There Must be Murder - Margaret Sullivan

Summary: Henry and Catherine Tilney are content with their married life: a comfortable parsonage, their dogs, and one another. The idea of returning to Bath a year after they first met there seems like it can only add to their happiness; but Catherine finds that Bath still carries social dangers that she must learn to navigate. What is the nature of Henry's past relationship with a beautiful young woman? Why is a rakish baronet paying Catherine such particular attention? Is General Tilney going to marry the woman known in Bath as The Merry Widow—and what did she have to do with her husband's death? And will Henry ever be able to keep his Newfoundland out of the river? Revisit the winter pleasures of Georgian Bath with your favorite characters from Jane Austen's hilarious Northanger Abbey, and prepare for a bit of romance, a bit of mystery, and a very nice story indeed! (Summary Source: Amazon)

Comments: I must say in the beginning, I love the way Mags writes, so take my effusions with a grain of salt if you must, but this is just such a wonderful story. Ms. Sullivan retains the main characters of the Tilney clan, which now includes Catherine Morland, as the wife of the Reverend Henry Tilney of Woodston parish, and adds a new family known to the Tilneys, the Beauclerks, and some strong supporting characters.

Henry suggests to Catherine that they return to Bath on the anniversary of the day they met there one year previously. Traveling with MacGuffin, their Newfoundland, and Matthew, Henry's very intelligent and subtle clerk/groom, the couple venture to Bath. Unexpectedly, they meet General Tilney, Henry's less than delightful father, who is there with the intention, it appears, of courting Lady Beauclerk, a widowed friend of the family who inherited a good deal of money on her husband's recent death. Eleanor, Henry's sister, and her husband (Viscount) Lord Whiting, are also in Bath so perhaps all is not lost in the trip. Lord Whiting is charming, funny, and rather blunt. Eleanor is charming as ever and kind almost to a fault.
Lady Beauclerk has taken a place in Bath with her still unmarried though etherial daughter, Miss Beauclerk whose beauty and charm are enough to make poor Catherine feel clunky in comparison. Thankfully, Henry is always Henry and there is no hint that he's interested in Miss Beauclerk and does his best to reassure Catherine. Catherine is also introduced to Philip Beauclerk, the nephew of Lady Beauclerk, who will inherit the Beauclerk estate.

Catherine must learn how not to let her love of Gothic mysteries get the better of her (as it did in Northanger Abbey) when Old Lord Beauclerk's slightly odd sister accuses Lady Beauclerk and Miss Beauclerk of killing their husband/father. 

Mags has crafted some charming characters including Matthew, who is intelligent, and a skilled "spy" for Henry. Lord Whiting is so real that when I last read Northanger Abbey, I expected him to be in the story.  Henry and Catherine are true to their characters, though perhaps Catherine is a bit wiser now. Would I be too terrible if I said one of my favorite characters is MacGuffin? I hope not. The illustrations are wonderful - Great job - Cassandra Chouinard. This is a great story and I highly recommend it.

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Summary: Seventeen year-old daughter of a clergyman, Catherine Morland, leaves her small community with friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen for her first trip to Bath. While there Catherine is introduced to the charming Henry Tilney and becomes friends with his sister Eleanor. She also meets the daughter and son of an old friend of Mrs. Allen, Isabella and John Thorpe. General Tilney invites Catherine to spend time with his daughter Eleanor at their home in Northanger Abbey.

Comments (some spoilers): I came to Northanger Abbey rather late... ie. There was nothing left of Miss Austen's to read but this, so I read it. The first time, I wasn't sure what I thought - it seemed a bit silly, but the second time I started to see that Catherine was an experiment. Described early on as basically a tom boy, she was not set out to do great things, but as she grew older, she became a sweet girl who wanted to look for something new. She was so young and so naieve, but she was slowly learning, sometimes the hard way, what the world was about. She's also been very influenced by her recent reading of Gothic novels. She has an internal strength that won't let Isabella or John Thorpe or even her beloved brother make her do the improper thing. She has a devotion to Henry Tilney that of course makes it easy for him to love her and a love of Eleanor Tilney as the type of true friend worth having. Were she a bit older, she might be more like Elizabeth Bennet. If that were the case, she would have seen through Isabella very early on, but Catherine has seen so little of the world, that it just wasn't possible. Just like her inability to understand why Captain Tilney acts in the way that he does when it seems so very clear to her that he is in the wrong. But she also has the ability to manage to get home from Northanger Abbey alone when the time abruptly comes. 

I just love the description of Mrs. Allen. "Mrs. Allen was one of that numerous class of females, whose society can raise no other emotion than surprise at there being any men in the world who could like them well enough to marry them." Her fascination with dress and have aquanticenes in Bath, was amusing.

Henry Tilney is the most charming of Austen's heros. From the very beginning he is witty, fun, smart -- and utterly charming. I can see why so many Janeites are on Team Tilney. No brooding Mr. Darcy, no resentful Captain Wentworth here, just a lovely intelligent guy with a fun sense of humor who can't help but fall in love with Catherine since it's so obvious that she is in love with him.

One of my favorite lines after a conversation between Catherine and Miss Tilney: "This civility was duly returned; and they parted -- on Miss Tilney's side with some knowledge of her new acquaintance's feelings, and on Catherine's, without the smallest consciousness of having explained them."

I've made my feeling clear on Isabella and John Thorpe before, so I won't belabor the point

All in all, I've come to enjoy Northanger Abbey and Catherine and Tilney make a lovely couple.