I absolutely love this series and find the characters so fun!

This one is set in London Rather than the village which was a shame as I love the locals but they did feature.

Thank you for the arc.

Another wonderful outing for Lady Hardcastle and Flo. I do enjoy these books and looked forward to this one and it did not disappoint. Although this is a wonderful series each book can be read on its own. I highly recommend this book and wonderful series.
An absolute must buy.

'An Assassination on the Agenda' by T.E. Kinsey.

July 1912. Lady Hardcastle and her tenacious lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, are enjoying a convivial gathering at the home of their dear friends, the Farley-Strouds. The only fly in the idyllic ointment seems to be the lack of musical entertainment for the forthcoming summer party—until, that is, Lady Hardcastle’s brother Harry calls with news of a murder.
Harry dispatches them to Bristol on behalf of the Secret Service Bureau, with instructions to prevent the local police from uncovering too much about the victim. It seems an intriguing mystery—all the more so when they find a connection between the killer and an impending visit from an Austrian trade delegation, set to feature a very important guest…
Summoned to London to help with some very important security arrangements, the intrepid duo will have to navigate sceptical bureaucrats, Cockney gangsters and shadowy men in distinctive hats in their attempts to foil an explosive—and internationally significant—threat.

I'm a big fan of this series, it is the perfect cosy crime series with just the right amount of murder, espionage and humour.
I liked that this book was set in London and it included a few characters from Lady Hardcastle and Florence's past. Particularly loved the characters of Queenie and Benny.
If you enjoy cosy crime then give this series a go.
Thankyou to NetGallery UK, the publishers and the author for letting me read a copy of this in return for an honest review.

Always reliable quality plots, amusing characters and witty banter. Having read a few 1-3 stars lately, I needed something that would be guaranteed enjoyable top fun - and I knew that Lady Hardcastle and Flo would deliver. They absolutely did. This one features a murder in Bristol to start, and that requires our intrepid duo to go up to London and investigate further, ahead of the Austrian delegation’s visit - it was interesting and a good amount of tension in the finale. More please, already looking forward to the next one!

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

I love the Lady Hardcastle mysteries. Lady Hardcastle and her stalwart companion Flo Armstrong solve mysteries, save reputations, supply witty rejoinders, and, on occasion, protect the interests of both England and the world. They live in the countryside, but are globe-trotting spies as well. And they know the value of new technology and good food.

In this go, Lady Hardcastle and Flo are drafted by the government to investigate a death that might have international implications. What follows is an investigation into a murder, a game of cat and mouse with a mysterious conspiracy, and an eye-rolling amount of frustration at the pig-headed men of the day who simply can't stand the idea that two women might be capable of being better at what they do than any man.

The story moves along at a good place. There's humor, action, and the looming threat of World War One. This is a great addition to the series and I loved reading it.

Lady Hardcastle and Florence are back again in this newest story but not in their usual setting. Their banter is full of fun and never fails to hit the mark and the story is good as always. Lady H's brother Harry stars much more in this story as they head to London on an assignment. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The eleventh book in the Lady Hardcastle series does not disappoint. Lady Hardcastle's brother calls his sister and her tiny assistant, Flo, to come to London to assist in a murder investigation. But as always there is much more going on. Even though the agency has requested their help, it seems that the ladies are being stymied at every turn. How can they work out the investigation and do the job when they can't even get information from the ones who hired them? Part of the story serves as a good reminder that sexism was rampant back in the early 1900s. Most men considered women to be unable to do serious work,
I find the clever dialogue between the characters to be refreshing and amusing. I love the banter between Harry and his sister, Lady Hardcastle.

I enjoyed Mr Kinsey's notes at the end of the book explaining which bits were historically accurate and which we added to "make the story work."

Lady Hardcastle and Flo try to prevent WWI from happening sooner than it did.

We know World War I started in the spring of 1914 so the plot kind of has to go backwards from there. What might have happened to start the war sooner and how can the characters stop that from happening? With the political plot, this isn't much of a traditional cozy mystery. I couldn't put down the first half as the ladies tried to figure out who was behind the murder and investigate that but the second half didn't interest me so much because we already know the outcome! The history was interesting though. I didn't realize Europe was on the brink of war long before WWI and most people were aware of it. I didn't know anything about Bosnia except for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the Balkan wars of the 1990s. However, I prefer the quiet life in the country murders. This potentially dark story is told with the trademark banter I love so much. Add one sibling into the mix and the banter amps way up.

I just adore Lady Hardcastle. She's so delightfully eccentric. She pretends to be ditzy and fluffy but she's one tough and intelligent lady. Men tend to underestimate her and speak to her rudely because of the persona she chooses to present. She quickly sets them straight. Emily never had children of her own but is delighted to be Auntie Emily to her brother Harry's daughter and the Farley-Straud's grandchildren. She's an incredible auntie because aunties don't have to play by the rules and can be as silly and eccentric as they want. The words she teaches little Addie must be dreadfully naughty LOL! Flo may tease Emily about being perpetually late, not being an early riser, etc. etc. but it's all in good fun. They're like sisters really. Flo has her own eccentricities Emily teases her about. Flo is also highly intelligent and physically fit. She's underestimated because she's petite but "though she be little, she be fierce." I'm fascinated by her daily Tai Chi exercises and the man with the Indian clubs! I see people doing Tai Chi in the park today but in 1912 that must have been an unusual sight, even in London!

Harry is a great brother. He recognizes his sister is smarter than him and fully capable of figuring things out that the thickheads in government cannot. He's proud of his sister's intelligence and past adventures and eager to get her involved. He's also fun, teasing and exchanging banter with the ladies. I agree that his sense of humor nickname for his wife is not charming. I bet he's a good dad to little Addie too.

Harry's colleagues are thickheads and sexist pigs. His boss, Col. Valentine, is the worst. He's arrogant, sexist, refuses to accept or acknowledge Lady Hardcastle as a qualified agent and generally belittles and blusters whenever he is around the ladies. He likes his cushy desk job and plays the political game, telling the bigwigs what they want to hear. He is obtuse and doesn't see the reality of the situation and is quick to dismiss the danger. Sir Montague Winifred, managing director of a tram company is cut from the same cloth. He doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks Harry is a fool. He doesn't seem to respect Harry much either, thinking Harry is a prankster and thereby dismissing him. With blustering idiots like him in charge, it's no wonder the world went to war. Pearlman and Brownlow, aka Perch and Trout, are brainless SSB men the ladies have met before. They were and still are bumbling fools eager to prove themselves and be seen as important. They act imperious and are hostile to the ladies.

Emily and Flo's friends are much nicer than Harry's. They have two key East End informants. Queenie, a successful brothel owner, is shrewd and enjoys bantering with the ladies. She is happy to help because she knows the young men of her neighborhood are the ones sent into war to die first. Benny Butcher is a hoot. An honest criminal, he's one of London's most wanted AND most informative people. He knows everyone in the East End and even some across the river too. Benny Butcher knows everyone and everything that goes on in his patch. Yet he's very honorable and very patriotic. He has moral codes and protecting the Empire is one of them! He provides potentially key evidence but it seems someone else is after him too! Oh no!

Flo's friend, Daisy Sprocket, in the village, is moving up in the world. Good for her! She'll be running the pub herself in no time.

This wasn't my favorite entry in the series. I liked the first chapter in the village and the trying to figure out who the dead man was but not the politics of impending war. I hope they get back to solving crimes in the country next!

T E Kinsey’s An Assassination on the Agenda differs from the majority of his books featuring Lady Emily Hardcastle and her maid, Florence Armstrong. In this book, rather than investigating local crimes in and around Bristol just before WWI, Emily and Flo are 100% occupied with their top secret ‘day job’: working for Britain’s fledgling Secret Service Bureau (SSB). They are sent to Bristol to take over a murder investigation from the local police and discover the victim is Serbian and that… well, just look at the book’s title!

Does the book work? As you might expect, when Emily and Flo flash their SSB credentials, the men looking at them state, predictably, “I don’t care if your authority is signed by King George himself…” [As an aside, I’d really like a story – maybe a short one – where Emily has just that!] There are an equal number of occasions when self-important men mock the idea of Emily and Flo being in charge of security for a trade mission’s visit. While this misogynistic behaviour is obviously wrong, it was also – whether we like it or not - completely normal at this time and thus to be expected. Does the author, therefore, achieve anything by repeating the scenario a few times? I’m not sure… We have the positive role model behaviour where Emily doesn’t get angry or resort to a shouting match, but rather works around the blockage. On the other hand, there are occasions where a man (e.g. her brother, Harry, or Inspector Sunderland of Bristol CID) has to pull rank and instruct underlings to take orders and show respect.

The plot is first-class. I can’t explain why, because there would have to be spoilers, but I loved the unexpected twists. (As well as one that I did anticipate – perhaps I’m getting better at working out what’s going on!) As a measure of how well Kinsey pulls the reader into the story, I found myself skim-reading at various points, muttering “Never mind the description, where’s the next line of dialogue? What are they going to do about this, for goodness’ sake?” I then realised that it’s only a book and forced myself to go back a page; calm down; and re-read it more slowly. I know of only one other writer that has the ability to impel me into a story like that – and Kinsey is better.

The dialogue is good, although I felt that the banter was unrealistic and inappropriate at certain moments of jeopardy. The women just wouldn’t be grinning at each other and bantering at such life-and-death moments. I know and I appreciate that the relationship between Emily and Flo is one of the strongest points of the series. Flo can tell Emily things that no other servant in any other ever written could get away with, but I still felt Kinsey went so OTT in places that it jarred. I also felt Emily and Harry were starting to become a little carelessly written, with Emily calling everyone, regardless of status, “dear”; and Harry repeating phrases in a Colonel-Blimpish manner, “You better had, sis. You better had.” And “Quite right, sis. Quite right.”

This is still a really good book and I thoroughly recommend it, although I’d suggest starting the series from the beginning to get the most enjoyment from it. However, I think it shows Kinsey working at 98% rather than his usual 100% – Kinsey’s best is a very very high standard indeed.

#AnAssassinationontheAgendaALadyHardcastleMysteryBook11 #NetGalley

Excellent escapades abound as our terrific twosome battle bureaucrats and obfuscate officials, all while saving the day with an audacious aplomb.

Lady H and Flo are requested by Harry (Lady H's brrother) at the SSB to go to Bristol to stop the police investigating the death of a man, from there they descend on London.

I really enjoy these books, they have strong female characters, highly unusual for the time, which makes them even more interesting.

Highly recommended and look forward to the next

Lady Hardcastle and Florence are such a great pair of detective spies. Their interactions never fail to hit and the stories are excellent. Lots of brother Harry this time as the pair head to London on an assignment. So good.

Lady Hardcastle and her maid/companion/partner-in-sleuthing Flo Armstrong are asked to solve a murder and save the world, basically. Set just a few years before the start of WW1, the plot includes Balkan espionage, revolutionaries, and fortunes to be made from war profiteering. The author removes the detective duo out of their village to London for the investigation, which I thought was a nice change. Fast-paced, witty dialogue, and an underlying seriousness given the looming threat of war. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

Lady Hardcastle & Flo are asked to investigate a very hush-hush murder that could be the key to preventing war.

I enjoyed this - like the other books in the series, the strongest point here is the absolutely hilarious dialogue. I laughed out loud several times at Lady H and Flo’s banter. This is also packed with lots of delicious descriptions of lovely food and those details are always such a delight. The investigation is a bit redundant as those two constantly have to remind everyone that they’re working for the secret service and that despite being women, they can be trusted. There’s also a lot of political plot that I wasn’t super keen on and the stakes are higher than usual - WW1 is just around the corner. Still a good book, but I prefer the lighter ones.

My endless thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC!

I thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance reader copy of “An Assassination on the Agenda.” All opinions and comments are my own.

Lots going on in “An Assassination on the Agenda,” book 11 in the Lady Hardcastle and Flo series by T.E. Kinsey. The ladies get to assume their secret service personas, there’s a bit of a twist at the end (involving some rather Higher Ups), and brother Harry gets a promotion. A big finish finds our fearless duo averting an international incident with some quick footwork and Finding Out of Rather Dangerous Things (an international incident which will occur in real life a couple years later, alas). All in a day’s work for Lady H and Flo.

The book is complete with the characterization and a firm grasp of time and place that author Kinsey always brings to his books. And do I need to mention the witty dialog and back and forth bantering that is a hallmark of the series? Firmly in evidence, once again.

My only caveat – not sure that I like seeing our two protagonists get away from life in Littleton-Cotterell and do all this espionage business. Give me a simple murder (or three) in and around the village anytime. That’s just me talking, though. A plus with “An Assassination on the Agenda” is readers get filled in on more of the duo’s background.

The Author’s Notes are always a delight to read, filled with bits and pieces about the information presented in the book. Pay close attention to the make of rifle; it may sound familiar. And speaking of the author, he’s got some ideas he presents as exposition in the book, including the reasons for war -- and exhibits in the British Museum. One last note -- the “obligation” for the Farley-Strouds gets fulfilled, too. You’ll need to read the book to find out what this means. But you won’t want to miss “An Assassination on the Agenda.”

The witty repartee in these books is so funny and appealing. The plot is complex with this one but an early “who done it” guess was correct. The larger issues of war profiteering, rigid class systems and misogyny provide a serious background and depth to the narrative. Cannot wait to read the next one in the series.

Emily, Lady Hardcastle and her maid, companion, and friend Flo work for an obscure spy agency for the British Empire. The stakes have never been higher than when they are asked to find and hopefully neutralize a group of supposed Serbian subversives, while providing security for a trade conference with a European power. The men there think they are a joke as does the director of their own agency. Sadly for the men the duo prove they are more than able to thwart the terrorist acts and assassination attempts of the group who may or not be Serbian and expose another group working against the country nearer home.
The banter between Emily and Flo and with Emily's brother Harry (who also works for the agency) is comic relief for a rather serious threat.
Always great fun visiting Emily and Flo and catching up with their family and friends.

4 stars

We are 11 books in and the Lady Hardcastle mysteries are just as delightful as ever! This installment of the cozy mystery series has Lady Hardcastle and her indefatigable maid Flo heading to London to stop an assassination attempt on the Austrian trade delegation.

Due to the series' timeline creeping closer to the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, this particular book feels a little less cozy as our dynamic duo deals with bomb threats, sexism from government officials, and the prospect of war breaking out at any moment. Kinsey does an excellent job of still including moments of camaraderie and humor amidst all of the tension, which honestly piqued my interest in this series again after finding the preceding book a tad too predictable.

Picking up a Lady Hardcastle mystery is always a pleasure and I cannot wait for Kinsey to continue sending our lady detectives on new missions across the British empire!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!