Quiet and quaint is a London mansion,
That employs Mrs. H who has a cooking passion,
What is the secret behind those dark walls of stone,
Will she solve the complex mystery on her own?
Jennifer Ashley:
She is an American best selling author of paranormal fantasy, urban fiction and historical mysteries. Allyson James and Ashley Gardner are her other pen names. She is the popular writer of the Shifter Unbound series and the Immortal series.
Plot:
Kate Holoway is a cook with an intuitive mind. Kat is perfect at her job of cooking, baking and managing the pantry adequately. She is much appreciated for her culinary skills wherever she goes. What many people don’t know about her, is her capability to infer, think, investigate and solve mysteries! An intelligent mind with an intuit to aid, she carefully makes note of clues and has an ear for the gossip from the servants. As she often says, “The servants of a household have more information than the Police!” Coming from a poor household, she doesn’t possess many qualifications academically but keeps her brain busy when she is not tied up cooking. She is also a single mom to a little girl.
Acquiring a new job at Lord Rankin’s London mansion makes Kat contented. The mansion has just a handful of members. The people serving the rich family are numerous. There are kitchen maids, delivery boys and a hoard of servants to maintain the beautiful Victorian Mansion. Kat diligently performs all her duties until a tragedy occurs. One of her young maids, Sinead, has been murdered below the stairs of the kitchen. After the initial Police investigation, the seemingly unconcerned household moves on with normal life. Kat, obviously, is unable to heartlessly forget the loss of a life. The way a heavy marble bowl was used to kill her, it seems that anyone from the household who knew Sinead could have done it in the dark of the night.
With the help of her friend(and delivery boy) Daniel and Cynthia, the eccentric but reliable sister- in- law of Lord Rankin, Kat deduces that the clues add up to an upcoming attack on Queen Victoria!
Will Kat be able to save the Queen? Will she be able to find out the motive behind killing a harmless young damsel as Sinead?
My Opinion:
I listened to this book in audio form from our library app. It was narrated by Anne-Marie Piazza in her enchanting British accent. I was mesmerized by the story structure as well as the narration. It was refreshing to listen to a new book published this year but set in a Victorian British household of the year 1881. The research and authenticity put into this tale are praise-worthy. The larders, the dough preparations, the salads and gravies were vividly narrated. I could almost smell the fresh bread being baked!
Although there were times when I wished that the story could have just stuck to the main mystery instead of loitering on action and drama, it was rather enjoyable! This is the first one in the Kat Holloway series. There were a few open ends like the background of Kat before this employment and the mystery behind Daniel’s multiple professions. Daniel was an enigma up to the end of the book. But that is the seed to sprout in the next book in the series, I guess. That said, there is no loose end pertaining to the mystery and the ending was perfect.
Tip: Please do not read when hungry, it has way too many savory descriptions!