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ABOUT THE BOOK
They’re hoping this visit is a return journey—but it might be a one-way ticket to murder.
July 1912. Lady Hardcastle and her tenacious lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, are enjoying a convivial gathering at the home of their dear friends, the Farley-Strouds. The only fly in the idyllic ointment seems to be the lack of musical entertainment for the forthcoming summer party—until, that is, Lady Hardcastle’s brother Harry calls with news of a murder. Harry dispatches them to Bristol on behalf of the Secret Service Bureau, with instructions to prevent the local police from uncovering too much about the victim. It seems an intriguing mystery—all the more so when they find a connection between the killer and an impending visit from an Austrian trade delegation, set to feature a very important guest…Summoned to London to help with some very important security arrangements, the intrepid duo will have to navigate skeptical bureaucrats, Cockney gangsters, and shadowy men in distinctive hats in their attempts to foil an explosive—and internationally significant—threat.
OPENING LINES
“Jenkins the butler, ably assisted by Dewi the footman, was clearing the table after a delicious and highly entertaining lunch at the Grange.”
GUEST REVIEW by Sophia Rose
Sent to keep a government espionage agent’s murder off the local radar, Emily and Flo’s investigation takes them to London, the dark shadows of the east end, and straight back into the international spy scene they retired from as they work to prevent a plot with global ramifications. TE Kinsey’s Lady Hardcastle series continues to sparkle and amuse as the lady and her maid bring their unique talents to bear when on the case.
An Assassination on the Agenda is the eleventh of the series of mostly standalone mystery books. This, too, could standalone, though many of the side characters are familiar from earlier books.
In the latest, Emily and Flo are visiting their friends at The Grange and speculating how to help them find replacement musicians for their party when Emily’s brother Harry requires them to head off to take over a local murder investigation. Next thing they know, the pair are right back into the Great Game of their earlier years. From the beginning, readers know that Lady Hardcastle and Florence were not simply two women retiring to life in a country village after a sedate career as a minor diplomat’s widow. No, this pair were British spies abroad and good at it, too. Therefore, seeing them move from solving rural murder mysteries to the big stage of political intrigue in London involving foreign powers was rather exciting.
The powers that be are all men and they are all derogatory about Emily and Flo’s ability to work the case. Harry is their only champion, but not their only ally. How fun to meet a few unusual East End contacts who dish the tea so the ladies can crack the case. This is still a cozy historical mystery, but it does have a slightly darker theme, with this being 1912 and WWI looming not so distant, especially with the plot the ladies have to thwart in this one.
In summary, this was another fantastic outing with an intrepid pair of Edwardian-era lady sleuths whose lively banter had me giggling and whose sleuthing antics were highly entertaining. It was a good blend of historical background and a clever mystery plot that I can recommend to other readers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Kinsey was born in England in the mid-1960s when everything was groovy. He grew up in London in the ’70s when everything was brown and mostly made of corduroy. He went to university in Bristol in the 1980s when hair was big and spectacles bigger. He worked in magazines in the ’90s when Britannia was cool. In the early 2000s, when the millennium was new and the possibilities boundless, he helped the Internet to boom by working on one of its most famous sites. And now he writes murder mysteries. Lady Hardcastle first appeared in October 2014 in four short stories gathered together in a self-published version of A Quiet Life in the Country. In July 2015 four more stories appeared as The Spirit Is Willing. At the end of that year, he signed a publishing deal with Thomas & Mercer.
Tim lives just outside Bristol with his wife, two drum kits, four guitars, and more Lego than an adult should own. The couple’s three children have long since been encouraged to leave home, ostensibly to enable them to make lives for themselves but mostly to make more room for drum kits, guitars, and Lego. Connect with Tim via his website.
ABOUT GUEST REVIEWER Sophia Rose
Sophia Rose is a quiet, curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants, and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and a loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction, particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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