Murder on the Rocks

 

Murder on the Rocks (Lady Hardcastle Mystery 13)- T.E. Kinsey

Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: May 26, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis: February 1913. Lady Hardcastle and her diminutive but mettlesome lady’s maid, Flo, have been invited by their friend JB McIntyre to spend the weekend at his recently renovated Tudor fort on a remote island off the Devonshire coast. But the holiday quickly turns sinister when first a number of valuable jewels go missing—and then a fellow guest is murdered with a most unusual weapon.

Asked by JB to investigate, the stakes are raised for the sleuthing duo when a violent storm traps the group on the island and cuts them off from help. Is the murderer in their midst? With everyone claiming to have an alibi—but each also having a skeleton in their closet—can Lady Hardcastle and Flo unravel this complex web of secrets and deception before the killer strikes again?

____________________________________________

Lady Hardcastle (Emily) and her lady's maid/assistant Florence are hoping for a long weekend to enjoy themselves when they are invited to friend JB McIntyre's island. He's getting it ready to become a resort getaway and wants some friends to test things out. All is well until some valuable jewelry is stolen—and then the rather unpleasant guest is murdered. No one is actually sorry he's dead, but no one wants a murderer on the guest list. Especially when he isn't the only one who gets killed. With everyone trapped on the island until Tuesday, can Emily and Flo solve the crimes and keep everyone else safe?

It's been ages since I read a Lady Hardcastle mystery (I think I read the first one) so I was pretty much coming into the series new. There are throwaway references to other cases, presumably from other books, but none that made me feel lost coming into the series at Book 13. I did enjoy this book, but I can't say it made me feel like I needed to go back and reread the rest of the series. The characters were all pretty basic and mostly 2-dimensional. Friends who aren't entirely friends because they have secrets, or don't like the bullying of a wife. One tells long-winded stories that everyone knows but are entertaining if you've had enough to drink. The servants who smuggle goods. The American millionaire who is obsessed with the latest inventions. The story itself plods along, dragging especially in the middle, before speeding up to the end with the quick solution. I figured out some of it, but there was a good twist in there that helped keep things going.

The best part of the book for me was the description and history of the island fort, which is really well done. The author builds the fort/island into an excellent site to explore and you can see the details inside and out as they are described. The historical accuracy for the time period is subtle but well drawn, and benefits from JB loving to have all the latest gadgets (and showing them off to guests!). 

A quiet cozy mystery that might appeal to people already in love with the series more than newcomers, but wasn't bad if you can accept a slightly slower than usual pace.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife

Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife- Martin Edwards

Poisoned Pen Press

Release Date: October 7, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Six down-on-their-luck people with links to the world of crime writing have been invited to play a game this Christmas by the mysterious Midwinter Trust. The challenge seems simple but Solve the murder of a fictional crime writer in a remote but wonderfully atmospheric village in north Yorkshire to win a prize that will change your fortunes for good.

Six members of staff from the shadowy Trust are there to make sure everyone plays fair. The contestants have been meticulously vetted but you can never be too careful. And with the village about to be cut off by a snow storm, everyone needs to be extra vigilant. Midwinter can play tricks on people's minds.

The game is set - but playing fair isn't on everyone's Christmas list.

__________________________________________________

If you enjoy closed circle mysteries, puzzles, and a take on the locked-room mystery, Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife is going to be right up your book aisle. In this entertaining take on the Golden Age mystery books, Martin Edwards (whose nonfiction books on the development of the mystery genre are not to be missed!) has given readers a snowbound group of six people gathering together in a tiny village over Christmas for a murder mystery weekend. Each have ties to the crime writing world and each have recently had their careers take a nosedive. Their invitation promises the game's winner will have a life-altering change in fortune. But as people begin to die, the survivors must discover: are the deaths accidents? Is one of their group willing to kill to win the game? What secrets are their hosts hiding? And can any of them survive this traditional English country house Christmas?

I'm a huge Golden Age mystery fan, locked room puzzle fan, and Clue fan- so everything about Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife jumped out as a book I wanted to try. Martin Edwards name checks plenty of Golden Age writers and tropes, and invites the reader to solve the puzzle along with the six characters in the book- which is quite entertaining. It's a mystery within the mystery, because of course, what's a snowbound group to do in a mystery book except also try to stay alive and work out who's killing them off one by one? You get the story from different perspectives, but the most entertaining one (for me) was washed-up crime writer Harry Crystal. Harry and his books (all titles are riffs on famous mystery novels you may have heard of) are washed up, his wife and daughter have left him, and the world- pretty much including Harry- have written him off as a perpetual loser. But from the beginning Harry feels like there's something else going on in Midwinter and secrets he may be the only person left out of. He's the least likely to win, but can he surprise everyone and save the day? 

If you like classic snowbound mysteries, Midsummer Murders, puzzles, and humor with your whodunits, give Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife a try! The perfect read when you're inside and the snow is falling outside. 

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective

 

The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective- Sara Lodge

Yale University Press

Release Date: November 5, 2024

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:  From Wilkie Collins to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the traditional image of the Victorian detective is male. Few people realise that women detectives successfully investigated Victorian Britain, working both with the police and for private agencies, which they sometimes managed themselves.

Sara Lodge recovers these forgotten women’s lives. She also reveals the sensational role played by the fantasy female detective in Victorian melodrama and popular fiction, enthralling a public who relished the spectacle of a cross-dressing, fist-swinging heroine who got the better of love rats, burglars, and murderers alike.
 
How did the morally ambiguous work of real women detectives, sometimes paid to betray their fellow women, compare with the exploits of their fictional counterparts, who always save the day? Lodge’s book takes us into the murky underworld of Victorian society on both sides of the Atlantic, revealing the female detective as both an unacknowledged labourer and a feminist icon.

___________________________________________________________

This was a fascinating book exploing the early days of women in the world of detective work- both in fiction and reality. Sara Lodge makes an impressive argument that women were involved in police work long before they 'officially' began being counted as police women, and it was these women who perhaps became the inspiration for the 'female detectives' of the early fictional stories.

Stories of female detectives were being sold by the 1860s, with the detectives donning disguises and blending into the background as servants to gather the proof needed to solve their cases because, the stories argued, it was easier for women to hide in plain sight than men. Often (possibly a case of wish fulfillment?) these fictional detectives were saving women from cruel husbands and bad marriages, accidental bigamy, or other abuses that they didn't see coming, but which the law couldn't protect them from. I loved how Lodge was able to find 19th century plays of female detectives where the women became early action heroes- beating the villanous men and police alike to save the day, with frequent disguises, cross-dressing, guns, and the physical ability to protect both themselves and their clients.

But as much as these heroines of the stage were looked up to, real life detectives occupied a murkier reality. As divorce became more common, many were involved in gathering evidence against spouses - and sometimes creating that evidence.  At a time when public and private spheres was undergoing a shift, the private detective's role itself was being defined, and the women in the profession tended to take the blame if things went wrong. 

Brilliantly researched and well-written, this is a book for any mystery lover to read. If you think the lady detective begins with Agatha Christie, think again!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review 

Affiliate link

House of Ghosts

A House of Ghosts- W.C. Ryan 
Simon & Schuster
Release Date: October 1, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, armaments manufacturer Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons, both of whom died at the front.

Among the guests, two have been secretly dispatched from the intelligence service: Kate Cartwright, a friend of the family who lost her beloved brother at the Somme and who, in the realm of the spiritual, has her own special gift; and the mysterious Captain Donovan, recently returned from Europe. Top secret plans for weapons developed by Lord Highmount’s company have turned up in Berlin, and there is reason to believe enemy spies will be in attendance. As the guests arrive, it becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends, they find themselves trapped on the island. Soon one of their number will die. For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . . .

_________________________________________________________________________

During the darkest days of World War I no one is unaffected.  A house party at the island home of armaments manufacturer Lord Highmount is arranged to attempt to contact the spirits of those they've lost to the war.  But the party has another purpose- copies of Highmount's weapons designs have appeared in Berlin and both Highmount and the government want to flush out the spy. Highmount family friend Kate Cartwright and government agent Captain Donovan are sent in to identify the traitor. Soon, in a house with a reputation for being haunted, the living have as much to fear from each other as from any ghost.  

A House of Ghosts is a wonderful mystery novel, well-written and full of twists and turns, red herrings, and surprises.  It's a book that instantly calls up comparisons with Agatha Christie mysteries: an isolated Devon island home, a trapped house party, everyone at the party has secrets and hidden agendas, and there may or may not be a murderer among the guests.  W.C. Ryan makes A House of Ghosts unique with strong leading characters and a touch of the supernatural.

Kate and Donovan surprise themselves (but not the reader!) by becoming excellent partners, each with their own special skills. Kate's been stuck in Room 40 (the World War I precursor to the more famous Bletchley Park of World War II) breaking codes on weather reports, so when the mysterious C asks her to help with this case, she's happy to do so- even though it involves a haunted house with bad memories for her and pretending that her newly ex-fiancé is still her current fiancé.  She's an excellent blend of innocent and eager, with no naïveté about her, an intelligent woman who wants to do her part for the war effort and discover how her brother died.  

 Donovan is the hardbitten, mysterious agent who thinks he's jaded beyond saving, and suffers from PTSD from years at the front.  He's surprised to discover how much he enjoys working with Kate, and soon comes to think of her in far more than professional terms.  I was very happy that, even as Donovan and Kate's personal relationship develops, Donovan never treats Kate as less than his partner.  He may worry over the danger she's in, but he doesn't deny her the right to her part of the action and trusts that she can handle herself.

The supernatural angle was, I thought, particularly well-done here.  House of Ghosts never becomes a horror novel.  The book balances the rational skepticism of people like Donovan with Kate and her mother- who can see ghosts and even, occasionally, more with the help of a family artifact.  Seances  would have been common during the war and the two supposed psychics on the island are treated like  gifted people trying to help the grieving parents of soldiers.  Whether they are in fact genuinely trying to help or have a scam in mind is only one of the tangles facing Donovan and Kate. But the supernatural angle is treated so matter-of-factly that people who don't want ghosts with their mysteries should still enjoy House of Ghosts without too much skepticism.  And those of us who like a bit of supernatural to add to the drama are well rewarded. 

Trace of Deceit

A Trace of Deceit- Karen Odden
William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers
Release Date: December 17, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: A young painter digs beneath the veneer of Victorian London’s art world to learn the truth behind her brother’s murder... 

Edwin is dead. That’s what Inspector Matthew Hallam of Scotland Yard tells Annabel Rowe when she discovers him searching her brother’s flat for clues. While the news is shocking, Annabel can’t say it’s wholly unexpected, given Edwin’s past as a dissolute risk-taker and art forger, although he swore he’d reformed. After years spent blaming his reckless behavior for their parents’ deaths, Annabel is now faced with the question of who murdered him—because Edwin’s death was both violent and deliberate. A valuable French painting he’d been restoring for an auction house is missing from his studio: find the painting, find the murderer. But the owner of the artwork claims it was destroyed in a warehouse fire years ago.

As a painter at the prestigious Slade School of Art and as Edwin’s closest relative, Annabel makes the case that she is crucial to Matthew’s investigation. But in their search for the painting, Matthew and Annabel trace a path of deceit and viciousness that reaches far beyond the elegant rooms of the auction house, into an underworld of politics, corruption, and secrets someone will kill to keep.  

__________________________________________________________________

Annabel Rowe has been slowly working to reconcile with her brother Edwin, but one day she arrives at his flat to discover two detectives there with the news that Edwin is dead.  Murdered, with a valuable painting he had been cleaning now missing.  Annabel needs to understand what happened to her brother to gain some closure on his death (and life) and she convinces Inspector Matthew Hallam that her knowledge of the art world and Edwin will prove valuable to discovering his murderer.  But what they discover is the darkness behind the art world, where secrets fester and can prove worth killing for.

A Trace of Deceit is an engrossing Victorian mystery with a strong central figure in Annabel.  A student at the Slade Art School, she is trying to find her place in the masculine world of painting.  She sees herself as an observer instead of a participant in the world and holds herself apart from fellow students and her older brother, trying to prevent herself from being hurt.  But Annabel is only fooling herself- she's a caring, compassionate woman who feels deeply.  Edwin's death hits her hard, but she finds strength in working with Matthew to discover the killer.  She doesn't shy away from hard truths, although she might not think of them as automatically as a more cynical person would.  And there are plenty of hard truths about Edwin that she has to accept in order to understand his murder.

Where Odden's A Dangerous Duet brought readers into intimate contact with the city of London, A Trace of Deceit focuses on its people.  Like Annabel herself, we focus on how they interact, what they show, and what they hide.  We see through the eyes of a painter the light and the dark that make up the world around Annabel and Matthew.  Odden uses this not only to give the reader brilliant descriptions of the lives around our heroes, but to plant red herrings and clues with equal strength, forcing the reader to continually adjust their view of what seems, at first, to be a simple murder.  

Engrossing from start to finish, A Trace of Deceit will keep readers guessing from start to finish, in a book impossible to put down until the last stone is unturned and the last secret is revealed.  Full of heart and empathy, Odden explores how individuals deal with personal and family tragedies, betrayals, and secrets.  A must read for fans of Sherry Thomas, Anne Perry, and Victorian mystery lovers everywhere.

Curious Affair of the Witch of Wayside Cross

The Curious Affair of the Witch at Wayside Cross (from the casebook of Jesperson & Lane)- Lisa Tuttle
Hydra/ Random House
Release Date: November 28, 2017

Rating:
📚

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Synopsis: “Witch!” cries the young man after stumbling unexpectedly into the London address of the consulting-detective partnership of Mr. Jasper Jesperson and Miss Lane. He makes the startling accusation while pointing toward Miss Lane . . . then he drops dead. Thus begins the strangest case yet to land—quite literally—on the doorstep of Jesperson and Lane.

According to the coroner, Charles Manning died of a heart attack—despite being in perfect health. Could he have been struck down by a witch’s spell? The late Mr. Manning’s address book leads Jesperson and Lane to the shrieking pits of Aylmerton, an ancient archaeological site reputed to be haunted by a vengeful ghost. There they sift through the local characters, each more suspicious than the last: Manning’s associate, Felix Ott, an English folklore enthusiast; Reverend Ringer, a fierce opponent of superstition; and the Bulstrode sisters, a trio of beauties with a reputation for witchcraft.

But when an innocent child goes missing, suddenly Jesperson and Lane aren’t merely trying to solve one murder—they’re racing to prevent another.

___________________________________

When a man falls dead at their front door, private detectives Jesperson and Lane decide to discover why he died and what brought him to their door in the first place.  The coroner says it was a heart attack but Charles Manning apparently had a great deal of interest in witches- could he have angered one into killing him?  The detectives travel to the countryside of Aylmerton where superstition and folklore live side by side with more 'modern' thinking and religion, where Manning was rumored to be courting a young witch, and where people are highly suspicious of outsiders.  Soon one questionable death turns into several and Jesperson and Lane have their hands full trying to prevent another.

Advertised as a paranormal Sherlock Holmes story, the Curious Affair promised to be full of mystery,  magic, and brilliant detectives.  I found it to contain very little of any of those.  Throughout the book you find yourself wondering if the magic and paranormal advertised are actually believed in and real, like Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, or a mere ruse with a devious but perfectly scientific explanation, like Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Even a confirmed fairy siting doesn't really answer the question as far as the rest of the characters go.  Does Manning's friend Felix Ott genuinely believe in returning the Old Religions and gods to England or is it a way to trick money from others?  Did he kill Manning over a business disagreement? 

The mystery itself was never more than mildly interesting to me, which was surprising.  You'd think a man dropping dead of unknown causes would lead to a pretty good whodunit.  But so many other things began to get piled on to the plot that sometimes you forgot about Manning altogether.  Yet none of the other mysteries- several other unexplained deaths and then the disappearance of an infant- really kept the plot moving for me either.  The book mostly revolved around a series of unlikeable characters who went from country hospitality to chilly and insulted in an instant.  Diana Bulstrode (the supposed witch of Wayside Cross) was the only character I found at all interesting and even she had a tendency to become annoying quickly.  The main characters of Jasper Jesperson and Miss Lane never gained any depth or particular background to make them interesting, unique, or likable. Even Miss Lane, who gives a Watson-like first person account of the case, isn't much more than a cipher to tell the story.  We get a brief and politely social background to her life before becoming a detective and more than halfway through the book are finally told her first name (although after finding out what it is you understand why she doesn't advertise it).  But the reader gets no real backstory to them: no explanation of how Miss Lane met Jespserson, why they decided to become detectives, what their relationship is, or anything else about them.  Maybe some of this was mentioned in Tuttle's first book (The Curious Affair of the Somnabulist and the Psychic Thief) but I haven't read that book.  Nor, after the Witch of Wayside Cross, do I really care to.  While things get interesting at the very end, by the time everything is revealed I was left with the feeling that all the murder victims got what they deserved and only vaguely sympathetic of the lives ruined in the process.

Tuttle does a good job describing the English countryside, but neither the characters nor the mysteries stood out to me as a way to make the book enjoyable.  Doyle enthusiasts and paranormal mystery lovers alike should probably skip this addition to the inspired-by-Sherlock shelves.  Weak and unlikeable characters overshadow what could have been an interesting set of mysteries to leave a book that sounded better in the description than in the reading.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review

Conspiracy in Belgravia

A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock Series #2)- Sherry Thomas
Berkely/Penguin Group
Release Date: September 5, 2017

Rating (Out of 5):
📚📚📚

Synopsis: Being shunned by Society gives Charlotte Holmes the time and freedom to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” aided by the capable Mrs. Watson, she’s had great success helping with all manner of inquiries, but she’s not prepared for the new client who arrives at her Upper Baker Street office.
 
Lady Ingram, wife of Charlotte’s dear friend and benefactor, wants Sherlock Holmes to find her first love, who failed to show up at their annual rendezvous. Matters of loyalty and discretion aside, the case becomes even more personal for Charlotte as the missing man is none other than Myron Finch, her illegitimate half brother.
 
In the meanwhile, Charlotte wrestles with a surprising proposal of marriage, a mysterious stranger woos her sister Livia, and an unidentified body surfaces where least expected. Charlotte’s investigative prowess is challenged as never before: Can she find her brother in time—or will he, too, end up as a nameless corpse somewhere in the belly of London?

_____________________________________

In late Victorian England, it's not always easy to be an independently minded woman.  Charlotte Holmes has managed thanks to her good friend Mrs. Watson and Charlotte's alter ego, "Sherlock" Holmes, invalid consulting detective.  But things become complicated when Lady Ingram, wife of her good friend Lord Ingram, comes to "Sherlock" asking for help finding her first love: Charlotte's illegitimate half-brother.  Mysterious coded messages, dead bodies turning up where least expected, and a woman who is convinced her father's housekeeper is trying to poison her all help to muddy the already murky waters.  Can Charlotte sort out this tangled web before getting caught in it herself?

This sequel to A Study in Scarlet Women picks up right where the first book left off.  Readers who haven't read Study first (or who read it only when it came out last year) will have a little trouble catching up, as Sherry Thomas doesn't remind us of anything specific that happened in Study while alluding to it often.  I would definitely recommend reading (or re-reading) Study before starting Conspiracy. That said, Conspiracy is both a good mystery and a very complex one- and clearly a bridge book to what will come next. Conspiracy involves plenty of codes, deceit, and impersonations to ensure the reader understands that the shadowy figure of Moriarty is directing an endless number of minions for sinister purposes we can only guess at- but that Charlotte will no doubt soon face.  There are times when these confused me as much as they were supposed to confuse the police and I actually re-read the book as soon as I'd first finished it to try and make more sense out of some of it. (It helped that the second time I read it nearly in one sitting, where the first time had been more piecemeal). 

I enjoyed Thomas' continued ability to weave multiple stories together.  A seemingly unconnected case of poisoning becomes as integral to the story as the main case of Charlotte's missing brother, Myron Finch, and not just tossed into the book to show that "Sherlock" had multiple cases at once. Both Mrs Watson and Charlotte remain strong characters and I loved that Mrs Watson is still an integral part of the team and clearly important to Charlotte, instead of being taken for granted as her male counterpart in Doyles' books often seemed.  I was disappointed at the brief role given to Inspector Treadles in Conspiracy.  His role (investigating several murders that connect back to Moriarty) seemed forced, the few scenes with him both jarring to the rest of the narrative and making him a rather unlikeable and shallow person. His scenes came across more as the author not wanting readers to forget about him completely while not really having anything useful for him to do. Hopefully he'll come across better later in the series.

Overall, Conspiracy is not as good as Thomas' first Lady Sherlock book, but it keeps you drawn into the world and the characters.  While the extra obscurity surrounding much of the main mystery mean its sometimes hard to follow, I get the feeling Conspiracy is setting the reader up for a major conflict with the mysterious Moriarty revealing him(her?)self very soon.    

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Study in Scarlet Women

A Study in Scarlet Women- Sherry Thomas
Berkley
Release Date: October 18, 2016

Rating (out of 5):
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. 
 
When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her.

But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.

_____________________________

Just when you think there can be no possible new take on Sherlock Holmes, along comes Sherry Thomas with her Lady Sherlock series to prove you wrong.  The first in a promised series, A Study in Scarlet Women follows Charlotte Holmes, youngest daughter of a Society family and a young woman who doesn't fit in society or the confined role for women of the day.  When her dream of becoming headmistress to a school (and therefore relatively independent) falls apart, Charlotte takes steps to ensure she isn't "marriage material".  The ensuing scandal ends with Charlotte running away from home to try to make her own way in a world that doesn't make it easy.  She proves to be stronger and more resourceful in the face of adversity than she (or anyone else) expected, and a twist of seemingly good fate lands her the position as companion to Mrs. Watson.  Not entirely conventional herself, Mrs. Watson sees Charlotte's ability to notice details and deduce facts not as something to be stifled, but as a way for Charlotte to become fully herself.  On discovering that Charlotte has created the identity of "Sherlock" Holmes to help a police inspector through occasional correspondence, Mrs Watson encourages "Sherlock" to set up as a private detective.

"Sherlock" makes his name by declaring that the seemingly natural and unrelated deaths of Lady Amelia, Lady Shrewsbury, and Mr. Sackville are, in fact, premeditated murder.  Both Charlotte's father and older sister Livia are under suspicion and it's up to Charlotte, Mrs Watson, police inspector Treadles and Lord Ingram (with help from his shadowy and mysterious older brother Bancroft) to solve the murders.

Study does an excellent job of weaving together nods to the traditional Sherlock Holmes stories with wholly original, fresh characters and mystery.  Thomas doesn't hide any of the facts from readers but allows them to work alongside the characters to try and piece together motives, red herrings, and relevant facts.  The writing is lovely: descriptive and absorbing.  Characters are intricate and also often more likable than the originals.  Charlotte may be socially awkward but is not the abrupt, aloof, and (let's face it) obnoxious Sherlock that we are used to.  Mrs Watson is open, friendly, colorful, and supportive.  In many ways she becomes the mother figure Charlotte always needed: encouraging Charlotte's interests  and abilities, teaching her to learn to value herself as an individual, and understanding her need for independence.  The two are more kindred spirits than you would first assume.  Inspector Treadles is not relegated to playing second fiddle but is an active investigator.  Instead of relying on "Sherlock" for all the answers he is out talking to people, testing and experimenting to separate lies and truths, motives and simple jealousies.  The help he needs generally comes from not being connected to the world of Society that the victims moved in and not having knowledge of the scandals of their pasts.

The writing and mystery of Study is subtle and I think it will take several rereads to discover all the hidden gems within.  The growth of characters like Charlotte and Livia make me eager for the next book in the series to see how they continue to gain confidence and independence under difficult situations.  The intricacy of the mystery make me excited to see what Thomas has in store for Holmes' next big case.

Not only an excellent and unique take on Sherlock Holmes, but also just an all around great historical mystery!  Full of twists and surprises, A Study in Scarlet Women keeps you on your toes until the very end.  A must read for mystery lovers!

Quiet Life in the Country

A Quiet Life in the Country- T E Kinsey
Thomas & Mercer
Release Date: October 4, 2016

Rating (Out of 5):
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they’ve just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life.

But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There’s a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation…

As Lady Hardcastle and Flo delve deeper into rural rivalries and resentment, they uncover a web of intrigue that extends far beyond the village. With almost no one free from suspicion, they can be certain of only one fact: there is no such thing as a quiet life in the country.

____________________

The first of a promising new series, A Quiet Life in the Country introduces readers to the mysterious Lady Hardcastle and her maid/friend Florence Armstrong.  An unconventional widow, Lady Hardcastle has traveled the world both with her husband and, after his death, with her maid- who through shared life and death experiences becomes her close friend and confidante.  Through some of her conversations and Flo's memories we learn tantalizing bits of of their past exploits.  I'm torn on whether I hope to get more details about those exploits in future books or if its more fun to imagine the circumstances that get blithely referred to.  I think I lean towards hoping Kinsey continues to give us entertaining hints without the details so we can fill in the gaps ourselves, which not only allows us to imagine all sorts of things but also keeps the narrative flowing smoothly instead of getting bogged down in establishing long past histories of characters. 

A Quiet Life is told from Flo's point of view, giving us not only some delightful below stairs scenes but also Flo's entertaining and occasionally irreverent train of thought as events unfold.  She and Lady Hardcastle have retired to the country for a quiet life and on their first walk through the woods they discover a dead body.  The quiet life quickly goes out the window as Lady Hardcastle decides the police aren't on the right track and she wants to step in and 'help'.  Unlike many amateur detectives, Lady Hardcastle and Flo gain the appreciation and support of the inspector on the case. Inspector Sunderland turns out to be not just an 'official' figure but an intelligent man who learns to overlook not only the fact that Flo and Lady Hardcastle are civilians, but women as well.  A budding friendship between these three people from very different backgrounds and social positions will be interesting to watch develop in future books.

 Jewel theives, dodgy musicians, suspicious cricket players, obnoxious social climbers, and another dead body convince us all that there is no such thing as a quiet life in the country.   

A Quiet Life in the Country is a delightfully entertaining, wittily written, fast paced mystery full of delightful characters and charming English country life.  Mystery fans will enjoy this new voice on the English murder mystery scene. 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.