Poisonous plots!

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



I do think this is one of my fav. Kat Holloway and Daniel McAdam “Below Stairs”mysteries. How far Kat has come from our first interactions with her. She’s not only now a cook of some renown to the Gentry, but she has a bit of a reputation for solving problems.

Approached for help by the wealthy Lady Covington, a neighbor who’s convinced she’s being poisoned, Kat agrees. Lady Covington is sister to the benefactor of Kat’s friend Mr. Thanos, a brilliant mathematician.

Meanwhile Daniel is on a mysterious path in pursuit of persons dangerous to Britain.

The two cases do have a certain crossover. 

Kat and Daniel’s relationship is growing (snogging on the back stairs!) and Daniel is eager to shelter Kat from the man who’s tune he’s been forced to dance to. Very mysterious! and dangerous!

Lady Cynthia (who delights to dress in men’s suits) is once more being pressured to marry. She goes to stay with Lady Covington as a plant in the household, and to escape her mother’s demands. We are treated once more to the lively bunch who surround Cynthia. I do enjoy them. The development of the various secondary characters is a delight. The interplay between Mr. Thanos and Lady Cynthia made me smile.

As the plot develops, the threads woven tighten, but not without trauma.


A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley 

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