This is surprisingly delightful, and I rather hope it'll be the first in a series. There's the odd glitch (would they really have used the term 'share' in the way they do, at the time when it's set?) and the Redoubtable Narrator is slightly too reminiscent of Emmy Lake (the Mrs Porter series) but really, it's lovely.

What an absolute breath of fresh air this book was! A very entertaining and unique read, with plenty of laugh out loud moments.

"... I wanted nothing more in the whole wide world than to be a Lady Detective." Determined yet naive and vulnerable at the same time - Violet Hamilton was a very intriguing character. On a mission to find her missing mother, I found her actions and reactions amusing - especially when it came to 'helping out' in non-existent charities and societies that she made up on the spur of the moment.

Set in 1896 in Hastings, Violet Hamilton aged 28, spinster of the parish, is definitely a young woman born a century too early. She displays the feistiness and determination of a woman born closer to the millenium.
She is trying to find out what happened to her mother, who disappeared without trace ten years ago. She is hampered at every turn by the fact that she is an unmarried woman, and must always be mindful of her reputation. She can usually find a way around such minor difficulties, as she endeavours to find out more about the ways of the world generally, and encounters a few surprises along the way. It’s a historical, mystery romance, but not as you know it!
I loved this book, it is beautifully written, enjoyable, humorous and very refreshing. The characterisation of all the players is strong, I could relate to all of them. It’s a cleverly woven mystery, as Violet tries to find her mother, and I so enjoyed the narrative, it never flagged. It kept me fully engaged from start to finish.
I will look for more of this author’s work, and I have no hesitation in recommending this to other readers.

No Life for a Lady is full of deliciously complex characters who, at first glance, seem typically two-dimensional, as can sometimes be the case when reading cozies. However, the author, Hannah Dolby, masterfully pulls the reader in by expertly layering her story so you cannot help but want to read more.

The year is 1896, and Violet Hamilton is a twenty-eight-year-old spinster. Her life and prospects ground to a halt when her mother disappeared almost ten years prior. (Not that it matters much to her, for she has vowed never to marry). Her father, convinced that her mother has left them, pretends like she never existed, but Violet cannot. Unsatisfied that the local authorities did a thorough investigation, she employs Frank Knight, a private detective. However, their meetings leave her with a sense of unease, so she seeks out a second opinion. Unfortunately, her second option, Benjamin Blackwood, is now a furniture dealer. So it looks like it's up to Violet to solve the case.

This was a debut novel, and what a debut it was! I cannot recall ever reading a historical fiction, cozy mystery comedy before, and it's a damn shame. It deserves its own (sub?) subgenre. This book was enjoyable from its first pages to the last. It tackles unpleasant and delicate subject matter, such as sexism, agency, and loss, with shrewd and quippy acknowledgment. I hope Hannah Dolby isn't finished with Violet Hamilton as a character because I would love to read more about her Lady Detective escapades.

Violet is a paradox, a product of her time and upbringing. In some regards, she is rigid by even the day's standards, valuing propriety and primness. In other ways, our protagonist steamrolls over societal norms. It's captivating to watch her character growth as she finds her voice. The narrative is so well done, as well. There's plenty of misdirection, but like any well-written mystery, it allows the reader to play detective, giving clues along the way. While I have many thoughts on this book (and all of them good), in an effort not to give away the plot, all I will say is I highly recommend this book.

If you are searching for a book full of adventure and self-discovery layered with witty social commentary, this is a perfect read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria for granting my wish and this ARC!

Aside from knowing it was historical fiction, I wasn’t sure what to expect from No Life for a Lady when I picked it up. So I’m delighted to say that it was such a joy to read. The perfect choice to brighten up a grey January weekend (when I read it), it blended really funny plot moments with a hugely likeable lead character in Lady Violet Hamilton.

Set in 1896, Violet lives in Hastings on the English south coast with her father, a repressed and authoritative bank manager. Violet may be a Lady but she has no intention of marrying and living the life expected of her, for a few reasons. When Violet was 18 her mother, Lily, disappeared and ten years later, when No Life for a Lady is set, it is still something that aches on Violet’s heart and mind.

So, she decides to try and do something about it and hires a private detective – Frank Knight – to find out what happened to her mother. The thing is, Frank Knight isn’t a very good detective, Violet is sure she could do a better job herself. The thought appeals to her…

She finds another detective in town, Benjamin Blackthorn, who just happens to be a lot younger and far more attractive than Frank Knight. Unfortunately, Benjamin isn’t in the detective game anymore, he sells furniture. Violet, however, doesn’t give up easily and plots to persuade Benjamin to take her case. While spending time with him – for purely professional reasons, of course – she can’t help but find herself being drawn to him.

The Violet / Benjamin story is so heart-warming to read and adds such a lovely dimension to No Life for a Lady.

From the Bridgerton vibes when Violet talks about her society debut (that never was) to her realisation that maybe, just maybe, she could be a Lady Detective, I thoroughly enjoyed joining Violet on her journey as she learnt a lot about the ways of the world, human nature and just what exactly did happen to her mother ten years ago…

I laughed out loud so many times reading No Life for a Lady, it blended humour and heart so well. This is Hannah Dolby’s debut book, so I’ll definitely keep an eye out for what she writes in the future. Hoping another adventure with Violet might be on the cards!

I really enjoyed this book, a bit different to my normal but still a great read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

This story is full of a joyous innocence and also a feminine ambition out of step with what was considered ladylike in the late 19th century. It is slightly unbelievable as a period piece, not just for its feisty yet ingenuous heroine, who launches into a quest for the truth about her mother’s ten year absence, but in it’s language and placement in time. However, the author goes to not inconsiderable trouble to show the reader how vulnerable the female race was to male abuse and unwanted advances at worst, and unseemly parental pressure to marry at best. Her experience of marriage is from her parents, and that was not all it seemed. We follow our intrepid character around the seaside town of Hastings as she negotiates the pitfalls of her chosen path to our delight and amusement. The plot is not implausible and the writing is entertaining and rewarding. Well done to the author.

‘No Life for a Lady’ tells the story of Violet Hamilton, a young woman living in Hastings, a seaside resort town in the south of England. Ten years have passed since the disappearance of her mother, having gone out for an evening with friends never to return, and Violet has always had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right about the disappearance. No body was ever found, nor did anyone remember her seeing her mother leave the pier in the evening, but how can a woman, especially one renowned for her beauty and charm, just seemingly disappear?

But life is not so simple for a woman in the late 1890s. Society dictates much of the expectations of how one should conduct oneself, and so Violet finds herself trapped between conforming to those expectations, and her own wishes and desires. And of course, the disappearance of her mother is always on her mind.

When a detective shows up advertising his services, she is quick to hire him in hopes of finding the answers she wants. However, as a bad feeling on their meeting makes her unsure of her choice, she has to weigh up what it means to conform to expectations, and whether or not she can risk her reputation to get the answers she is looking for?


I very much enjoyed this book! The characters are interesting, the plot intriguing, and the setting gives for an interesting insight of what turn of what life would have been like for a woman towards the end of the Victorian period. Violet holds an interesting role in that of a dutiful daughter both to her father with whom she still lives (and is continually trying to arrange a marriage for her) and that to the memory of her mother, as well as wanting to stay true to her own wants and desires away from expectations.

The story starts off at a good pace, picking up speed along the way, and towards the end of the book as it reaches its Crescendo I found it difficult to put down. The ending was hinted at throughout but never to obviously, leaving a satisfactory feeling of having figured out the mystery, but without it being revealed too soon, as well as some surprises along the way.

It is also well written in terms of giving an idea of what it would have been like to navigate throughout society, dealing with differences in both class and gender. This was my only negative in the book, as through the first quarter of it, it always seemed to focus on what was “right and proper” with mentions on nearly every page. While this constant referencing of propriety did seem hamfisted and tedious, though in the latter part of the book it’s frequency ebbed off leading for more enjoyable reading. That said, I can also see how it plays into the perception of the world that Violet holds.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys detective and mystery fiction, as well as anyone who has interest in social relations in the late Victorian period.


Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A delightfully quirky read which was refreshingly innocent with plenty of underlying humorous innuendo. Wonderfully depicted characters, some of which I felt could be developed further, I'd love to know more about some of them roaming the streets of Hastings in 1896. A gentle charmingly joyful read with some wonderful old-fashioned turns of phrase.

I was pre approved to read this ARC. I was glad I took the punt read it. So thank you.

This a quite a fun mystery but I saw the outcome of the plot by about chapter 5, it was still fun despite this I enjoyed reading to confirm I was right.

Told in 1st person POV we follow Violet as she searches for her missing mother in a time that ladies are meant to seen and not heard.

There is a lot frustrating comments in the book women really have had ruff for years, I liked how Violet challenged this.

Good quick read but not sure id read the next instalment if there was one.

Definitely a joyful read. Historical fiction with humor, romance and mystery.
This was a light and enjoyable read and I hope it becomes a series. Violet is such a likable character who makes you laugh even while going through a rough time!
Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Dolby and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At the end of the 19th century violet our heroine valiantly and controversially doesn't want to be wed but she does want to be working in order to support herself. In a novel that is not only funny but full of mystery and the whisperings of non start romance. With her mother missing presumed dead she sets about hiring not one but two detectives and the ongoing story that develops is priceless. If you like mystery this is a definite hit.

Delightfully quirky read involving a mystery set in 1896, and a young woman working to understand the societal expectations at the time. Violet is a headstrong, witty heroine, with a knack for inquisitive pursuits. This book has heart, and complexity, while keeping a light airy tone of bemusement.

Such a lovely, warm and funny read. Exactly what I needed after lots of serious books and, you know... life. This book has definitely exceeded my expectations.

This was absolutely delightful. The plot was well-paced and captivating from start to finish. The characters were charming and witty. I highly recommend this fun and quick read! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

HANNAH DOLBY – NO LIFE FOR A LADY *****

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

In 1886, ten years before the story opens, naïve eighteen-year-old Violet’s glamorous mother disappears one evening after an event at the theatre on Hastings Pier. Her body has never been found, not washed up along the coast, no messages received, no sightings.

This is the time when young women were seen but not heard, chaperoned when they wanted to go out, so for Violet to hire one Frank Knight, a mysterious private investigator, to track down her mother, is almost unheard of. Especially knowing that her staid bank official father, had she told him, would have been furious. Instead, he is busy trying to find suitable suitors for his daughter to get her off his hands. Having been warned of the horrors of sex by her mother, she is not interested. Until she meets a second private detective in the Old Town, now selling furniture after an accident, and discovers unwelcomed and worryingly amorous feelings for him.

This is an amusing and splendid read, often laugh-out-loud funny, with plenty of interesting periphery characters, from the moody servants in the house, to the friendly vicar at her mother’s church, and the prim young ladies of the town who don’t want to be associated with her, to ladies of the night. Plenty of twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the truth is finally revealed.

Living in Hastings, I have to say that the author has done wonders in recreating the atmosphere of the seaside town in those days. One could follow in Violet’s footsteps today such is the detail of road and place names which lend authority to her prose.

Great fun and amusing, this tale swishes along as fast as her skirts and comes highly recommended. Should be a series.

After being invited to read this, I will say that it took me a long (very long) time to get into this - I found Violet quite infuriating for the first few chapters and never really warmed up to the story, since I just wanted to shake some sense into her (the fact that she kept a seemingly shady detective that she didn’t like or trust in her employ was almost enough for me to dnf, but I did my best to persevere). I somewhat enjoyed this, reservedly.

* It took too long for the story to get interesting (imo)
* I found the plot awkward - is it a mystery? is it a romance?
* Violet was too annoying for me
* I found the writing too modern for a story that takes place in the late 1800’s - details of life in this time period are sparse

This one will find its fans but it wasn’t for me.

I loved this book and I loved Violet Hamilton, her naivety, her feistiness and her determination to not get married.

Set in 1896, Violet hires a detective to find her mother who disappeared 10 years earlier. There follows, a chain of events that lead to a new career, love and revelations.

Easy to read and quite obvious how it was going to end, I flew through the pages, enjoying every word.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

There was something very amateurish and distracting about the first person narrative. I felt like there was no artful way of conveying information and everything I learned was through internal monologue. I wanted this to be for me, but it just wasn’t. Couldn’t really get into it.

It is 1886, 18-year-old Violet Hamilton says goodbye to her mother as she head off a party on Hastings Pier to never been seen again. Ten years later Violet is now 28 years old. She is an independent confident, but quite naive woman, that knows her own mind and her father fears that she will never get married and keeps finding suitors for her. But Violet is not interested but she doesn’t think that they have her best interests at heart anyway.
It is near the anniversary of her mother’s disappearance, and she decides to hire a private detective Frank Knight to solve the mystery of her missing mother. But hiring him causes all sort of trouble for Violet, even bring her reputation into distribute. Is her mother alive or dead? Only time will tell.
Thank you, Aria, for a copy of No life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby. I really enjoyed this enchanting tale from the first page. I found this story to have refreshing and intriguing storyline. I was cheering Violet on and like how confident she came after getting to grips of becoming a ‘Lady detective’. I do hope or I would love to see another episode in this story for Violet. I feel like it is just the starting point of a great series in ‘lady detecting’. 5 stars from me.