Title: A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem
Author: Manda Collins
Publication: November 10, 2020
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 352
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
England, 1865 : As one of England’s most notorious newspaper columnists, Lady Katherine Bascomb believes knowledge is power. And she’s determined to inform and educate the ladies of London on the nefarious-and deadly-criminals who are preying on the fairer sex. When her reporting leads to the arrest of a notorious killer, however, Katherine flees to a country house party to escape her newfound notoriety-only to witness a murder on her very first night. And when the lead detective accuses Katherine of inflaming-rather than informing-the public with her column, she vows to prove him wrong.
Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham’s refusal to compromise his investigations nearly cost him his own career, and he blames Katherine. To avoid bad publicity, his superiors are pressuring him to solve cases quickly rather than correctly. When he discovers she’s the key witness in a new crime, he’s determined to prevent the beautiful widow from once again wreaking havoc on his case. Yet as Katherine proves surprisingly insightful and Andrew impresses Katherine with his lethal competency, both are forced to admit the fire between them is more flirtatious than furious. But to explore the passion between them, they’ll need to catch a killer.
REVIEW:
I was lucky enough to find this book in my “local” Books-a-Million. I was browsing the store for my birthday and I found it in the clearance area. I had seen this book a few times on various platforms and it caught my interest. I couldn’t wait to dive in but true to form it took me a bit to be able to get into it.
Kate is an oddity. She is a woman in a man’s world, running her deceased husbands newspaper. She is pretty darn good at it. However, there is a murderer on the loose. Killing people and leaving the Ten Commandments on the bodies. She writes A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem and adds and interview from a witness. The results of that published interview set in motion something that Kate never saw coming. It took me a bit to get into it, because I had to stop and start it about 4 times. Once I did I finished over 50% of the book in one day, it was that good. I loved the character of Kate she was spunky and full of life and vibrant, which made her interesting to read. She was written in such a way that you really cheered for her and wanted good things to happen in her life. She had such a rough start, her Dad was only interested in money for his daughters and her husband was a complete tool.
The relationship between Eversham the police officer and Kate is hilarious. Yes there is sexual tension but there is also a competitive nature as well. However, they quickly fall for each other. I really like the best friend Caro, she is a hoot and a half. She doesn’t give a rat’s back side and will openly speak her mind. I am thrilled that the second book in the series is all about her, because I certainly needed more Caro time. Only thing I wish we would have gotten was a little bit more backstory to Eversham and Kate. Like we got some but I wanted more. I needed to know about Eversham having a vicar as a father. I needed more of a story about Kate’s marriage. I defiantly think this was the perfect mix of a regency romance and mystery. It had everything that I loved with a book.
