A Fire at the Exhibition by T. E. Kinsey

Lady Hardcastle and Emily are caught up in another mystery when the spring brings an art exhibition to the village of Littleton Cotterell. People are buzzing over the jewel-studded copy of Shakespeare's folio. This is, of course, one of the items that goes missing when a small fire is set causing everyone to panic and run out of the hall. Also missing are a bust and a painting of the local Grange.

The thefts are bad enough but then a man is murdered during the local bicycle race. Luckily Lady Hardcastle and Emily are among the first on scene having recently taken up  the art of cycling themselves. 

There are any number of suspects including an old friend of Emily's from the circus, treasure hunting twins, and even the Farley-Strouds themselves.

A nice addition to the series and I look forward to reading more. 

Four stars

This book comes out September 5, 2023

Follows An Act of Foul Play

ARC kindly provided Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

An Act of Foul Play by T E Kinsey

Of course Lady Hardcastle and Flo don't cause strange things to happen around them but somehow they are again caught up in a murder. This time, it's Lady Hardcastle's birthday (44th) and they are attending the theater with a large group and enjoying themselves quite thoroughly. But, after a long intermission, the curtain rises on the second act but one of the four actors on the stage is dead, stabbed. It seems like only the other actors would have had the chance to do the deed. 

They are joined in this adventure by Flo's twin sister who is taking a vacation while her husband is out of town for the army. It was nice to have a new face in the adventures and to see Flo and Lady Hardcastle work with someone who wasn't the Inspector. 

Four stars

This book comes out June 7, 2022

Follows Rotten to the Core

Followed by A Fire at the Exhibition

ARC kindly provided Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Rotten to the Core by T. E. Kinsey

Lady Hardcastle and Flo are back! Lady Hardcastle is still involved in filmmaking and as they leave the grocer's, they meet a mysterious (and beautiful) on the way out who is looking for the Dog and Duck. They decide to visit the local pub themselves but it's overrun by the Weryers of the Pomary (the Guardians of the Orchard), twelve men who traditionally get the bar to themselves for their meetings. But suddenly, one of the Weryers is dead. And then another. 

We get to learn more about village politics and revisit a number of characters in the village. There is some self-reflection as one of the characters comments on the number of dead bodies that the two ladies run into.

Four stars

This book comes out June 7, 2022

Follows The Fatal Flying Affair

Followed by An Act of Foul Play

ARC kindly provided Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball by T.E. Kinsey

The Dizzy Heights are playing a private party this time at a pretty swank out-in-the-country house in Oxfordshire. And though some of the family are welcoming (notably the youngest son and the music producer uncle), there are definitely undercurrents of animosity as the wealthy father has recently remarried and the new wife is only a year older than his oldest son. With a fortune built on biscuits, he has money to divide up and there is some indication that he may be changing his will and that most of his children (if not all four) seem to have a problem with that. No surprise, of course, that he ends up dead. It appears to be a suicide at first glance but Skins and Dunn quickly realize that there is more than meets the eye. 

A highly enjoyable story, as usual from Kinsey. The author capture the feel of the time and place and acknowledges things like "Oh, we couldn't possibly find ANOTHER secret passage.."

Four stars

This book came out March 1, 2021

Follows The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds

ARC kindly provided by Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by T E Kinsey

I've been quite enjoying the Lady Hardcastle mysteries and didn't quite realize that this is a new series with characters that we have seen before. Lady Hardcastle and Flo do make a brief appearance in this book both "in person" and through letters that Flo is exchanging with Skins' wife, Ellie.

Skins and Barty are part of a jazz ensemble who have been asked to been play for a specific group at the Aristippus club. It seems that this group is supposed to go up against another group in a dance off. But these boys will need a lot of help.

It is a routine job until an old friend, Superintendent Sunderland, asks them for a bit of help. Rumors have it that an army deserter who stole a fortune in diamonds is somehow related to the club. Skins and Barty agree to help and are eventually aided by the whole band as well as Ellie.

The mystery was very much secondary to the character development and I did not hate it. Bartholomew "Barty" Dunn is a footloose and fancy-free bachelor though he is starting to re-think his ways. He is shown to have a soft spot for his landlady who lost all three of her sons in the war. 

Skins and Ellie fell in love in an early Lady Hardcastle book and now have two children. Ellie is supposed to have an inheritance but her family didn't like Skins being a musician and are holding the money until they've been married for a set amount of time. It's all of the little touches that really start to make us care about reading more of the stories.

Four stars

This book came out March 1, 2021

Followed by A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball

ARC kindly provided by Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Fatal Flying Affair by T. E. Kinsey

 Flo and Lady Hardcastle are once more pretending to be relaxing in the country but then they get the chance to learn to fly. Well, regular readers will know that Lady Hardcastle will foot the bill for the plane while Flo will become the pilot (which, by the way, she is very excited to do.) Except is the chance to fly the only reason they're checking out the Bristol Aviation and and Aeronautics Company? Of course not. Lady Hardcastle's brother has called on them to come to the aid of their nation once again. It seems that someone is leaking information about the Top Secret Project to the Germans. And, while no one is currently at war, it seems that Germany might be gearing up for it so they need to figure out what is going on and fast. All this while figuring out what they are going to do for the Littleton Village Show.
A wonderful addition to the series. You don't HAVE to have read the other books in the series but I highly recommend it. There were three words I had to look up in this book which meant that, not only was it entertaining, I was learning things as well.

Four stars
This book comes out December 3, 2020
Follows Death Beside the Seaside

Followed by Rotten to the Core
ARC kindly provided by Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley
Opinions are my own