Fans of cozy mysteries set over 100 years ago in England should love the Lady Hardcastle Mysteries by T.E. Kinsey. An Assignation on the Agenda is the 11th installment in the series, which finds our protagonist and her lady's maid Florence Armstrong investigating a murder in Bristol, which is about 2 1/2 hours by today's standards. The relationship between Lady Hardcastle and Florence is more than that of employee and servant and both appear to be employed by the Secret Service Bureau. On their adventure to Bristol they engage in many disguises, break-ins, and meetings with "honorable" thieves. The local constabulary don't know what to make of these two, but they definitely produce results, including uncovering a plot to kill members of an Austrian trade delegation. Florence even knows how to deactivate a bomb! I listened to the audiobook version of this book narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden who brought the various characters to life with aplomb.Thank you to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

This is book 11 in the Lady Hardcastle Mysteries series. Unfortunately I don’t think this one works well as a stand alone and I have not read the others in the series. I also think some early 20th century world history would help!
Despite missing some context and backstory, Lady Hardcastle and Florence are a funny duo working for the British Secret Service Bureau trying to ensure security for an international visit. This has them investigating a potential assassination plot that has them going undercover, dressing up, and hiding out. Along the way their skill will be doubted since they are both women investigators in 1912 but the two make a joke of the doubts.
Great for fans of the series!

While it may seem silly to start reading a series on book eleven, I think it was still honestly a fun time despite having no prior knowledge or familiarity. This book definitely made me more interested to pick up the rest of the series as it was full of light-hearted humor and banter.

I have two minor complaints. The first pertains to the book-- it got a little too repetitive in the short span to have them encounter gentlemen who were surprised/disbelieving/ornery that they were ladies and not men leading the investigation. I'm sure this is even more tiresome if you've read ten prior books that presumably contain the same.

The second complaint pertains to the audio narration as there is a character named Mr. Featherstonehaugh and the narrator consistently pronounces it "feather stone huff." That's not actually how you pronounce that name (though it is among the silliest of all English pronunciations, so it's an understandable mistake but nevertheless should've been caught).
FAN-shaw
Featherstonhaugh (/ˈfænʃɔː/ FAN-shaw or /ˈfɪərstənhɔː/ FEER-stən-haw) (also spelt Fetherstonhaugh and Featherstonehaugh) is an English surname. The name comes from Featherstonhaugh in Northumberland, from the Old English feðere, 'feather', stān, 'stone', and healh, 'corner'.

This is my first Lady Hardcastle book and it was highly entertaining. The history and mystery are intriguing, plotline was fast moving and the characters are clever. I like Henry a lot!

The narration was done very well with good changes in tones and intonations.

Assassination on the Agenda is the 11th book in the Lady Hardcastle mystery series. I have enjoyed these books from the very beginning as they are an easy-going read with plenty of humour and the twists and turns necessary for a murder mystery set in the early 1900’s.

I like the way that TE Kinsey incorporates factual historical events alongside his own fictional ones, in this case the plot to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

The narration of the book by Elizabeth Knowelden was very good, my only disappointment being that Florence did not have a Welsh accent, which I had expected.

I look forward to book 12 in this very entertaining series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

I devoured the first few books in this series. It was a favorite series and I preordered every book. The last few have just been so-so for me and lost the charm, banter, and perhaps novelty? Of the first books. I hadn’t bought or read the book right before this but don’t think that affected me here. They are stand am ones truly.

As with the last few in the series, I struggled to stay engaged or interested with the story. Sadly this book was easy to put down. I love the MCs but think my time with them may have concluded and that’s a bummer! I don’t know why I was so bored

Lady Hardcastle and her lady’s maid Armstrong are back for their 11th mystery together. This time they have to try to stop an assassination attempt that could change the course of history.

The book is set in July 1912 in London. I had to research to remember the details of the actual assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that kicked off the events of WWI (June 1914 in Sarajevo). This made me feel (in the best possible way) like the book was a Magic Treehouse book for adults in that it’s teaching me things about history but in a fun way. Not that there’s time travel 😄

I love how Hardcastle and Armstrong face gender discrimination head on and don’t stand for it for even one second. Their banter together is so good.

Elizabeth Knowelden did a great job narrating the book, as always.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Brilliance Publishing for the advance copy of the audio book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong are back, ready to solve a murder and foil an assassination attempt. When Lady H's brother, Harry, urges the duo to involve themselves in a murder case in Bristol, the two find themselves embroiled in a deeper scheme that might spark a war if not thwarted. Who better to have on the case?

I was so unbelievably excited to return to the hijinks of this lovable and chaotic twosome. Once again, the banter between Lady Hardcastle and Flo was top notch, and I could not wipe the smile off my face. This series is so cozy, and brings me so much joy. I also really enjoyed seeing them in action again - disguises, break-ins, and meetings with gangsters. It was all so much fun.

As always, I feel the need to sing the audiobook's praises. If you are interested in this series at all, the audiobook route is definitely the way to go. The narrator (Elizabeth Knowelden) does an excellent job and really brings these characters to life!