A trip to Staffordshire for Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, leads to murder in a famed pottery works . . . Following the devastation of the Great War, England’s noble class takes comfort in honoring tradition. To celebrate their grandparents’ wedding anniversary, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her siblings travel to Staffordshire to commission a china service bearing the Wroxly … coat of arms from the venerated Crown Lily Potteries, a favorite of Queen Mary. The two leading designers at the illustrious china manufacturer offer competing patterns. But when one of them is found dead—his body crushed in a grinding pan and his design pattern book missing—his rival is immediately suspected. The police are also suspicious of the dead designer’s resentful young son, a schoolmate of Phoebe’s fifteen-year-old brother Fox. When Fox gets involved to help his friend, Phoebe begins to investigate the rival artist. At the same time, Eva is enlisted to go undercover at the works so she can gain the confidence of the female employees, who are only allowed to paint, not design, which may have led to a grudge against the victim. Pursuing a killer who has no compunction about using a kiln as a coffin, Phoebe and Eva take their lives into their hands to discover the shattering truth . . .
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England, cosy-mystery, historical-fiction, historical-research, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths
November 1920. The service in the title is pottery for dining on and refers to events that transpire in Staffordshire. The publisher’s blurb gives a fair intro into the convoluted family history and involvements but is a little iffy on the sleuthing and murders. There is intrigue afoot in the factory and the first murder rather coincides with the family’s arrival. The sleuthing is well done by Lady Phoebe and her best friend/maid Eva, especially since they believe that the constabulary is bent on pinning the crime on the 15 year old son of the victim/co-owner of the factory. It is a well formulated story with any fascinating, if exasperating, characters. I was riveted by it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Fans of historical English mysteries (and Downton Abbey!) should love the Lady and Lady’s Maid series. A Sinister Service is packed with historical details (ever wonder why it’s called “bone china”?) and perfectly captures the atmosphere and challenges of post-WWI Britain. The characters do not shy away from addressing women’s roles in industry as well as the changing attitudes toward the upper classes. The writing is excellent, and the mystery features enough suspects to keep the reader guessing until the end.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for free and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoy this series and this one did not disappoint. The entire family has traveled to Staffordshire to commission a set of china for their Grandparents. While at the factory Fox sees an old Eton schoolmate, Trent. When his father is murdered and he is arrested Phoebe and Eva set out to solve the crime, while the rest of the family helps Trent. I really enjoyed all the china industry background. Who knew the business could be so dangerous. The mystery was good and there were enough suspects to make it interesting. The solution made sense. This series should be read in order. The book was a quick fun read. Enjoy.
What starts out as a trip to Staffordshire with her siblings to pick out the pattern for a new china service for their grandparent’s anniversary turns in to another case of murder. Lady Phoebe and her maid Eva are on the case when the police focus on the fifteen year old son of the dead man. The young man is a friend and former classmate of her brother, Fox so of course she has to find the killer.
Lady Phoebe and her sisters – Julia and Amelia and their brother Fox – had just made the acquaintance of Mr. Mercer and Mr. Bateman. While looking at various possible designs it becomes clear that there is tension between the two men. It isn’t long before Mr. Mercer is found dead in a grinder used to grind and mix the beef bone, stone and clay used in the fine porcelain. Fox describes it as a giant sized version of Mrs. Ellison’s hand-cranked dough kneader. What a vivid picture that gives the reader. Phoebe and Amelia start their investigating while Eva talks to the factory workers.
As we follow the case of murder there is also another thread. Julia had married Viscount Annondale which made her Lady Julia, Viscountess Annondale only to become a pregnant widow. On this jaunt to pick out the china pattern she is going to try and assert herself with his family. There are tensions there, too.
This is one of my favorite historical cozy series. The setting, the characters and the mystery are well balanced in every book in the series. I usually don’t like multiple points of view/narrators but it works here.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoy Alyssa Maxwell’s A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries very much and A Sinister Service did not disappoint! Lady Julia is still dealing with the family of her late husband while she waits for her baby to be born so the siblings take a trip to Staffordshire to buy an anniversary gift for their grandparents and check out one of Lady Julia’s properties. The family dynamics are always interesting with the Renshaws and Eva is so good as their assistant sleuth. I look forward to the next one! Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of #ASinisterService.
Read 1.16.2021
I am really glad that I decided to read this series [even with the troubles with all the different narrators – note to publishers: this jumping around of narrators within a series is disconcerting and jarring. When you listen almost exclusively to audiobooks, it is difficult to get a feeling of the characters when different people are doing the voices. It is just an thought. Thank you].
This was the best in several books and I really enjoyed it. I felt the characters were closer to what they were when the series was first introduced and a lot of the snipping was kept at bay [the previous book was rather tedious with all of that, regardless of the circumstances]. The end was a little flat for me, but I am hoping that the printed version is cleaned up a little and that will make it a little less flat and abrupt. If not for the end, it would have been a 5 star read for me.
There was plenty of action, TONS of information on how china is made [and now I want to go to Staffordshire to tour a china factory] and the dangers that accompany some of the jobs there. I will say I was fairly certain who was going to be killed and thought I knew how [I was wrong there, but I am not sure it was much better IMO] and by the middle of the book I knew who the killer was, though it honestly didn’t take away from the story or mystery as a whole, because, even though I thought I knew, I HAVE been wrong in the past, so the waiting for the reveal was good. I liked having all four of the siblings together and seeing Julia become a little more human again and assert herself was a joy. So, overall, this was very good read. I am looking forward to the next one!
Thank you to NetGalley, Alyssa Maxwell, and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Sinister Service is the sixth book in the A Lady And Lady’s Maid Mystery series by Alyssa Maxwell.
Ladies Phoebe, Julia, Amelia, their maids, and their brother, Fox, are off to visit the Crown Lily China company to search for new china set for their grandparents’. After a quick tour of the plant, they set down with Mr. Mercer, head designer, assistant designer, and Percy Bateman, to look over the various designs. While doing this Phoebe, notices some animosity between Mercer and Bateman. While they are looking over the designs, Eva decides to take another plant tour. Eva will late relate that there some china painters that are a bit disgruntled. When they return the next day, Eva decides to once again visit with the painters. Eva will soon learn that a body has been discovered in a grinding pan, where the material for making the china is mixed. The body found turns out to be Mr. Mercer. The police will take Mercer’s son into custody for the murder of his father. Trent Mercer, the son, was a schoolmate of Fox, until recently when his father removed him from school. Fox was good friends with Trent and will ask his sisters to clear his name. It will be up to Phoebe and Amelia to do most of the investigating as Julia is nearing her baby’s birth. Eva will relate the factory’s unrest and talk that some china shipments may be stolen before or during shipments.
I love this series, as all books are well-written, plotted, and historically accurate. The characters are all believable and well-developed. Fox is also developing into an intelligent and helpful young teenager, and I particularly liked this.
I am anxiously awaiting the book in this beautiful series. I’m interested in seeing whether Julia will have a boy and what she will do with her late husband’s estate.
A Sinister Service is pure historical mystery delight! This is my first time reading Alyssa Maxwell and the series. I was worried entering the series on book 6, but Maxwell does a delightful job of weaving connections and the past together. I never felt like I was reading a summary of a past book. Everything stayed to present and I was completely absorbed.
This is the newest installment in a post-WWI series featuring a family of the Renshaw sisters, their brother, Fox, and Eva Huntford, their maid. They also have some other staff and extended family in this book.
The Renshaw family travel to The Crown Lily China Factory to have pattern designed and manufactured for their grandparents anniversary. They have a tour of the factory which was super interesting for a tea drinker like myself! Fox is also surprised to find an old friend from school on the tour, whose father is the chief designer at Crown Lily.
When it comes to picking the china and a pattern the family has many opinions and during their bickering an incident occurs at the factory. This incident of course leads Lady Phoebe and Eva to investigate a murder.
We also have a subplot going on that must be in part of the other books as well. The eldest sister, Lady Julia, is pregnant and a widow. The family goes to stay at her husband’s property to find family troubles there.
I loved the characters, suspects and the twists and turns this story brings! I’m so looking forward to reading the next installment. Maxwell is a fantastic historical mystery writer and I have to read more of her work!
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Kensington Books for this Advanced Reader Copy. This review is my own.
#Alyssa Maxwell #ASinisterService #NetGalley
Our protagonist, Phoebe Renshaw and her brother and sisters have traveled to Langston to visit Crown Lily Pottery where they are going to purchase a china service for their grandparents as an anniversary present. They meet two different designers and make arrangements to return the next day to review the designs and decide. On their visit, Phoebe’s brother Fox is delighted to run into an old school chum who had left Eton to work at the pottery.
They are in the pottery owner’s office the next day, when the body of one of designers is found. The police arrest Fox’s friend, who was known to be disgruntled about leaving school and because his dog was found at the scene of the crime. Phoebe has solved crimes before so her family turns to her to help prove the innocence of Fox’s friend.
Phoebe’s maid and conspirator Eva goes undercover at the factory while their driver goes to the local pub to talk with the factory workers and gain info. The information gathered gives them more motives to work through and the story and resolution of the murder is entertaining and well done even if Phoebe has a crisis of faith when something goes horribly wrong.
I highly recommend this series-it is a great light historical mystery,
I requested and received an ARC of the book from Kensington via NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.