"A Truth Most Treacherous" by Genevieve Essig is a thrilling addition to the Cassie Gwynne Mystery series. Essig keeps readers guessing until the very end with unexpected twists and turns. While the pacing is a bit slow in some parts, the intricate plot and well-developed characters make up for it. Overall, it's a captivating mystery that will keep you turning pages late into the night.

Ugh! I couldn't resist!! Historical Mystery is my go-to genre. A lot of my favorite books and series belong to this genre. Even though this is book 3 in the series, I think you wouldn't be entirely lost reading them out of order. I do recommend starting at book 1 though. So much fun to read. Victorian mystery with a strong female lead who herself is a cat lover and reader. Just as she vows to be done with detective work, fate has other plans for Cassie Gwynne. She's thrust back into the heat of a murder investigation to save a friend! And of course, someone doesn't want the truth revealed! Completely fun and unpredictable!

I am a fan of the Cassie Gwynn’s mystery series. This was a solid entry to a strong series. Cassie had already proven herself to be a competent female detective. She is clever and observant. The mystery was very compelling, and I liked the twist at the end! Thus, this was a light cozy mystery that is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon! I recommend this for fans of Rhys Bowen, Karen Odden, and Jennifer Ashley!

II have read all three in the series so far and have thoroughly enjoyed the primary plot, I enjoyed the many subplots and motives that were behind each one too. In this book it all moves along at quite the pace and there are some satisfying outcomes!

Cassie to be a most likeable leading lady if a little different to many in the other cosies I've read. The village is full of endearing and colourful characters as well, which always adds to a well thought through storyline.

Im unsure if this is the final one in this series, but I hope not as Im sure the author will evolve the storyline in a most enjoyable way.

I highly recommend this book, the series and rate it five out of five.

I'm looking forward to seeing just how the family story evolves. I have a sense that with each mystery, we'll learn a little more. Things are definitely not what they seemed to be.

With thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

My first one but definitely not my last in this series! I was immersed immediately and I ignored chores and dinner to finish the book in one sitting. Literally could not force myself to stop reading!

Easily predictable mystery, but the real stars are the characters, lively, and you get a flavor of the old South. Charming tale, but there realities woven in, the harsh treatment of the Chinese, and the bigotry that haunts America to this day.

Well worth a read.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC in exchange of honest review.

I read this book without reading the first two books in the series, and I found no trouble to understand the important information [of who, where, when and what's happening in the first two books]. I enjoyed how this book makes me thinking and trying to solve the mystery together, the way it makes me second guessing everyone and their own motives. I love everyone characters except the main culprits, and especially Cassie, Flora and Paddy! I also absolutely digging the side romance story which I never expect but all the confusion and jealousy is so cute to follow. I recommended it for everyone who loves Sherlock Holmes, Enola Holmes and mystery books!

Overall: 4/5

This was a fun and entertaining book! I really enjoyed the characters and learning about the time period in Florida. So far this has been a great series. I'm looking forward to the next book

Florida 1884 was a very mixed, very exotic place to live in. Cassie has come there and though
she is wanting to avoid any investigation, a murder almost finds her when she discovers the body
of Chester Pence floating in a canal. Chester was a nasty customs officer who had lots of dubious
dealings and whose reputation for being racist and unfair were rampant.

The historical details in this novel were many and for outsiders would be very informative. The
beginning of Florida as a center for tourists, for development of a port and being cosmopolitan
was just beginning and this was the backdrop for the story. The treatment of the Chinese community
and the backlash they faced is also highlighted in the book.

The murder of Chester Pence and the other murders which followed and Cassie's romantic involvement
and the story that surrounds the investigation is just part of this story. The history and the
development of this state forms the other. Both combine very well to give one a very good story
similar to those written by Verity Knight.

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A Truth Most Treacherous’ by Genevieve Essig. I was also invited to take part in their publication week blog tour. This is my stop.

This is Book 3 in the Cassie Gwynne series of historical cosy mysteries set in Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida in the late 19th-Century.

As well as the current murder, the plot addresses the ongoing mystery of the attack on Cassie and her father that resulted in his death and her leaving New York for Florida.

While some background details are provided for the earlier books, I consider this a loose trilogy that is best read in order to appreciate the unfolding story and character development.

It is now January 1884 and Cassie Gwynne has made a resolution to avoid getting involved with any more murders. How long is that likely to last? Not very long, as the next day she happens upon a body floating beneath the boardwalk.

It is soon established that this wasn’t an accident and given that this newcomer to town had been upsetting the locals in the pursuit of his official duties, there’s plenty of suspects. Then someone in her orbit comes under suspicion and even confesses! Case closed? Cassie and allies are unconvinced and continue their unofficial investigation.

Added to this Cassie’s brother in New York is continuing to look into the attack on Cassie and her lawyer father. It has become clear that it was more than a random robbery and that Cassie and her surviving family may be in danger.

I was impressed how well this novel flowed given its multiple plot threads. This included Deputy Austin Hughes’ flamboyant mother, Georgina, arriving for a visit along with Victoria, his former flame. Poor Cassie, especially given his Mummy is hoping to play matchmaker and Austin is acting strangely. I also appreciated that the characters still had time to enjoy meals and that Cassie’s fluffy kitten, Esy, continued her playful antics.

In this instalment Genevieve Essig took the opportunity to explore her Chinese heritage and dedicates the novel to her mother, Yau-Ping. As a result the story features Amelia Island’s Chinese residents.

While celebrating the richness of Chinese culture, Essig also highlights the impact of the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 upon the Chinese immigrant community. This proved important for the ongoing subplot as well as for this specific whodunnit. Sadly, this kind of prejudice still has relevance in our modern times.

This series has continued to impress me for its plotting, strong characterisations, and meticulously detailed period setting. Essig is clearly a history buff undertaking thorough research into late-nineteenth-century Fernandina to inform her narrative. This, along with her vivid descriptions, allowed me a deeper sense of immersion.

Overall, I found ‘A Truth Most Treacherous’ outstanding, building on the established strengths of the series to date and delivering a satisfying conclusion to Cassie’s introduction to this new phase of her life.

Where next for Cassie Gwynne? I can hardly wait to find out.

On a side note, I have found the designs of the covers, utilising a cool palette of blues and greens, very eye-catching.

Highly recommended for fans of historical cosy mysteries.

Another entertaining cozy mystery featuring Cassie Gwynne and this lovely cast of characters.
I think this series improved with each instalment and this is the best so fare. The mystery is solid and the likeable characters are fleshed out. They grew on me and I like them.
The setting is as fascinating and well described as usual. I like the vivid descriptions and the well researched historical background.
The titles of the books are great and they sound very XIX century.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Cassie Gwynne has a lovely, serious and detailed mind personalities, just very appealing to me. Her close Chinese friend Mr. Hu had travelled back and had a dispute with the customs collector Chester Pence. Chester Pense had made enough enemies, even he was new in town. Not long later, Chester Pence’s body found floating under the plank.

Accident? Or murder?

A Chinese was witnessed nearby, they were now on the suspect list. When Mr. Hu confessed he was the murderer, Cassie had no way to believe he would commit a crime. Was he covering for someone important? Therefore Cassie had to investigate the crime and plot was getting more suspenseful and gripping.

📗What I like the most?

Genevieve brought us back to 1884 in Florida which is something new to me, but surprisingly I found it very easy to put myself into that period of time. You cared about people, enjoyed having real communication with you friends. The writing style of Genevieve was easy to follow, keeping up the pace which made me as a reader addicted to it and most importantly the contents were vividly and beautifully written.

Chinese culture - Yes! It is important to spend some family time on New Year Day. Yin-yang meaning behind etc

Even though A TRUTH MOST TREACHEROUS is the book 3 from the series “A Cassie Gwynne Mystery”, but you can read as a standalone. This is exactly my situation and I cannot wait to go back to read Book 1 and 2!

📘Reflection

When I was reading the book, as a reader from Hong Kong, I related myself into the Discrimination treat at that time. Meanwhile there was no limit on nationality for a true friendship.

1884 Fernandina Florida

A delightful murder mystery with a fabulous cast of characters! This is the first book I have read by this author, but it definately will not be the last!

Chester Pence, custom collections agent is found dead. Well, good riddance if you ask me with his corrupt self! Cassie gets drawn in when her friend Paddy's father tries to say he did it.

Well sit back and enjoy the story with a lot of twist and turns that will keep you turning the pages until the end!

When Cassie Gwynne stumbles across the dead body of thoroughly unpleasant customs collector Chester Pence in the marsh, no one is terribly torn up about his untimely demise. What Cassie is upset about, though, is that her dear friend Mr. Hu has confessed to the crime. She is confident that he’s innocent. But the official word is that, since they have a confession, no further investigation is needed. It’s up to Cassie to unravel the truth.

Genevieve Essig has written another delightful entry in the story of Cassie Gwynne! Cassie puts her considerable skills of observation and deduction to work yet again to solve a crime, and she does a bang-up job. She has the help of family and friends along the way, as well as a handful of colorful characters about town, and things are resolved satisfactorily.

Essig does a great job giving us a vivid picture of Florida in the late nineteenth century. She paints quite the portrait of anti-Chinese sentiment and shows how easy it would be for a corrupt operator like Pence to turn people against the town’s Chinese residents. Even people who might not have minded the Chinese folks who came to Fernandina started to give Mr. Hu and Mr. Green a bit of side-eye when Pence started throwing around his official weight with accusations of misconduct.

Not only is Cassie investigating this particular crime, but she’s still trying to learn more about what happened to her father. Her brother Burt is in New York, seeing what he can find out and hopefully staying out of harm’s way, but danger lurks for both Burt and Cassie. Has the Anti-Chinese Society followed Cassie to Fernandina, and if so, why?

In this book, we get more back story about Jake and Hughes as well as a jolly good mystery to solve. We meet Miss Victoria Phillips, an elegant young woman from Hughes’s past, and Cassie finds herself wondering if she imagined Hughes’s feelings for her. He doesn’t seem to be pushing Miss Phillips away, and his mother, the daunting Georgiana DeVries, certainly seems to be encouraging Hughes in Miss Phillips’ direction. There’s an entertaining side plot involving Miss Phillips wherein we learn that she may not be what she purports to be, and we see a new side of Mrs. DeVries as well. It was fun getting to learn more about some of the not-quite-front-and-center characters in the story.

With Cassie Gwynne, Genevieve Essig gives us a smart, resourceful heroine, a mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, insight into the social issue of racial discrimination, and a little bit of romance, too. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable, well-rounded read.

Cassie Gwynne good at solving mysteries, with a curious nature and skills that every good Detective would be proud of always seems to be one step ahead of the police when solving murders she finds herself unwittingly drawn into

Doing what she does best helps when she discovers the body of Chester Pence

Third in a series which so far seems to be getting better with each read

Florida 1884. It was not the bustling place of today but rather exotic and strange. But it was already starting to draw tourists and a few ports where open to international trade like Fernandina. So it made sense there would be a custom agent based there. Only Chester Pence was a particularly nasty example of the type, enjoying bullying people and abusing his power. It was no surprise when he ended up dead. It was a surprise, though, when Mr. Hu, a close friend confessed. Cassie Gwynne was determined to find out the truth.

It was interesting to read about Florida during this time period, far different than the way one thinks of it today. There were plenty of people who hated Pence so there were no lack of people with motives. Plot twists galore kept things very interesting and wrapped up an ongoing arc from the previous two books. I have read the two other previous books but they aren't necessary to understand what is going on. I really enjoyed the characters and the historical representation of Chinese and their treatment in the United States at this time.

An enjoyable series and I would recommend it for someone looking for something a little different than your normal cozy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Cassie Gwynne might be adept at solving murders, but doing so is not by choice. She just always happens to be in the right place at the right time. Having a curious nature and excellent skills of deduction definitely helps. It comes to no surprise that Cassie gets this chance yet again. Discovering the body of Chester Pence affords Cassie this very opportunity.

Doing what she does best, Cassie starts asking questions. The more questions she has the less clarity she gains. One of the issues is that Chester had acquired a number of enemies even though he was relatively new in town. His nefarious activities included stealing a wedding dress or a man’s cigars. Why Chester was acting in such a manner is very unclear, thus there are no shortage of suspects.

However, there is definitely a wrench in Cassie’s ongoing investigation. One of her closest friends, Mr. Hu, confesses to the crime. Cassie finds that impossible to believe. She is definitely in a quandary because she cannot understand why he would confess to something that he certainly would not have done. Finding the actual murderer takes on even greater importance to Cassie.

This series by Genevieve Essig is thoroughly entertaining. One of the things that really drew me to this series are the lovely covers each book has. This book, as well as the first two books, A Deception Most Deadly and A Plot Most Perilous, all have striking covers and are quite enjoyable, making this a most delightful series. I also love the time frame and setting that surrounds the series, that of 1884 in Florida. For a lovely series with wonderful characters, always an intriguing plot, a slow burn romance between Cassie and a local policeman, as well as a developing back story, the Cassie Gwynne series is one that I would definitely recommend, and I am very excited for the next installment.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/vLToI2H_H0Q

This is the third book in this series but the first I have read. This didn't affect my enjoyment of the book however I would recommend reading them in order as you might be missing a lot of the back story. This is a good read with a well written plot and story line. The character's were funny quirky and engaging will be going back to read the other two books. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The words "cat lover, bookworm and daring detective" sold me on this book, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to expectations, and I ended up DNFing at 30%.

To begin with, there were an overwhelming number of characters in pretty much every scene - my complaint isn't about not knowing who they were, as each of them was explained nicely (since I haven't read the previous two books in the series), but that they really bogged each scene down so that it all moved at a glacial pace. Also contributing to the slowness was the author's need for historical and social explanation in each scene - it felt more like being in a history lesson as the characters discussed the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act, rather than listening to people actually speak to each other. I did skip forward to the author's note at the end, and I commend her research and her desire to include this aspect of history, but it's not incorporated into the story very smoothly. It's also quite a bit darker than the 'cosy' remit!

I could have moved past these issues if I had connected to Cassie more, but I struggled to get a sense for her character as she was overwhelmed by everyone else. At times she felt very modern in her voice and behaviour. This is almost certainly my fault for trying to start mid-series, as I'm sure there was a smoother introduction to her earlier, but I don't usually find this a problem with cosy mysteries so it may just be a mis-match between me and her. I did like Paddy Hu, who was sweet! I think this is very much a case of this not being a book for me, rather than it being a bad book.

Thank you to the author and the publisher, Bookouture, for sharing an ARC of this book with me through NetGalley!!

This book was really good!! An historical mystery of the likes of Miss Marple but with a young woman trying to figure out both her past and her father’s secrets as well as a murder case!!!
And there was even a little bit of romance in the middle of it all!!!
I’m sold !!!! It was really entertaining and interesting both in the characters’ personality and in plot !!!
The mystery was addicting and the main character is so good and inspiring … I honestly couldn’t put it down!!
This book is a part of a series, I’d suggest reading the first two so to have a more clear view of the main character but ut can be read as a standalone !!!
I’m so glad I had the chance to read it !!!