I'm a fan of this series and Judith Cutler never disappoints. another griping and well plotted historical mystery.
It kept me turning pages and guesses, surprising me at each twists.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a digital e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is one of my favorite series, and I'm always impatient to get my hands on the next installment. I love the relationship that Harriet and Matthew have: the love, respect, support, and hope they have for each other is such a strong undercurrent of the series. Harriet is used to the surprise that the estate faces, due to the fact that she as housekeeper, and her husband as interim estate manager, essentially run the house as their lordship remains ill and the trustees are seeking a true heir. Guests of the estate often voice their feelings on the issue, and this story is no different! Of course, a visit to the estate wouldn't be complete without a murder to deal with, and the Rowsley's find themselves back as both hosts and slueths. Well done!

Judith Cutler continue the Harriet and Matthew Rowsley Victorian mysteries in The Dead Hand. Summer 1861 has Harriet and Matthew managing the harvest, an archaeological dig with jeweled treasure, murder, and a cataloguing of the lord's huge and valuable library. They work under the trustees for their lord who is not legally fit to manage his estate. Hard to keep all the dubious acts in hand. Let's wish them the best luck.

1861. The Thorncroft Estate in Shropshire is experiencing a busy time, with the archaeological dig with its influx of professorss and students. Coupled with harvest time, and the new housekeeper on probation. But there seems to be a series of small incidents but which result in a theft, an injury and a death. Can the Rowsleys solve the mysteries.
An enjoyable and well-written historical mystery with its cast of likeable and varied characters. Another good addition to this entertaining series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thorncroft House is the setting of an archaeological dig for Roman ruins that finds Matthew and Harriet Rowsley dealing with managing the estate as well as the academics. Harriet, the former housekeeper, has been appointed as the estate’s hostess by the trustees, who are searching for the late lord’s heir. Matthew is the estate manager, overseeing a housing project for the estate’s workers as well as the dig. A new housekeeper who is outspoken on how the estate is run, the sabotage of several hanging artworks that have caused injury and several academics who talk down to Harriet despite her position has been causing chaos. When the body of one of the village’s residents is found in a trench at the dig, a suspect is quickly arrested. Harriet, however, believes that the murderer is among the guests on the estate. When Matthew and the local priest are attacked and injured, it is up to Harriet, with the assistance of the trustees, to discover who is responsible.

Harriet was raised in a work house before coming to Thorncroft and working up to housekeeper. Her desire to learn made her a favorite for the late lord. She was granted access to his library of precious books and eventually became its’ caretaker. She knows what it is like to be overlooked as just the help and now uses that to her advantage as she seeks answers. The Dead Hand is an excellent historical mystery, appealing to fans of Downton Abbey. I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House for providing this book for my review.

The death of Lady Croft, earlier in 1861, has Harriet and Matthew Rowsley busier than ever. Harriet, the long-term housekeeper at Thorncroft House, is now de facto ‘lady of the house’ and must engage a deputy housekeeper to help with her broadening duties. With no lord and lady in residence and few guests, Thorncroft is an unusual great house, but Harriet has high hopes for Mrs. Briggs, who she agrees to try out for a month. But when Mrs. Briggs undercuts her authority, she isn’t so sure.

The Thorncroft estate incorporates a Roman dig. In this episode it is front and centre, with the house hosting archaeologists, historians, students, and an antiquarian, who don’t rub along well. The bibliographer, Mr. Marchbanks, hired to catalogue the extensive Croft library, exacerbates the problem. According to the strict rules of Lord Croft’s legacy, Harriet is the only person allowed into the library unaccompanied, and Mr. Marchbanks rudely balks at supervision. Someone is weakening the cords on large family portraits, and two fall, causing injury. Could this, as well as Mrs. Marchbanks’ frequent fainting fits, be a diversionary tactic for something more serious, Harriet wonders? Then a young man is murdered.

This is a well-plotted mystery, told alternately in first person by Harriet and Matthew. Unfortunately, I didn’t always know who was talking. Not having read the previous books, I found the situation with his lordship, who is insane and confined in the family wing—plus mentions of the search for a lost heir—a little confusing, but this is part of an ongoing mystery running through the series. The countryside of 1861 Shropshire is very well described. A wide story arc is drawn by setting the novel at harvest time, whilst keeping up the tension amongst a very large cast of characters. The ending segues into the next in series nicely.

Troubles in the library!

Harriet and Matthew Rowsley have their hands full. Archeologists have arrived for the summer dig in the grounds of Thorncroft House, Shropshire, uncovering the Roman ruins.
Professor and Mrs Marchbanks have come to catalogue the library. He’s rather nasty and she appears bullied. Mrs Marchbanks also experiences frequent fainting episodes.
Harriet has a new housekeeper who seems to not quite fit in, but Mrs Brooks came with an excellent reference. Both parties are on trial for a month. Still her questioning of Harriet and the use of the house keys does grate on Harriet.
Life is busy, busy, busy! Harvesting has to happen so it’s all hands on deck.
It’s when newly expectant father Ned Marples is found dead in a dig trench and his friend Harry Tyler is arrested for murder that the tension reaches boiling point.
More problems emerge for Thorncroft House. Harriet and the local rector Reverend Theophilus Pounceman are nearly killed by a falling painting. The Reverend has a head injury and needs to be confined to bed in the family wing.
Further investigation reveals someone has been cutting the hanging cords of paintings half way through.
Montgomery Wilson, the family lawyer and one of the trustees is called in. The police are investigating but the farming life of the property waits for no-one.
Quite a puzzle! Harriet is given some astounding news to ponder on right at the end.
An intriguing Victorian read, complete with buried treasure and way too many suspects.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

By my research, this is the third, not the fifth, installment in the series but no matter - I'd only read the first one anyway. Now it's 1851 and Harriet and Matthew find themselves dealing with a group of somewhat obnoxious guests at Thorncroft House, the estate that Matthew is managing. And then weird things happen and then..murder! You know that Harriet and Matthew will identify the villain so this is all about how they get there. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Frankly, it's not that twisty. That said, the characters are good and it made for an easy read.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

Having not realized this was fifth in series, I felt a bit like I was playing catch-up to the back story. Nevertheless, an okay read and I'm encouraged to start the series from the beginning.

3☆

"The Dead Hand" is a mystery set in 1861 in England. It's the third book in a series, but it works as a standalone and didn't spoil the previous mysteries. The police did the investigating, solved the mystery, and explained the solution after arresting the culprits. Matthew and Harriet told the police about any clues that they found and that others told them about. While they had strong suspicions of wrong-doing, they were too busy to actively investigate beyond making a few suggestions. It was a clue-based mystery, and whodunit was guessable. Yet some characters did things that didn't quite make sense or seem fully realistic to me, not to mention the number of people that easily got positions where they could do mischief.

The characters were varied, engaging, and reacted realistically to events. The historical details were woven into the story and brought the setting and time period alive in my imagination. There were no sex scenes. There were a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical novel with a mystery.

It had everything I wanted to read about - murder mystery, Victorian era, spooky house, academics - but unfortunately this was just an average, formulaic cosy mystery type of read.