking how clever its author was. Which, you know, it's a compliment and take it. But I still didn't enjoy reading this as a sink-into I love it book. And I really thought I would.

I really am not sure what I feel about this book! I have not read Cold Comfort Farm for many years but this seems to be a very close copy of that book right down to each of the main characters. Maybe this was deliberate. I will have to check!

Anyway Misery Hates Company is a readable book in its own right even if some of the characters, including Miss Manners, were a little too much to take. The Boston setting was well done as were the attitudes of the day to working women.

An entertaining historical read about the intrepid Marigold, who, upon finding herself both orphaned and penniless, takes off to Misery Island where she finds a cast of unlikely and unlikable characters. She's determined to make the best of it, though, and quickly asserts herself. And then there's a murder. This goes in multiple directions, with the mystery probably last on the list. That's not to say, however that it's not a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Hobbs is a good storyteller and I'm curious where she plans to take this next.

An Interesting Whodunnit.
A murder mystery set on the island of Great Misery, with a 1920’s feel even though set in 1894. Marigold Manners is a bright young thing, with ambition and goals which are stymied when she is left practically penniless by the deaths of her profligate parents. A letter from a stranger sets her on a course which will turn her life even more upside down when she uncovers some long buried secrets.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a delightful and twisted read! Misery Hates Company combines gothic intrigue with humor and mystery, making it feel like Crimson Peak meets Knives Out. Marigold Manners, the sharp and resourceful heroine, is everything you want in a main character—poised, witty, and unflinchingly determined. When she heads to the eerie Hatchet Farm on Great Misery Island, she’s met with murder, mystery, and a family full of secrets. The quirky cast and Marigold’s no-nonsense attitude add a fresh spin to the classic “whodunit” as she faces suspicion and danger. This book is clever, fun, and absolutely brimming with gothic charm!