Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

About the book: (from the publisher) Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered. 

Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself.

About the author: Jennifer Ashley is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Death Below Stairs; the Shifters Unbound paranormal romances, including Red Wolf and Guardian’s Mate; and the Mackenzies historical romances, including The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie and The Stolen Mackenzie Bride. Winner of a Romance Writers of America RITA Award, she also writes as USA Today bestselling mystery author Ashley Gardner. She lives in the Southwest with her husband and cats, and spends most of her time in the wonderful worlds of her stories.

Connect with the author: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Genre: Fiction/Historical Mystery/Cozy Mystery

[bctt tweet=”Winsome, out-of-the-box mystery to #getcozy with this winter. @JennAllyson #whatimreading #winterreading #historicalmystery #bookrec #deathbelowstairs” username=”KatherineSJones”]

My take: I’m not going far out on a limb to predict that cozy-mystery fans will flock to this new series from the prolific pen of Jennifer Ashley. Set in Victorian England, it features a smart, outside-the-box cook as its sleuth, along with a cast of intriguing upstairs/downstairs characters to give it a bit of Downton Abbey feel.

I was captivated by the winsome personality of Kat Holloway, and I appreciated the complexity of many of the main players. Lots of potential here for this surprisingly wholesome series to spool out for a while (at least, I’m assuming the rest of the series will continue in the same vein as this one). Oh, and did I mention romantic chemistry? There’s that too. Altogether, a worthy cozy mystery to curl up with this winter.

Thanks to Berkley Books for providing me this book free of charge. All opinions are mine.

Buy it here. 

After words: Read any worthy mysteries lately? Please share!