What great fun this book was! A delightful story about a dressmaker turned amateur sleuth with lots of excellent period detail thrown in. If you liked 'the house of Elliot' (tv) or 'a single thread' (novel) you will love this.

The three sisters are beautifully fleshed out and the mores of the time spot on. Throw in a couple of witless policemen and some very unchivalrous suitors and you have the perfect pattern for success.

I read this very quickly, it was a lovely read.

Adventurous Rose Burnham has set up her own dressmaking business with the backing of the marvellous Mrs. Lingard, employing her sisters Ginny and the irrepressible Alice. When a client is unable to pay her sizeable bill having been swindled by a confidence trickster, dubiously met through a matrimonial agency Rose is determined to get the money back in order to keep her business afloat and so begins to investigate.

Author Lynn Knight tells the story of a certain class of women in post-war 1920s London describing the financial uncertainty, sharing 'respectable' but grim hostels and lack of a whole generation of men and how this presents different life choices. She also writes beautifully about fabrics, design, fashion and a new generation of women supporting each other. Rose discovers a passion and a skill for sleuthing and we are left with the promise of a sequel. This interesting read is gentle and the main characters likeable and the plot unfurls nicely.

Rose Burnham and her sisters Gwen and Alice have recently left their respective jobs in department stores and set up their own dressmaking business. Things appear to be going well until their best client, Miss Holmes, comes to tell them that she no longer wants the outfit they have spent hours designing and making, she can't even pay them for the clothes she has already had, she has been duped by a man she met through a matrimonial agency (rather sickeningly called Cupid's Arrow) into 'investing' her inheritance of £800 into his start up business. Since then she has heard nothing from him, she has no way of contacting him and she is mortified.

At first Rose's indignation and pity for Miss Holmes is also fuelled by a desire to try recoup some of Miss Holmes' money so that their business can also stay afloat. She realises that they have neglected to drum up new customers and have perhaps not accurately priced the clothes they have made for their existing customers. Rose determines to go undercover to Cupid's Arrow and try to get matched with Miss Holmes' beau.

This was a pleasant, dare I say cosy, mystery. I am by no means an expert on the 1920s but a lot of the historical detail seemed authentic. I am a resident of South-East London and it did give me a thrill when Rose's mystery bus ride with her beau took her through Bromley and Petts Wood which are very close to where I live. I liked the references to the ongoing impact of WW1 on the lack of men of a certain age, and those that were around were injured in some way. I also liked the subtle indication that Miss Jennings and Isobel were not just friends. Loved the detailed references to clothes, as one would expect from a Professor in Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion.

I would definitely be interested in reading more in this series.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Miss Burnham and the Loose Thread by Lynn Knight promised much. The story of three sisters running a dress-making business in 1920s London felt convincing. Rose, the middle sister, is the focus of the book and she was an interesting, rounded character. But then the amateur sleuthing started and the thread began to unravel slightly. But the realistic nature of the book held together pretty well. My real difficulty with the book was that there were just too many strands. I feel that Lynn Knight tried to cram all her ideas into one book, and that made it less enjoyable for me to read.

It is one of those books that transports you making you forget about real life and full of delightful characters that spring to life. I actually felt like I was there in the story with them ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
For all fans of historical fiction!