“A Quiet Life in the Country” - T. E. Kinsey

(Lady Hardcastle book 1)

❔Lady Hardcastle is another - new for me - utterly charming English detective in the cozy mystery genre.  Lady H’s mysterious past is rooted in espionage work on behalf of the Crown. Our narrator is the tough as nails Florence Armstrong, who is far more than a simple lady’s maid.  Despite her diminutive size, Flo provides the braun to Lady H’s brains in this crime-solving duo. I enjoy the unexpectedly breezy banter between Lady H and Flo; it reminds me of Bertie Wooster and his Aunt Agatha. A sure sign of the cheery eccentricities of Lady H is that she condescends to communicate with her servant in such a manner of equals. Lady H hails Flo as “tiny servant,” and she responds with “aged employer” as but a single example of their dialogue.

❔Fair warning, I thought Lady H was an elderly woman. Turns out, she’s in her 40s so make of that what you will.

❔Lady H and Flo are called upon to investigate two murders and the theft of a priceless emerald (formerly belonging to a maharaja, of course). 

❔I love the care with which Kinsey populates the village of Littleton Cotterol as we meet several inhabitants (such as the somewhat hapless Farley-Strouds) who we will meet again and again on the adventures of Lady H and Flo. We also witness the thawing of the relationship with DCI Sunderland of the Bristol CID and our heroines. Initially Sunderland regards them with frosty aloofness, but he’s a man of intelligence and soon recognizes their capabilities. We see Sunderland often in this series. And while it wasn’t altogether surprising since Ellie mentioned her friendship with a Lady H in “Midsummer” I smiled to myself when Ivar “Skins” Maloney and Barty Dunne make cameos in AQLIC (albeit with a different band).