Will I love Death Below Stairs?

Ashley is another author on my All-Time Favorite Mystery author list.

I remember meeting her protagonist in the first Below Stairs mystery when it launched in 2018. Kat Holloway is a young cook in Victorian London with a somewhat troubled past. For six days each week, she coordinates dinners, oversees the stores of food, and bakes her famous seedcake, but on her day off, she steps out with her beau, Daniel, a Scotland Yard detective. Or she visits her daughter.

I love reading about Kat’s meal plans and sinking into the rarified world of working for the very wealthy. 

My final choice is Jennifer Ashley’s book, the first in a delightful mystery series starring a cook. While the mystery itself is well done, it is the characters who elevate this novel, not to mention the detailed descriptions of life and cookery in a Victorian kitchen.

Our sleuth, Kat Holloway, wields her enormous integrity and insight just as effectively as her kitchen knives. And her love interest, the enigmatic Daniel McAdam, is tons of fun too!