Lady Hardcastle and Flo are walking home and meet a beautiful young woman who asks them if the pub still has rooms. They wonder what she is doing in Little Cotterell. After dinner they go to the pub, and everyone seems to be outside. Inside there is a group of 12 men who don't want others around. It is a meeting of the Weryers of the Pomary, known as the Guardians of the Orchard. The next morning, Edna tells Lady Hardcastle and Flo that Cridland, a local farmer and Weryer had been murdered in his orchard. Soon Sergeant Dobbins arrives to ask for their help.

Lady Hardcastle and Flo work with Inspector Sunderland to try to find out who killed Cridland and why. However, it is a difficult case because there are several other Weryers who might have killed him, a few who were turned down for membership by the Weryers, as well as the woman stranger who is still in town. They have seen the woman near the homes of several Weryers, and she is very noncommunicative. I enjoy the clever repartee between Lady Hardcastle and Flo. Before long, one of their suspects is also killed and they begin to think it has something to do with the murder of a Weryer 20 years previously. After the third murder, Lady Hardcastle and Flo soon find out that they are next in line to be murdered.

This is a fun, clever cozy mystery with humor and suspense. I thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for allowing me to read the ARC in return for an honest review.

What an utter joy. I love this series wholeheartedly and I love this instalment just as much.

It’s fun, has always some interesting tidbits of history I had no idea about, the mystery is always well plotted. I love it.

Another sterling romp from the pen of Tim Keinsey! I love his series featuring Lady H and Flo, and this eighth outing does not disappoint. The village of Littleton Cotterill is rocked by the murder of one of their own, owner of a thriving orchard supplying apples for their famous cider. More murders follow and the ladies are recruited by Inspector Sunderland to help him solve the crimes. This story has a bit of edginess and 'bite' to it which adds a nuance to this tale. Highly enjoyable with plenty of humour, great side characters and a fair bit of gore- but always in the best possible taste of course. My grateful thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Mr Kinsey for a brilliant tale.

This way by far my favourite book in the Lady Hardcastle series! I love how Kinsey writes the relationship between Lady H and Armstrong. It's always the highlight of the novel, but for "Rotten to the Core" in particular it was a nice change of pace to see a storyline that was a little more sinister. Can't wait for the next installment!

A very enjoyable addition to a favorite series of mine. I really don’t care what Flo and Lady Hardcastle do, I just want to hear about it whatever it is. So, as I tootle and pootle along I am on tentacles waiting for the next book in the series. Just quoting Lady Hardcastle.

Lady Hardcastle and her lady’s maid, Flo, are at it again! Littleton Cotterell experiences a murder during the preparations for an early harvest and, of course, Lady Hardcastle and Flo must extend their expansive expertise to help the local police. They uncover clues pointing to an ancient secret society, moonlit rituals, and a death years before. When someone else ends up dead, the duo must find who is Rotten to the Core before they end up being the next victims!

This series is a lot of fun and this addition is no exception. Lady Hardcastle and Flo are humorous and light-heartedly poke fun at the class differences as well as their oh, so, secret past as agents for the crown all over the world (they have no problem trouble telling their exploits to everyone).

A fun romp and decent mystery too. This is really a series that you should read if you haven’t already!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for a honest review.

Mr. Kinsey has done it again. Lady Hardcastle and Flo are on another adventure, this time in their own village. The harvest festival is coming up, and the cider is running freely until a member of the Protectors of the Orchard is found murdered in his orchard. Lady H. and Flo have no shortage of suspects, but they inconveniently keep dying off. But fear not, our intrepid ladies restore peace and order to their village in time for the festivities. As usual, Lady H and Flo are a great duo. I like the mutual respect and friendship between the two women. The mystery makes sense, and is solved in a logical manner. There’s even a red herring thrown in for fun, and an advanced warning of a red herring being thrown in for fun. This is another great entry to the series, and I can’t wait to see what the ladies are up to next.

I received a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

I love the Lady Hardcastle series, and this is the eight book that features her and her maid/friend Flo Armstrong, this time again in the countryside. A member of the Weryers society is found stabbed in his apple orchard, and Inspector Sunderland requests their help once more. With the help of chatter, the crime board and their wits they finally find out what really happened a while ago and how it all turned to today´s crime. I love the amateur sleuths with their banter and unusual abilities, and there are also other well-depicted characters. The suspects are many, perhaps too many, but there is an exciting solutions. Looking ahead to the next book in the series!
Thanks to the publisher Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for an arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

In this, the eighth featuring Lady Hardcastle and her lady's maid, Flo, is set in the village of Littleton Cotterell in the summer of 1911. The detecting duo find themselves looking into the murder of a local apple grower. The general feeling is that he was the last person someone would murder. Well the killer isn't going to stop with one murder (or more) and Lady Hardcastle and Flo - again - team up with Inspector Sunderland to find out what dark secrets are hidden in a local group of cider wardens known as the Weryers Pomary. Remember, small English villages can be dangerous.
I have read the entire series and enjoyed each one. I am looking forward to the next in the series, An Act of Foul Play, due out November 29, 2022. Each works fine as a standalone with a lovely setting, a great pair of amateur sleuths and a mystery to keep the reader satisfyingly puzzled to the very end.
My thanks to the publisher Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyable, engaging and entertaining as always with a funny storyline and a colourful cast. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

1911 Littleton Cotterell. The crime solving duo of Lady Hardcadtle and Florence Armstrong are asked by Inspector Sunderland for help when a body is discovered. That of Claud Cridland found in a nearby orchard, stabbed. Was being a member of the Cider Wardens the reason for his death for this unassuming man. Then another of the Wardens is discovered dead.
A well-written and entertaining historical mystery with its fun and likeable main characters. The secondary characters also add to the enjoyment. This is another good addition to the series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rotten to the Core is my first read in this series featuring Lady Emily Hardcastle and her confidante and maid, Flo Armstrong, by author T E Kinsey. Set in 1911, in Littleton Cotterell I really enjoyed the witty repartee and humour between the main characters and I appreciated the roles of many of the supporting characters, too, including barmaid, Daisy and housemaid, Edna. I will definitely be reading more from this series. Well worth a look.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Anyone who enjoys historical mysteries which involve minutiae, merriment, and musing really needs to make the acquaintance of Lady Hardcastle and her (so much more than a) maid, Florence Armstrong. The banter between these two main characters is the highlight of the series, but there is much more to T.E. Kinsey's mysteries than laughs.

In Rotten to the Core, I learned about the cider industry in England and about some of the ancient organizations created to make the business thrive. (That's one of the things I love about this series so much-- Kinsey focuses on "something new" at the turn of the twentieth century in each book, so I've learned about automobiles, flying machines, the movie industry, etc. as I follow along in the two characters' wake.) I also learned that butterfly in Welsh means "living ember," one of those trivial nuggets perfect for squirreling away to bring out to amaze and amuse your friends at a later date. And how about those librarians who disobeyed orders and began creating the newspaper archives that became important sources of information for Lady Hardcastle and Florence? Three cheers for librarians!

As the hunt for a murderer becomes dire, Kinsey's two intrepid sleuths find their list of suspects growing instead of shrinking, and even though Lady Hardcastle believes that the mysterious woman staying at the Dog and Duck has more to do with this business than meets the eye, Florence urges caution: "The mysterious stranger is always a red herring. You should read more."

Is that mystery woman a killer? You'll just have to get your hands on a copy of Rotten to the Core to find out. The book has enough backstory so that new readers should not feel lost, but I will warn you: these books are highly addictive. Don't be surprised if you read one and find yourself looking for all the rest. They are little gems of light-hearted fun.

T E Kinsey's book in this series are always entertaining and a lot of fun to read like this one.
A solid plot, plenty of humour, a mystery that kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

It's 1911 in the English countryside and the hottest one
anyone can remember. The people of the small market town of Littleton Cotterell are planning for an early harvest and the obligatory Harvest Festival. As usual, Lady Hardcastle and her maid/sidekick/friend Flo Armstrong are knee-deep in the planning, whether they want to be or not. They stroll down to the local pub one hot evening and find everyone at tables outside. When they go inside to order, they find a group of men gathered. These are the " Weryers of The Pomary" or the Cider Wardens. The organization has been around for hundreds of years, doing "good works" and holding much sway in the area. Lady Hardcastle and Flo think it to be just another eccentric feature of rural life. Until the next day, they learn that one of the Wardens has been murdered. When Wardens are murdered, one by one, their friend, Inspector Sunderland, asks them to become involved. They soon find that much more is going on than is ever mentioned in "polite" conversation. Those unmentioned things nearly get them killed.

Rotten To The Core is delightful, full of humor, and clever repartee. I always know I will be immersed in a few hours of pure enjoyment. A quote from Agatha Christie, "In an English village, you turn over a stone and have no idea what will crawl out," always comes to mind when reading this series. T.E. Kinsey owes much to Miss Marple, but Lady Hardcastle and Flo are much more fun. The characters, like their friend, Daisy the barmaid, Inspector Sunderland, and the Farley-Strouds add an extra bit of laughter to the mix. I highly recommend starting with the first in the series, A Quiet Life in the Country, to discover more about Lady Hardcastle and Flo's adventures in the years before the country life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

The summer of 1911 was a hot one in England, and Littleton Cotterell seemed to have the hottest days of all. The usual meeting of the Weryers at the Dog and Duck pub, where Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong were headed, introduced them to this enigmatic group of friendly, charity conscious men, as well as their idiosyncrasies, but it wasn’t until one of them was murdered that their interest became serious. Lady Hardcastle and Flo were highly successful amateur sleuths and as such, Inspector Sunderland requested their help once again.

Lady Hardcastle put her crime board on the wall where both could see and add to it as suspects came to hand. But while their suspect list was long, no one in particular stood out. When a second death was discovered, the race was on. But would Lady H and Flo identify the killer before any more died? Or would this one be their last case as they found themselves too close to the killer?

Rotten to the Core is the 8th in the Lady Hardcastle Mysteries by T.E. Kinsey and once again I loved it. Laugh out loud moments throughout the book, I love the repartee between little servant and mistress! Plenty of suspense riddles the humour, and danger shows its head as well. An excellent team, especially as the police recognize their value, Lady H and Flo are a couple of sleuths I hope we see much more of. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I adore Lady Hardcastle and Flo. This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series ever. I recommend it frequently. I love the humor and banter between Lady H and her maid. They are so much fun together. They keep the feel of the books light despite the murder(s) that take place.

This one contains several murders but none of them happen on the page so it is not too graphic. The attempted murder is on the page but once again, the ladies manage.

I usually listen to the audio version of these books because I think the narrator, Elizabeth Knoweldon is spectacular as Flo, who is the narrating voice of the story. At least I assume she will continue to narrate the books. But I had the opportunity for the advance ebook copy of this so I settled on reading it myself. Given a choice, I would always chose the audiobook because - this narrator = spectacular! But I enjoyed hearing Flo's voice in my head as well. And I'll still get the audio for my husband and me to listen to while traveling. I'll be able to enjoy this story both ways.

Sex: references to marital affairs
Language: Once, I think
Violence: yes, but nothing too graphic

I absolutely love this series and have read most of the books. I hadn't read the previous two however but it didn't matter. If you haven't read the previous books you easily pick the characters up and they can be read as a standalone. There are hints at past cases but it doesn't ruin the experience.

This was a fast paced and turny read.

I also really enjoyed the authors note at the end on the historical accuracies and inaccuracies.

Thank you for the arc.

I absolutely love cozy mysteries and "Rotten to the Core" was a wonderful addition to the genre. Great read!

I am a first time read of this author T E Kinsey and the series around the characters Lady Hardcastle and Flo.

I loved the wit and humor exchanging between the 2 main characters and the storyline that develops. I will definitely be looking for more cozy reads by this author.

A fun witty and most enjoyable read.