Bookish Thoughts: Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

I had not been long at my post in Mount Street, Mayfair, when my employer's sister came to some calamity. ~ Opening of Death Below Stairs

Death Below Stairs (Kat Holloway Mysteries #1) by Jennifer Ashley

Berkley Books, 2018
Crime Fiction/Historical; 336 pgs
Source: I received an e-copy from the Publisher for an honest review via NetGalley

You know how sometimes you know you will just love a book even before you start it? It was that way for me with Jennifer Ashley’s Death Below Stairs, the first in the Kat Holloway series. Fortunately, it did not disappoint. I loved Kat Holloway right from the start, a young cook, who takes her job very seriously. She is assigned to a new household and hopes to stay for a while. Only a master who doesn’t respect boundaries and the murder of her assistant cook, have her doubting that will happen. There was so much to like about this Victorian mystery: mystery and intrigue, a budding romance, and interesting characters. The more I got to know Kat, who is mysterious in her own way, keeping her secrets close to her vest, the more I liked and respected her. And I adored Daniel McAdam, the man who seemed to be able to do just about anything. He is the biggest mystery of all—a man of all trades, able to play the role of working class or gentleman. Even Kat, who he seems to fancy, doesn’t know what to make of him. Somehow she trusts him though, despite her reservations. It is he she turns to when she discovers the murder victim in the food pantry, and it is he she leans on when she needs the support of a friend.

Another character I quite liked was Lady Cynthia, the sister-in-law of the master of the house. She is unconventional in every way, preferring to wear trousers over dresses, and sneaking into men’s clubs with her friends. She proves to be more than just a rebellious socialite.

I was expecting a straightforward historical murder mystery, but I got so much more. Who exactly killed Sinead, no one knows, but there are plenty of theories. Did it have something to do with the recent terrorist attacks in the country or was it a case of blackmail gone wrong? Kat figures she is in the best position to find out along with Daniel’s help. The novel ended up going in a direction I hadn’t expected—and which could have thrown the book off the rails—but it didn’t. I loved it all.

It almost felt like there was an entire novel before this one, given the history between Kat and Daniel. Kat has quite the backstory, and I was just as intrigued with that as I was with the main story line. Both Kat and Daniel are single parents, and I was touched by their stories and their relationships with their children. I understand there is a short story in which the author, Jennifer Ashley, first introduced Kat. I am eager to get my hands on it. I look forward to reading more in this series to see what Kat and Daniel get up to next.​

To learn more about Jennifer Ashley and her books, please visit the author's website. You can also find the author on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

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