A good, light-hearted, entertaining mystery story. Set during the First World War, we are introduced to a colourful bunch of musicians who are asked to help solve the mystery of some missing diamonds. The descriptions of time and place really paint the picture of what life was like for this group of friends in London at this time. We really feel to get to what they looked like, the clothes they wore, the fashions and trends and also the language used. I found it easy to read, an engaging story and you could go along with the puzzle. I think if you already liked the Lady Hardcastle boks then this is in the same vein. Great escapism!

Take a jazz band with members who are smart, honorable and love word play, add a century ols d tale of missing diamonds, sprinkle with a dance contest featuring a group of men who have no rhythm and toss gently into a well written, well plotted mystery and you've got T E Kinsey's latest book. For anyone who is a fan of Kinsey' s Lady Hardcastle and Flo mysteries, this is a must read. For anyone looking for a good mystery with a lively surrounding story and unique characters, this is also a good choice. It's fun to read, escapism at it's best.
This is a spinoff from the Lady Hardcastle and Flo books, but it isn't necessary to have read that series or the book in that series that introduces the two groups of people. There are some references to the earlier book, but they aren't essential to the story in this novel and the reader doesn't have to have any understanding from the earlier relationship other than, perhaps, to understand that the musicians met and were involved with a Lady Hardcastle and Flo mystery and the now wife of the drummer met the pair of women years ago and Wiwas briefly associated with their activities as government agents.
The reader does need to suspend disbelief in some major ways, including that the police would ever ask for help from ordinary citizens. Considering the policeman is Superintendent (formerly Inspector) Sullivan, and knowing he's had positive results in receiving help in the past, this is easier to accept. At his request, the band agrees to search for some missing diamonds that are rumoured to be hidden in the gentlemen's club where they are playing. The band agrees and the search is on, combined with a healthy dose of personality development of band members, relationships and the like.
Everything takes a turn, though, when a murder occurs. Because it involves the band members on a personal level, they become even more involved in discovering the answers to who is hunting for the jewels and who is desperate enough to commit murder. There are also cameo appearances from Lady Hardcastle, Flo, and Sunderland to help bring the book full circle.
For anyone who is a fan of the Lady Hardcastle and Flo series, this is a must read. It has the same lighthearted, breezy style to the writing that runs through all those books. It will be interesting to see if this series continues and, if so, where the band takes it. By the end I was a definite fan. My thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for providing me an advance copy of this book for review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This is my first book by this author. I haven't read too many historical mysteries either. But I definitely liked this one.

I really liked the way this book is written. The author did a great job introducing the atmosphere of the 20's not only to the plot but also to the language of the book. And he did it with real humor and intuition. When you read a book, you can almost feel the atmosphere of jazz. Everything from the style of writing to the characters to the plot is permeated with it. This is a very well created 20's styling. At the same time, this story is written in a playful tone with a grain of salt. If you like this type of narrative, then you won't be disappointed.

Another strong point is the interesting and diverse characters. The book mostly focuses on three people – Dunn, his best friend Skins and Skins’ wife Ellie. This trio makes a very well-knit team, then you’ve got the other members of the Dizzy Heights band, just as colorful and fascinating. I really like the dynamics of the relationship between all these characters. Their friendly banter gives the book an additional humorous twist. They make a great team to which I will gladly come back in the next book. They are complemented by the Alphabet Gang - a group of potential suspects, which in itself is also very interesting and introduces another comic element.

And finally, we have an interesting and complicated criminal plot, still in the style of the 20s and novels from that time. Although I admit that the death of one of the characters at the beginning of the book surprised and saddened me. I wish it could have been avoided. And while I wasn't particularly surprised by who turned out to be the thief, watching Ellie and the guys try to solve it in their own unique way was great entertainment.

Also because of the fast pace which I like very much. There is a lot of exceptionally good dialogue here that effectively sets the pace and introduces this light, playful tone. Only at the beginning we get short information about Skins and Dunn's childhood and how they met. But it is not tiring or boring, it just allows us to quickly orientate ourselves in the situation and enjoy the novel. We get the rest without any problems throughout the story.

I definitely recommend this book to all those who like historical mysteries set in the 1920s and jazz musicians who, despite their grim wartime experiences, take little things seriously. Although this may not be a book for people who do not like any, even the smallest, mentions about the war (in this case the First World War), because the plot of this book refers to such events.

This is the first book of a new series starring Skins Mahoney and Barty Dunn, who are the leads in the Dizzy Heights Jazz Band. Supposedly during the war in 1917, a courier who is carrying uncut diamonds is robbed by a deserter from the Army, and the diamonds and deserter might be found at the Aristippus Club. Skins' wife, Ellie, is an American; they first met in 1910 when she was touring with her Aunt. She went to France as a nurse during WWI as a nurse to try to find Skins who was in France during the war. She stitched him up after he was injured in 1918, and they were married a year later when he left the service. Her family was fairly wealthy, so they have a very nice house near the British Museum in London.

Skins and Barty are old friends of Lady Hardcastle for whom they have played, and Ellie is a friend of Flo. Thus, after they are called to talk with Superintendent Sunderland about keeping their eyes open while at the Aristippus Club, they talk with Flo and Lady Hardcastle who also know Sunderland very well. Sunderland has heard that the man who stole the gems is a member of the club and plans to run off with them during a dance competition. The Dizzy Heights are playing for all the dance classes, as well as regular Friday night gigs and will be playing for the competition.

At one of the lessons, Blanche, a female saxophone player suddenly dies. The six suspects appear to be the five young men known as the Alphabet Gang taking the dance lessons and the attractive dance teacher, Millie. Ellie becomes the manager of the Dizzy Heights so that she can come into the club and help sleuth. Finally, on the night of the dance competition, Ellie figures out the culprits, and there is a wonderful scene where the two of the alphabet gang in costume manage to tangle up the fleeing culprits.

I greatly enjoyed this and I cannot wait to read more from this series! I was ambivalent towards the Lady H series, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this, but it was just so lovely and such an easy read. The mystery was fun, the characters engaging, and the settings sounded delightful. I do think a few things could be a better fleshed out, but I’m hoping that will come with the other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. Those Who Disappear is a beautifully woven mystery and a compelling story of one man's relationship with the Father he never knew. However, this story started out slowly and didn’t move along very fast. I was able to read a chapter and easily put the book down for another day without wondering what the next one would bring. There was no big climax in the story. In the end the man does find out who murdered his father and gets the closure he needed. Also, I don't like there are rape, abortion, and suicide are mentioned within this novel. I would only recommend this to someone who likes simple mysteries. It's short and quick to read, so it doesn't feel like a wasted effort. Overall, a good read.

I really enjoy these books by T E Kinsey, this one is one from new series, set at the beginning of the jazz age, the story follows the plot of a unique murder, some stolen diamonds, WW1 and a dance competition in a Men's Club. The characters are really likable, the mystery is different and the story moves along quickly and the dialogue is enchanting.
Great book, does not disappoint.

The premise of this novel was good, it’s what drew me to the story. However, I didn’t much enjoy the execution. I read about 50 percent of this book before deciding not to finish it because I was genuinely feeling bored. At the halfway point, not much has happened as far as solving the mystery. There were a lot of characters and they spent a lot of time sitting around and talking. I think if there was more action and less dialogue, it would have helped the story. One thing I did like about the story was the strong female character (skin’s wife) and the respect the other male characters had for her. I also think it would have been helpful to make it more clear to the reader at the beginning of the story that this was a spin off of the author’s previous Lady Hardcastle series. Just because I didn’t enjoy the story, it doesn’t mean this was a bad book. Just that I may not have been the target audience.
*thank you to the publisher for my free review copy.*

This started off as a fun read with an interesting setting in Roaring 20s London. But after an entertaining start the book bogged down into a mush of endless, irrelevant dialogue and lengthy descriptions of everything from the transportation of the band’s instruments from gig to gig to endless servings of tea.
The mystery is thin and underdeveloped, and at one point I skipped 50 pages with no loss of narrative coherence.
It’s a shame—the characters were charming and the narration amiable.

Jazz Age, jazz-musicians, England, situational-humor, verbal-humor, laugh-riot, law-enforcement, laugh-out-loud, amateur-sleuth, family-dynamics, friendship, murder, theft*****

These jazz musicians are good friends of Lady Hardcastle in this first-in-series spinoff of another hilarious cozy mystery series. It starts off with a lot of background stuff involving previous encounters with Scotland Yard (positive), Lady Hardcastle, and The Great War before getting into why the guys were tapped to help out Superintendent Sunderland. The story is really good and full of jazzy cant and references to musicians and films from America. I loved it and laughed my way through it in one dreary afternoon!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Thomas & Mercer/ Amazon Publishing UK via Netgalley. Thank you!

This is a quick and light historical mystery! This was a first for me from this author, and I enjoyed the author’s witty and often comical writing style, well developed and fun characters, and an interesting but well plotted mystery. All in all this is a good novel and one I’d recommend for anyone looking for a good solid read!