From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

A Quiet Life in the Country (Lady Hardcastle Mysteries #1)

T.E. Kinsey

Start date: June 1, 2018

Finish date: June 30, 2018

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: The winner of the poll for our June group read.
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What Members Thought

Oct 31, 2018 Susan in NC rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars for a fun, funny, quirky new (to me) detective team, Lady Hardcastle and her friend and lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong. This is their debut.

The mysteries presented are rather straightforward- Lady Hardcastle and Flo, after some strongly hinted at but unclear past intrigues, are looking for a quiet life in the country. The book opens as they are settling into a new home in Gloucestershire - Lady H has various hobbies she looks forward to pursuing, and Flo is hoping to relax (from what, 3.5 stars for a fun, funny, quirky new (to me) detective team, Lady Hardcastle and her friend and lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong. This is their debut.

The mysteries presented are rather straightforward- Lady Hardcastle and Flo, after some strongly hinted at but unclear past intrigues, are looking for a quiet life in the country. The book opens as they are settling into a new home in Gloucestershire - Lady H has various hobbies she looks forward to pursuing, and Flo is hoping to relax (from what, again, we don’t yet know, but their bantering, friendly relationship tells us they are not your typical British lady and servant).

Anyway, on a walk in nearby woods, they discover a young man hanging from a tree - it’s been made to look like suicide, but they soon see through the ruse - and decide to investigate when they think the police have arrested the wrong man. Meanwhile, Lady H discovers old friends living in the village, the Farley-Strouds. They live at the Grange and will clearly play a role in future books, and provide humor and background- their daughter is about to marry into a shipping family, and Lady H is invited to the engagement party, where a musician is killed and a family heirloom stolen; again, Lady H and Flo assist with the investigation.

Being a mystery buff, I’m used to giving a new series time in the first book or two to establish the characters and “set the stage” - Kinsey does that quite cleverly with humor and flare, so I rounded up from 3 stars for this solid debut. Lady Hardcastle is different and unique, as is Florence; they’ve lived around the world and had adventures, unusual for this Victorian British setting, but fun and refreshing.

I enjoyed the banter and friendship between the two characters, but often had the uncomfortable feeling I walked into the middle of a movie; I imagine the author did that intentionally, to set the two heroines apart in the crowded cozy mystery field. It worked, I am intrigued and interested in them, and plan to read more of this series to find out more about their past lives and adventures. I read this book as part of the Book For All Seasons Equinox challenge to read a book based solely on its title or cover.

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Jun 20, 2021 Aussie54 rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, not-gay, a-2021-read

Disappointingly wordy, with little character description ... I thought Lady Hardcastle was an elderly lady, with a middle-aged maid, until the three-quarter mark, where it's revealed she's much younger.

There are also many references to the ladies' previous adventures, which kept me thinking I must’ve missed an earlier book. 2.5 rounded down. ...more

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Dec 05, 2016 Wilhelmina Joyce Jui Wren rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There are many authors out there that try to imitate the Agatha Christie prototype English village mystery and the time honored complex relationships between gentry and villagers, but very few are able to carry it off. T E Kinsey, a self-published contemporary author (Bravo!) whose clever, witty stories have taken off (see Amazon ratings), has pulled it off. Okay, so he is English and a history major, so there is an advantage. If you are like me, I can detect an American writing as a Brit a mile There are many authors out there that try to imitate the Agatha Christie prototype English village mystery and the time honored complex relationships between gentry and villagers, but very few are able to carry it off. T E Kinsey, a self-published contemporary author (Bravo!) whose clever, witty stories have taken off (see Amazon ratings), has pulled it off. Okay, so he is English and a history major, so there is an advantage. If you are like me, I can detect an American writing as a Brit a mile away. But that is only half of it - the cadence and the relationship subtleties of that time capsule if not captured right puts everything else on awkward footing - the story never has the right feel. In this respect, T E Kinsey has aced it. Take one spunky Edwardian gentlewoman and her equally spunky lady-in-waiting/companion. Mix in 2 parts picturesque English village, a murder and all the usual suspects. Gently fold in intimations of the heroine and her maid's keen intelligence and fascinating experiences in exotic places through sparkling dialogue and repartee. Voila, you have a thoroughly enjoyable "cosy" British mystery. Lady Hardcastle moves to the country after living abroad (China and India) for a quieter life. There is a country party, many guests, and a dance band whose trumpeter disappears and is later found stone cold dead under suspicious circumstances. Through some astute calculations Lady Hardcastle and her long suffering factotum, Florence Armstrong, are quick to put their discriminating intellect to work. Although Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong are in a relationship of forbearance and affection, a relationship that has been brilliantly portrayed in many a BBC/Granada television series of lady and her maid, the cool part about this series is that the author manages to bring life and freshness to this framework, and has done it well. As Kinsey indicates in his blog, "The characters of Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong were created long before I decided to put them into their own series of murder mysteries." And it shows. I only half expected to be engaged in the story from a new author of this genre and was delightfully surprised. Long live the internet that can bring us new authors and voices of this caliber to delight and entertain us. ...more

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Aug 23, 2020 Lillian rated it liked it · review of another edition

I had really high hopes for the debut of this mystery series. Maybe that was the problem. 😄 I found the mystery not very interesting, the characters were a bit dry, and the humor was at times witty but often silly. I found the relationship between lady and her maid going from Jeeves and Wooster to Miss Fisher and Dot. I felt Lady Hardcastle had identity shifts from genius to bumbling fool at the drop of a hat. And the alluding to past adventures in foreign countries left me feeling I had missed ...more

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Feb 02, 2017 Robin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017

I enjoyed the previous, unrevised edition which was composed of four short stories better. The first and third short stories were combined into this edition. My favorite stories in the earlier edition were the second and fourth.

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Sep 10, 2018 Reema rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-audio

Fun and entertaining audio book for my latest road trip. Adding the Lady Hardcastle series to my list of cozy mystery list.

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Mar 27, 2020 Yorky Caz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Soooo good. The most likeable mistress and servant team I think I have ever come accross. Unusual skills and way ahead of their time I bloomin loved this first story and cant wait for the next!

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