Skip to main content
Book Review
Reviewed: 30 September 2023

A Fire at the Exhibition

by: T.E. Kinsey

A Lady Hardcastle Mystery - Book 10

  • Rating: full starfull starfull starfull starfull star (5/5)

Lady Hardcastle and Flo are on the case in their home town when a fire breaks out during a festival.

I love Lady Hardcastle and Flo Armstrong. They are such accomplished, caring, and witty ladies. The stories are always fascinating and fun to read.

There are multiple mysteries afoot and of course Inspector Sunderland is called in.

The pair come to the aid of their dear friends the Farley-Strouds and along the way we meet new characters as well as more about Flo. There is even someone from Lady Hardcastle's past. I was not certain how things would turn out and when they did, I had an "of course that makes sense" moment.

It was an amazing story, I may even read it again.

Happy Reading!

Plot Summary

May 1912. After the previous year’s deadly heatwave, it’s been an uneventful spring in Littleton Cotterell. Though for Lady Hardcastle and her fiercely loyal lady’s maid Flo, at least there are the provincial delights of the village’s inaugural art exhibition—and bicycle race—to look forward to. But at the exhibition opening, there’s a panicked shout of ‘Fire!’ In the confusion, the main attraction—an extremely expensive book—is stolen from under everyone’s nose, as is a valuable painting lent by Sir Hector Farley-Stroud. Then the race, which starts as a charming day out, ends in a shocking death. And to top it all off, the Farley-Strouds reveal they’re in debt and might lose their house. The sleuthing duo soon find themselves torn between a murder investigation, an art theft mystery, and trying to help their pals. All with a suspicious figure from Flo’s past, a supercilious insurance investigator, and a pair of rather bizarre treasure hunters on the loose…