I enjoy a little romp back in time and found this book to be charming. No mdern forensics to wade through just good old digging and prodding with a bit'o fun along the way. Thanks!

Fun series featuring her lady and her maid who help the locals solve mysteries. I enjoy the fact that the maid is more friend than servant. Looking forward to the next in the series.
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I love when a author gives me strong female protagonist especially when the book is set in an age where women didn't speak their minds. Emily and Florence are women from two different backgrounds yet melt like butter and chocolate. The mysteries are entertaining as are the characters.

This is a very interesting and captivating story with wonderful characters. After reading this I bought audiobook version the first and the second book in this series, I found the audiobook more interesting. I think I prefer the audiobook version of this book. Can't wait for the third book!


Thank you Netgalley for this book.

Book received from NetGalley.

This is a cozy historical mystery set in Edwardian Britain. The many mystery solvers are a Lady and her maid. The upper-class lady doesn't act like she's expected to, she's very no-nonsense and has a mind of her own. Her ladies maid is the same way and they both encourage each other to set the locals gossiping. This is the second book in the series and while I really want to read the first one it's not necessary to read this book. They have solved crimes before and the local police actually call them in for help when they're spread too thin. There is the main mystery of a local farmer, who wasn't well liked by his neighbors, possibly being murdered. As well as a spiritualist medium who could be a charlatan, and the local rugby club being robbed of its trophies. There were some very funny exchanges between the main character and her ladies maid, and it was interesting to see the servant being treated as almost an equal. Fans of Downton Abbey may like this series.

In The Market for Murder is one of the best mystery novels I have read in a while, and that’s saying a lot.

I think I missed the first installment of Lady Hardcastle and her loyal servant Armstrong. But diving in directly into the second book didn’t take anything away from the story. We learn the duo is rumored to have done a lot for King and country, in foreign locales, no less. Now they are living the quiet life in a small village in Gloucestershire. As quiet as life in an English village can be. The murder happens early on. A grouchy farmer falls dead in his pie. Everyone wanted to kill him. No one knows what killed him.

So there’s not a lot of sleuthing to be done for our pair who are on the job because the police are on another case. The crime spree seems to escalate and readers are regaled with many smaller crimes that plague the village. Lady Hardcastle buys a motor car which is available immediately. Unlike Henry Ford’s, it comes in a red color. The telephone is going to take months to be installed.

Some characteristics of the era are maintained, such as the lady calling her maid a servant. As a line in the book says, every crime seems simple once it is solved. You will feel the same after the big ‘denouement’, but you will have a fantastic ride while you’re at it.

In The Market for Murder is hands down a must read if you are a mystery fan. Downton Abbey fans will like to know this book is set in a similar era.

Light, entertaining and just fun mystery. Lady Hardcastle and Florence make a terrific pair; Kinsey has taken care to write two equally wonderful characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. You will like this if you enjoy cozies set in the UK. What makes this different, of course, is the setting, the time period, and the dynamic duo at the core. This can be read as a standalone but then you'll want to read others by Kinsey. Thumbs up.

When my mother first recommended T.E. Kinsey to me, I had my doubts. I mean, it's my mother. But for once, she was right! (Actually, she's pretty good with cozy mysteries. Also tennis. And brownies. But that's for a different blog.)

In the Market for Murder is the second in Kinsey's Lady Hardcastle series, and it is just as charming and fun as the first one (A Quiet Life in the Country, if you're one of those people who like to start at the beginning of the series).

I was reluctant at first because it's set in the early 1900s, and historical fiction is not one of my favorite things. But it only took a few pages to get lost in these characters, who are by the way just as smart, sassy, capable, and strong-willed as any compelling modern characters. Lady Hardcastle may be part of the noble class, but she's completely down-to-earth. She's well-traveled and educated but not above a good cider and beef and mushroom pie at the local pub. Her right hand is her maid, Florence Armstrong, who grew up in a circus and the library, so she has life experience as well as book smarts. The two of them together make a unique and unstoppable team.

In this novel, Lady Hardcastle and Armstrong, still fairly new to their corner of the English countryside, join a friend of theirs at the cattle market and get the chance to meet some of the local farmers. When one of those farmers drops dead in his lunch pie the next week, it's up to the ladies to find out whodunnit. Although Spencer Caradine left no short list of people who disliked him, only Lady Hardcastle and Armstrong can figure out the who, how, and why of the crime.

Utterly delightful and fun, the Lady Hardcastle mysteries are a breath of fresh air. If you're having a difficult week (and who isn't right now?), it's the perfect escape! You don't have to read the first novel to get into the second, but they're both so charming, it's worth it to read them both.

Sorry, I didn't get to read this one before it was archived.

A lively second entry in the Lady Hardcastle series - Mr. Kinsey avoids the sophomore slump with three separate (or are they?) mysteries, rugby clubs, and country livestock markets. The village of Littleton Cotterell is fleshed out admirably but the focus wisely remains on Florence Armstrong and Lady Hardcastle; their friendship, intelligence, and mutual regard forms a sturdy backbone upon which to build the series. Also appreciated are the hints of their possibly spy-based, most definitely shady past - highly recommended!

Oh this book filled me with such joy even though it was a murder, it made me feel like I was in Downton Abbey era, and region solving a murder! I was supplying those characters into each character in the book, and it made the story so enjoyable. I loved this book and don't know how I have missed such a series, it is very well written and designed to keep the reader engaged.

When Lady Hardcastle moved to the country with her lady’s maid, Florence, they pictured a quiet life in the country. Since their move, they solved one murder and almost a year later, Lady Hardcastle is still recouping from injuries sustained in the case. An outing to the cattle market seems to be just what the doctor ordered. It is there they have the misfortune to witness the nastiness that is Spencer Caradine. A week later, he falls face first into his meat pie and no one seems to care. He was a spiteful, vindictive, curmudgeon of a human being. It seems the ladies have their work cut out for them when Inspector Sunderland requests their assistance in solving the case.
This is the second title in the Lady Hardcastle series and it doesn’t disappoint. The residents of Littleton-Cotterell in Gloucestershire are colorful and engaging. The personalities Kinsey has infused into the two leading ladies is delightful. It’s the camaraderie between Lady Hardcastle and Florence that makes this series so entertaining and keeps many of the Gloucestershire constituents raising their eyebrows. Don’t get me wrong, the story lines are well plotted and Kinsey fills them with twists and turns that keep you guessing. Fans of mysteries with strong women and colorful characters will be delighted to jump into the pages of these books. It would be wonderful to introduce this series to teens who love mysteries.