Speculations in Sin by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Barbara’s rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Series: A Below Stairs Mystery #7
Publication Date: 3/5/24
Period: 1883 – Victorian London
Number of Pages: 320

Oh! This is the most exciting, interesting, on the edge of your seat, read it in one sitting book I’ve read in a while. Most of the things Kat Holloway holds dear are under threat and it appears the deck is definitely stacked against her. With the rich and powerful working against those she holds dear, can she, a lowly cook, defeat them? I’ve just read the last page and I am already wondering how I’ll ever manage to wait for the next installment.

Kat was at the end of a wonderful day visiting her daughter Grace when she noticed something wasn’t right with her lifelong friend, Joanna Millburn. When Kat prodded, Joanna finally broke down and told her that her husband, Samuel, was being accused of embezzlement and threatened with dismissal from his position. Kat knew there was no way possible that Sam would ever embezzle. He was the sweetest, gentlest, and most loving soul Kat had the pleasure of knowing. He had a misspent youth, but he had turned his life around in the last 20 years. When Kat found herself with a dead husband and a newborn she had no way of supporting, Joanna and Sam offered to care for Grace in their home – and to treat her as one of their own. They had lived up to that commitment for the last twelve years and there was no way Kat would let anyone hurt Sam, Joanna, their children, or Grace.

Kat had just begun her investigation at Sam’s place of employment when Sam was arrested – right in front of her – and there was nothing she could do – nothing. No, the charges weren’t embezzlement – he was charged with the murder of a fellow employee. OMGoodness! How will Kat ever get him out of that when the judges and the police are against Sam as is his rich and powerful company? Luckily for Sam and Joanna, Kat calls in all of her friends – from above and below the stairs – and they mount an investigation of their own. Yes, there is Daniel, James, Thanos, Lady Cynthia, Roberta (Bobby), Lady Townsend, and even Daniel’s reprobate brother, Mr. Fielding, and many others who band together to protect the Millburn family and prove Samuel’s innocence.

There was excitement on every page and just when you thought you had it all figured out – you found out you really didn’t. I think this might be the best book so far – and I’m really excited to find out where Daniel and Kat’s relationship goes from here – and what Daniel’s big ‘final’ task might be for Mr.Monaghan. I can recommend this book and this series. I will, however, say that this is not a series you can just jump into the middle of and get a good feel for the characters and relationships. You really need to read the series from the first book forward. Happy Reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Kat Holloway Mysteries #6
Publication Date: 8/2/22
Period: 1882 – Victorian London
Number of Pages: 304

I think this is my favorite book in the series so far. So, as I sit here tired and bleary-eyed from reading all night, I’ll try to do it justice in my review. Yes, I was up all night reading because I just couldn’t put it down. It was so interesting and exciting and poignant I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough. The characters are as wonderful as ever and the great thing about this book is that we learn more about both Kat and Daniel – but mostly Kat. I think we’ve learned most of Kat’s background now, but I think we have more to learn of Daniel – and I can hardly wait.

Just after breakfast on a lovely Wednesday morning, Elsie, the scullery maid, sticks her head into the kitchen to tell Mrs. Holloway that a woman wants to see her – and the woman is waiting up on the street. Kat considers and then decides to go speak with the woman. Kat was totally shocked when she determined who the woman was. It was Charlotte Bristow – the first wife of Kat’s deceased husband. (As we know from earlier books, Kat’s husband was a bigamist who left her with child when he died at sea.)

Charlotte has quite a tale to tell Kat and begrudgingly asks for her help. Charlotte has information that their bigamist husband did NOT die when his ship sank – he returned to London where he was murdered for a fortune he had accumulated. Charlotte offers to share the fortune with Kat if she will investigate and find the money. At first, Kat doesn’t want any part of anything to do with the man who made a fool of her and left her with a fatherless child. However, being Kat, she couldn’t let a mystery go unsolved.

All of Kat’s friends, above and below stairs, rally around her and start digging into the mystery of what really happened to Joe Bristow. How could a ne’er-do-well sailor come into a fortune? How did he die? Why did he die? Since this all took place twelve years ago, witnesses may have died, moved, or just not remember, so the investigation will be slow going.

Kat ends up revisiting the neighborhood in which she grew up and where she lived as Joe’s wife. She took her daughter, Grace, with her on several visits in order to share her past – at least to a degree. Someday, she’s going to have to share the whole story with Grace – but not today.

Things begin to pop with information coming in from all over and the results are mind-blowing. Could Joe have managed to master-mind that convoluted plot? Surely not? What happened to the fortune? Will Kat actually get any of it to make her life and Grace’s easier?

I can highly recommend this book – and this series. I honestly think you should read the entire series in order (no, you don’t have to) so you can see the growth in the relationships that are so evident in this book. The plot is excellent, the ends are cleaned up, the bad guys are properly dealt with, and maybe, just maybe, we see a bit of a step forward in the relationship between Kat and Daniel. WOW!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews