
Miss Burnham and the Loose Thread
by Lynn Knight
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Pub Date 20 Mar 2025 | Archive Date 20 Mar 2025
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Description
INTRODUCING ROSE BURNHAM: DESIGNER, DRESSMAKER . . . DETECTIVE?
'A joy of a read. A superbly researched story of post-WW1 female friendship chock-a-block with characters you’ll cheer on to the very last page, I read it cover to cover in a day'
--AJ Pearce, Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird
South-east London, 1925.
Talented, ambitious designer-dressmaker Rose Burnham knows well both the strains of her profession and the secrets it can yield. Newly established in her own business, she and her sisters are privy to the hushed conversations that unspool behind the fitting room’s closed doors.
So when a major client finds herself the victim of a deception, it is Rose she tells. Driven by the shortage of men following the Great War, Miss Holmes had engaged the services of a matrimonial agency, only to be cheated out of her inheritance by a fake suitor.
Rose is determined to bring the swindler to justice. To begin with, playing the detective is a grand adventure, but as pressures mount and an old friend receives a troubling string of poison-pen letters, Rose discovers there is more to investigating – and these investigations – than she’d bargained for.
Rose had the sense of a thread being pulled. One tug and everything could unravel . . .
*
Praise for Miss Burnham and the Loose Thread
‘As well as being an exquisite mystery, Miss Burnham and the Loose Thread is an ode to the pioneering women who embraced new opportunities in the aftermath of The Great War. I loved it!’
--Jessica Bull, author of Miss Austen Investigates
‘A hat box of delights, full of period detail and thoroughly enjoyable.’
--Claire Wilcox, author of Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes and Professor in Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion
'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!' Reader review
'Lynn Knight writes beautifully about fabrics, design, fashion and a new generation of women supporting each other' Reader review
'What great fun this book was! A delightful story [...] with lots of excellent period detail' Reader review
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780857506467 |
PRICE | £16.99 (GBP) |
PAGES | 304 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

This book is such a joy. It is a golden age detective novel but with such colour and depth that you could be there working with Rose. I do hope there are many more to come. I will look out for them .

I found this lovely book the reading equivalent of a Sunday night BBC drama. Comforting, informative, warm and cheering, with elements that challenged me and really made me think.
I love books featuring strong women finding their way in the 20th Century, and here we had them having to face a world changed by The Great War. Miss Burnham and the Loose Thread was clearly really well researched, and it provided vivid details of the lives of these women. As well as the historical details and backdrop of 1920s London, it was also a 'cosy crime' novel that had a well-paced plot and really kept me guessing.
I wholeheartedly recommend this charming and well written book. It would make a good Book Club choice, as there is so much to talk about, with so many characters to discuss. An easy 5 stars from me.

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.
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