Really enjoyable and accessible jumping on point for this series that does cozy mysteries well. Can't wait to catch up on the rest of the series after gobbling this one up in a couple of sittings.

A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry is the newest installment in the fantastic Kate Hamilton Mysteries series. Kate is an antiques dealer and appraiser and her new husband Tom is a Detective Inspector with the Suffolk Constabulary. They are on their honeymoon in Devon and team up to solve interconnected mysteries, namely a Victorian era bloodstained dress and murder. The past meets the present in this delicious twisty story and there are secrets galore.

I really enjoyed learning more about the history of textiles including conservation, Honiton lace, lace schools and horrendous lacework conditions young girls endured, Romanichals and the Rational Dress Movement. Talk about fascinating! The mystery itself is clever, the setting lovely, food descriptions delectable and the main characters are worth caring about. The secondary characters are quirky and add a pleasing layer. But what stands out for me most are the breathtaking textile and lace details, tricks, hiding places and imagery.

Craving a refreshing series with a unique premise? This could be your wheelhouse.

My sincere thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this enthralling novel. I'm eagerly anticipating the next in this wonderful series!

murder, investigations, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, cloth-and-clothing, attempted-murder, families, family-drama, family-dynamics, local-law-enforcement, local-gossip, local-politics, museum, suspense, suspicion, small-town, antiques, lacemaking, genealogy, census-records, newlyweds, amateur-sleuth

I geek historical information, so first I will say that I learned about Lost Villages, Honiton Lace (I had tried pillow lace some years ago and it was REALLY hard), the National Park in Devon, Romanichal people/culture also known as the GRTs (Gypsy/Roma/Travellers), Swansea teapots, and the incredible due diligence required to document historical provenance of some items.
The mystery and investigation are equally detailed and diabolical, the characters interesting and engaging, and the whole is simply riveting. And then there's that twisty path to the great reveal!
A widowed antique dealer with a shop Ohio who grew up in Wisconsin, Kate is managing the antiquities shop in England with her elder friend Ivor and is very recently married to DI Tom Mallory, of Suffolk constabulary.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Available 18 Jun 2024 #KateHamiltonBk5 #BritishCozy

American antiques expert Kate Hamilton is on her honeymoon in Devon with her English husband, DI Tom Mallory, looking forward to moving into their new house. But first, they have agreed to investigate the provenance of a bloodstained dress dating back to a Victorian lace maker who, if the note pinned to the dress can be validated, is a murderess. But whose blood is on the dress, was there actually a murder, and--if so--what was the motivation? Kate is busy studying the history and culture of the Dartmoor area and tracking down difficult-to-locate individuals who may be able to provide some valuable information, while Tom is recruited by the local constabulary to assist when things turn deadly.

Connie Berry is a master at creating a credible, well-researched mystery, layer by layer, and incorporating fascinating characters who may be part of the puzzle. One character, for example, has devoted his adult life to transforming his home into a Victorian estate, wearing the era's clothing, and living as a Victorian gentleman, and his housekeeper goes along with the pretense. Another is a brash politician who has a troubled background but more recently has had success passing legislation to improve the lives of his constituents. Then there are the museum staff hoping the dress will be the centerpiece of an exciting new exhibit, the itinerant Romani community who circled back to the area each year, supportive and conniving women, and more. I felt exhausted but happy when the mystery was finally resolved, and I will definitely look for the next (sixth) in the series.

My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Tom and Kate are on their honeymoon but that doesn’t mean they won’t find a murder that they can’t solve.

Tom is considering taking early retirement from policing to join a private investigation firm based in Toronto. They have chosen Devon as their honeymoon destination because they are looking into the mystery of a blood-stained dress that supposedly was worn by a lacemaker accused of murder while deciding which direction Tom will take professionally.

Oh, the tangled webs we weave! I was kept on my toes reading this one, there were so many twists and turns, characters not telling the whole truth, just parts, I was kept impatiently waiting to find out who killed and did Nancy Thorne murdered anyone, and was anyone telling the truth or was it just a collection of lies! The cast of characters was engaging and rich; the history of the area of Devon is peat moss deep!


I wholeheartedly recommend this latest installment of Kate Hamilton mysteries. It was exactly the kind of mystery I need to read right now. It kept me glued to the pages and I would’ve read in one reading but I have to work and sleep!

My gratitude to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions expressed are honest and mine.

The fifth in series, A Collection of Lies doesn’t fail to entertain. I enjoyed Kate and Tom working so closely together while on their honeymoon/trial job for Tom to decide if he wants to leave the police force and become a private investigator. The descriptions of Devon, and the lifestyle of the Roma people who traveled through the area added so much authenticity to the story that had centered in part on a past event that may or may not have been a murder. Tom and Kate are trying to find answers about an old bloodstained dress with an intricate lace collar but soon find themselves working with local police to solve a murder, are the two things related? The ending tied things up nicely, and left us with a tease for future storylines, I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read an advance copy, Fresh from finishing it, I’ve already suggested the entire series to two fellow readers, I think they and everyone else will follow Kate and Tom’s adventures with the same pleasure I did.

The 5th book in Connie Berry’s “Kate Hamilton” mystery does not disappoint! While Tom and Kate are on their honeymoon in Devon, they take on the official role of private investigators through the firm Nash & Holmes. Charged with determining the provenance of a mid-1800’s simple frock covered with blood, Tom and Kate must determine if a lace maker named Nancy Thorne was the owner, and if so, was she a murderess? And does a recent murder have ties to this past murder? A cast of characters that includes a present day eccentric living as a Victorian era gentleman who runs a cybersecurity business, conservators of a historical museum’s Local Crimes Display who seem to have something to hide and a sketchy politician and his affluent wife, there is much intrigue as their investigation unfolds. As a bonus, Ms Berry’s research into the intricacies of living in the 1870’s shines in her depictions of the lace making trade and the lives of the local town folks. A real gem.

Connie Berry’s fifth Kate Hamilton mystery, A Collection of Lies, combines some of my favorite elements, a cold case, a contemporary murder investigation, and a drowned village. Kate Hamilton and her new husband, Tom Malloy, aren’t on the usual honeymoon as they’re plunged into a fascinating case.

Kate and Tom are on their honeymoon in Devon, England, a working honeymoon. Tom has accepted a case from an international private investigation firm, trying to decide if he wants to take early retirement from the Suffolk Constabulary and become a private investigator. This case provides an opportunity for Kate, an antiques and antiquity expert, to work with him. The client is the Museum of Devon Life, recipient of a donation of a bloodstained dress from the late 1800s. They’re to establish the provenance. Did the dress actually belong to Nancy Thorne who was supposed to have murdered someone in 1885?

All of the clues seem to lead nowhere. Then, on the night of a fundraising gala at the museum, there’s a shooter. Gordon Littlejohn, the man who donated the dress, is grazed by the bullet, but politician Teddy Pearce claims he was the target. But, it’s Littlejohn who becomes a murder victim, leaving Kate with so many questions about the donated dress. When the Devon constabulary as Tom for his help, Kate is left to dig into the history of the bloodstained dress.

Kate’s search for answers leads her to stories of two accomplished working class women, lacemaker Nancy Thorne and her seamstress sister, Sally Tucker. But, it’s a local researcher and librarian who finds answers to many of Kate’s questions about the sisters, Romani in the area at the time, and even people who might be involved in the current murder investigation.

If you enjoy cold cases, facts about working class life in the late 1800s, and cold cases, you’ll want to try A Collection of Lies. And, Berry leaves readers with just a hint of a new direction for Kate Hamilton’s investigatory interest. This latest is a terrific addition to the traditional mystery series.

This is number five in the Kate Hamilton Mysteries.


Kate and Tom are honeymooning in Devon, where a local history museum has asked them to authenticate a Victorian dress covered in blood to find out if it belonged to the infamous Nancy Thorne. Kate is excited and Tom as well.


The more they find out the further away they seem to find themselves. Until shots ring out at the museum and they are on another case altogether!


With gypsies, and thieves and murderers, the story quickly becomes a race to the truth. And what a fabulous wrap up this was!!


There were so many suspects and they all were truly despicable! But oh so much fun to read!


Always a Pleasure.

I enjoy this series and the latest is no exception. Kate and her detective Inspector are on a "working" honeymoon, checking on the provenance of a dress purported to bethat of a murderess from the past, when they find a more recent dead body! I think the opportunity to provide Kate with a professional sleuthing opportunity bodes well for the continuing series. A minor criticism is the use of Kate's historic flashbacks - I think that the author should either lean in to this aspect or drop it completely. These moments often seen out-of-place.,