I’m really enjoying this series. On an outing to the Crystal Palace, Kat is approached by Lady Covington and asked for help because she believes that someone is trying to murder her. She’s suffering from many bouts of stomach maladies and thinks it’s one of her step-children. Apparently, word has gotten around that Mrs. Holloway has a way of solving problems With the help of Lady Cynthia, Bobbie, Tess, and Caleb. She also manages to help Daniel with the case that he is trying to solve with the help of his brother, the Reverend. ( )

Poisonous plots!

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 ( )

The books in this series can never come out fast enough for me. I procrastinate starting each new one because I know it will be a long time before the next one – and then I mourn when it is finished – because I know it will be a long time before the next one. I think I like everything about the series; while there are aristocrats, the ‘stars’ of the show are of the domestic class; the aristocrats don’t always get to walk free; there is a background romance that I love watching grow; and, I love the relationship Kat has with her daughter Grace. In this book, we had two cases to solve – one for Kat and one for Daniel (with Kat’s help). You could read this as a stand-alone, but you might be a bit fuzzy on some of the relationships and some of the secondary characters if you haven’t read the previous books in the series. And goodness – those secondary characters are definitely worth getting to know and I certainly look forward to more encounters with them in the future.

On her day out, Kat Holloway has taken her daughter, Grace, to the Crystal Palace to see the exhibits. Kat values every minute of time she has with Grace because she only gets to see her on her full day out on Monday and her half-day out on Thursday, so, the cry for help she hears is dismaying on several levels. The person who cried out, Lady Covington, is deliberately seeking Kat because she has heard about Kat helping solve other mysteries. Lady Covington believes she is being slowly poisoned and she wants Kat to find out who it is and stop them. Kat agrees to visit Lady Covington at her home, and after speaking with her, Kat believes she really is being poisoned. With a house full of family and servants, there are a plethora of potential poisoners. Kat’s job won’t be easy because her own household has new arrivals as well, so her cooking duties have expanded. In order to manage her time constraints, she enlists the help of her usual cohorts and together they work to solve the issue of the poisoner. But it doesn’t happen before a death occurs in Lady Covington’s family – from poisoning.

While Kat is occupied with poisonings, Daniel is working on a very intense case for his guv’nor, Alden Monaghan. The guv’nor is a cold, ruthless man with nary a kind feeling to be had and he has a stranglehold over Daniel. There have been some high-profile murders of government officials and they are sure it has to do with the Irish who want Home Rule. There are also rumors that the Duke of Daventry, one of the richest and most powerful men in the country, is funding the Irish. It is Daniel’s task to prove or disprove those rumors. Daniel wants to keep Kat totally away from anything to do with his mission, but … the best-laid plans…

I highly recommend this book, this series, and this author. The book is well-written, well-plotted, and filled with exceptional characters you’ll quickly come to love. It did leave me wanting more information on Henry though – I’d love to know what actually happened with him. Maybe I’ll learn in the next book!

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

Cook Kat Holloway is developing a reputation for problem solving among a certain set in 1882 London. Still, she is surprised when Lady Covington approaches her while she is at the Crystal Palace with her daughter and some friends. Lady Covington believes that she is being poisoned.

Lady Covington asks for Kat's assistance in finding out who wants her dead. Kat uses the excuse of providing a recipe for a lemon cake to Lady Covington's cook to visit and find out more. It turns out the Lady Covington is a wealthy woman who has financial control over her stepson and stepdaughter and her own son and daughter. She inherited money and shares in a railroad company both from her husband who died in a railroad accident and her second husband.

Kat asks her friend Daniel McAdam for some advice but he is currently undercover investigating an English Duke who might be giving money to Irish nationalists. Those nationalists have committed some brutal murders and Daniel's boss wants answers.

As Kat investigates, she learns that all of Lady Covington's children and stepchildren could have reasons to want her out of the way. They also all have secrets. Then Lady Covington's stepdaughter eats some of a basket prepared for Lady Covington and dies. Kat briefly wonders if the stepdaughter was the intended victim.

Meanwhile, Daniel asks Kat to help with his investigation too. And Kat's friend Lady Cynthia's parents have come to London to take her back to the country with them or to marry her off. Lady Cynthia's father who is something of a confidence man gets involved in Daniel's investigation when he tries to scam the Duke Daniel is investigating.

The story was interesting and fast-paced. The mystery was also intriguing and played to Kat's strengths as a cook. I liked the period detail and Kat's awareness of the class differences that pervade the society where she lives. I like that Kat is proud of her abilities as a cook and confident in herself.

Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy Kat's latest adventure. ( )