I enjoyed Manda Collins’s new book, A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem. It’s set in England, 1865. Lady Katherine Bascomb inherited the ownership of a newspaper from her late unlamented husband and decides, with the help of a new acquaintance, Caro Hardcastle, to write a weekly column for the paper, covering crime from a woman’s perspective. A serial killer, known as the Commandments Killer, is terrifying Londoners. Kate and Caro find an overlooked witness and Inspector Andrew Eversham is taken off the case. An innocent man is then arrested to demonstrate that the police aren’t unable to work out whodunnit.

Kate is mortified that her work has potentially condemned an innocent man and dashes North to see a friend whose father is a duke, hoping that the son can persuade the duke to talk to the Home Secretary about the case. However, the day after Kate arrives, she discovers a murdered man with a note from the Commandments Killer. Inspector Eversham is sent to investigate. Then there’s another murder…

My initial reaction after reading the book was “That’s not bad for a first novel. The author wasn’t paying attention or was rushing and that’s why there are basic errors, but she shows promise.” I’ve since discovered that Manda Collins has been publishing since 2012 and, indeed, was publishing books at the rate of one every few months until 2018. The errors don’t destroy the story, but they do grate. A follows B into the study “and had just turned to face the door when [B] drove a fist square into his jaw.” But if he followed B and then turned to face the door, wouldn’t B be behind him?

Kate and Caro leave Kate’s office about 5:30pm, leaving Caro’s cat, Ludwig, in the care of Kate’s secretary so they can attend a Scotland Yard press conference. However, Kate then gives Caro a lift in her cab and drops Caro off at her home. Did the cat go home with the secretary? Oh, and secretaries were male until the advent of typewriters in 1878. I can understand (and applaud) that a great believer in female equality like Kate might want to employ a woman but it is a serious anachronism.

When Green, the stationer, claims he was in Bristol picking up supplies at the time of the murder, I’d have arrested him on the spot. The return trip from the Lake District to Bristol is not one I would like to do by car today in one day. In 1865, there would have to be an overnight stop. All Mr Green’s profit would have been consumed in travel costs, no matter what those goods were. He wouldn’t have good to Bristol to buy goods.

Kate introduces herself to Eversham as Mrs Bascomb but when they meet some days later, he comments that she didn’t correct him when he called her “Mrs Bascomb”. Why would she? It’s how she described herself!

Please don’t misinterpret my comments. I enjoyed the book, although I worked out the murderer’s identity quite early on. Kate’s propensity to flare into anger rather than explaining her thoughts is childish and unbelievable, yet I liked the characters and will happily read the sequel promised for next autumn. I'd just like the author to take more care.
#ALadysGuidetoMischiefandMayhem #NetGalley

Apologies for this review not coming in time for publication day, I only received my copy a couple of days before hand, so I didn’t quite have time to read it.

When I saw the cover and title for this book, it appealed immediately. The blurb only added to my interest.

I very much enjoyed this book. It is the story of Lady Katherine Bascomb, who has (thankfully) been widowed and regained her independence. She cowrites an article for her newspaper about a series of murders, and so becomes entangled with both the investigation, and Andrew Eversham. Both the mystery and the romance were satisfying, and I very much hope there will be a sequel. I would love to get to know this cast of characters much better.

If you’re looking for a murder mystery, and a historical romance, this book fills both requirements admirably. And has a lot of fun doing so!

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

It has everything; murder, intrigue, romance, action, mystery etc. It was nice to see a historical book written in such a way to reflect the real attitudes and beliefs of people at the time, whilst also having a realistic heroine who was courageous and intelligent. The detective was also great for his attitude and honesty. The mystery side of things was well written as you honestly didn't manage to guess whodunnit until the last 3 chapters. I would definitely recommend to others as it was a really enjoyable read

I got this read on the 9th of November, and it was archive on 10th so I didn't get to read on time. 😭
But I will still leave a review. I enjoyed this read. Not so much as I hoped, but still was got. I just loved Kate and Caro, and it was little refreshing to read a book about two heroines from 19th century who speaks and acts like this.
Liked the mystery part, but the romance part I loved.
All in all. 3.5 stars.

If there’s one intersection of genres that I love, it’s historical romance mysteries. Firstly, the historical setting provides the perfect amount of yearning (because of the social norms of the time), and secondly, mystery seems to me a perfect vehicle for advancing a romance. Two individuals having to work together to solve a problem? Falling in love along the way? Nothing can compare.

In A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem, London is being terrorised by the Commandments Killer, an individual who is going around killing those who have broken one of the Ten Commandments. When Katherine, a crime reporter, realises that the police have failed to interview a key witness, she takes it upon herself to do so, while criticising the lead detective for not doing it. When he is taken off the case, and an innocent man is subsequently arrested, Katherine decides to leave London for the Lakes, in the hopes of finding some way to help him, since it was her information that got him imprisoned (which, you know, seems a bit privileged. Oh, oops, you’re arrested, I’m heading north. But alright). However, the murders follow her and, when another body is found, this time in the grounds of the house she is staying at, she is forced to work with the detective she got demoted to find the killer.

I’m going to split this review into two sections: the romance and the mystery. Mainly because I had...wildly different feelings about the both of them, let’s say. First, the romance. Despite occasionally feeling that the pacing was a little off for it (namely, how fast they fell in love), it was a romance I was rooting for throughout. I wanted to see Andrew and Katherine work things out, although, like I said, it all happened quite fast. Sort of parallel to the romance was the potential for romance between Caro and Val, which makes me very excited for what the second book may bring. Overall, then, the romance and characters are what made me enjoy this book as much as I did. And, really, were the reason I wanted to read it, the mystery was just a bonus.

Speaking of the mystery — and I don’t know if this is a product of my having read/watched way too many — but the culprit was blindingly obvious. The first scene following the discovery of the body, where everyone was properly introduced as characters, I picked out who did it. In part, it was that obviousness, but there was also, assuming the culprit to be one of the cast, no one else it could conceivably have been. I’m not saying this is bad writing or whatever, because clearly I wasn’t here for the mystery, but it did make said mystery lose any tension.

And then the reasons behind the murders? I didn’t quite get the leap of logic that lead to murder, and I’m not the biggest fan of the “actually they were just a bit nuts” trope. And why the murders started in London when the real location was centered on where they ended up in the Lakes was lost on me. Because they could? I don’t know, all I’m saying is that the whole mystery felt a bit loosely plotted.

But, as I said, I didn’t really come for the mystery, I came for the romance. And as a romance book, it has a couple you can root for and it’s a whole lot of fun to read.

This book sounded *so* good and then it just... wasn't. Mostly that can be attributed to the writing which was stilted and sounded as if the author spent way too much time consulting a thesaurus. I had to read around words to get to the story, which was decent but not enough to keep me reading. If writing style isn't a make-or-break issue for you then you might enjoy it, but it wasn't for me.

An example (and yes the entire book is written like this):

"And from the spectacle the police put on today, I doubt they're prepared to listen to the exhortations of the two ladies whose interview provided the very ammunition to arrest Clark."

It's just... wordy, in a way that constantly breaks any tension.

I did like the way Katherine owns a newspaper and is determined to write about the murders for women, but her extreme naivete in thinking she can do so without having any effect on the investigation is a little unbelievable.

Also the chemistry with Andrew - who was conducting the investigation, at least until her story promts his superiors to take him off the case and arrest the wrong man - was nonexistent. The moment they encounter one another again he starts getting sidetracked by lustful thoughts when he's supposed to be interrogating her? It was awkward and weird.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing an e-arc for review