From New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly, The Secret Staircase is the third Victorian Village Mystery, which finds Kate Hamilton discovering a long-dead body in a hidden staircase. Kate Hamilton is feeling good about her plans to recreate Asheboro, Maryland as the Victorian village it once was. The town is finally on her side, and the finances are coming together. Kate’s first goal … coming together.
Kate’s first goal is to renovate the Barton Mansion on the outskirts of town. Luckily, it’s been well maintained in the century since the wealthy Henry Barton lived and died there. The only substantial change she’s planning is to update the original kitchen so that it can be used to cater events in the building. But when the contractor gets started, he discovers a hidden staircase that had been walled in years earlier. And as Kate’s luck would have it, in the stairwell is a body.
After her initial shock wears off, Kate is relieved when the autopsy reveals that the man had died around 1880. Unfortunately, it also reveals that his was not a natural death–he was murdered. And serious questions remain: who was he and what was he doing there?
Kate begins a hunt to identify the man and figure out what he was doing at the Barton Mansion. But when a second body is found–this time from the present day–Kate realizes that real dangers lie in digging up the past…
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The title The Secret Staircase (Victorian Village Mysteries Book 3) by Sheila Connolly places an important part in the mystery of this story. The book reads much more like a cozy mystery then her Irish pub mysteries. With Kate Hamilton’s renovation project that hits a major snag early on in the story the small town of Asheboro, Maryland’s future as an historical village is in question. Revitalization can be helped or hurt by this mysterious death.
Kate, friends, and town people are the type of characters that you enjoy getting to know. There is only a bit of romance in the story and I for one am not sure Kate is with the right man. The mystery is straightforward with Kate coming across as much like a younger version of Jessica Fletcher. While her professional life is different but Kate, the town, and the supporting characters reminded me of the Murder She Wrote TV series. A book that is perfect for when you want interesting but not scary or too complicated of a mystery.
An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Secret Staircase is the third book in the Victorian Village Mystery series by Sheila Connolly.
Kate Hamilton plans to revitalize her hometown, Asheboro, MD, into a victorian themed town are moving along. She has decided to renovate the mansion of Henry Barton first to have it become the centerpiece for the renovation of the community. Her plans are first to bring the home up to code and improvements to the kitchen to hold events for groups. The first concern is to find a contractor who will respect the historic building. After interviewing two contractors who didn’t meet Kate’s requirements, she met Morgan Wheeler, who wanted to believe in restoration and had experience with restoration. She now had a contractor she was sure she could work with.
While inspecting the kitchen, Morgan was perplexed by the proportion of the room; he felt that the wall might have been added at a later date. It was possibly added to cover a staircase that the servants would have used. Morgan tapped on the wall and guesses that the wall had been added at a later date. He went to his truck for his scope and made a small hole to insert the scope. Once he had the scope in the hole, he could see a body lying at the bottom of a small staircase. Kate called Detective Reynolds. It is thought that the body might have been there since the 1880s. That was the last time any remodeling had been done at the mansion.
When Carroll Peterson, who’s been researching the life of Barton and cataloging his papers, arrives, Kate asks her to look for anything that might be a clue as to who the body might be.
When an electrician arrives, two begin wiring updates and finds a loose floorboard which proves to be the hiding place for a diary of Barton’s wife. This diary has provided the first information that has been discovered about Barton’s wife. Not long into the renovation, another body is found at the foot of the basement stairs. The body turns out to be a contractor Kate had interviewed and rejected. She felt he was too interested in inspecting not mansion and not looking for what work needed to be done. At first, it appeared to be an accident, but it is determined to be murder after the police investigation.
I’ve loved all of Ms. Connolly’s books, and this was no exception. The books are well-written, and her stories give you a sense of being in the story. The characters are well developed and interesting.
This book will probably be the last in the series as Ms. Connolly passed away in 2020. Hopefully, the author had started book four or had at least had it plotted out. If so, I would love for the publisher to contract another author to continue this interesting series.
This is the third in series (I have read the first). The first I rated 3, so I thought I’d give this one a chance even though cozies are not normally my jam. There are actually two mysteries here (one from the past, one in the present…both involve staircases in the same Victorian house which is undergoing restoration).
To be honest, the only two things I enjoyed in the story were the twists and turns in the ending and the historical details. I found the main character, Kate, who was recruited as lead in the restoration, whiny, naive and inept in her position. The other characters were one dimensional, and the writing was simplistic and repetitious. Maybe since I’m not a big cozy fan that’s part of why I wasn’t engaged, but I think it could have been better all around.
My thanks to #NetGalley and #MinotaurBooks for providing me the free early arc of #TheSecretStaircase for review. The opinions are strictly my own.
The Secret Staircase by Sheila Connolly brings together a dead body, historic preservation, and several mysteries about the former inhabitants of a home built in the 1800’s. Kate Hamilton’s renovation experience is with modern institutions in the hospitality industry, but her childhood friend Lisbeth Scott asks her to help revitalize her home town, which has lost its industry and is fading fast. As part of the effort to convert the fictional town of Asheboro, Maryland to its Victorian village roots, the first goal is to renovate the Barton Mansion. A hidden staircase is found behind a wall, and at its foot is a body. Did the individual fall or was it murder?
Kate is a likeable character who wants to do what is right for her hometown. She makes a lot of mental lists, and occasionally, she writes them down. The reader gets to see into her thoughts with the first person point of view. However, to me, she seemed disorganized and unsystematic; inconsistent with her professional experience. Most of the other characters are pleasant, but there isn’t a lot of depth except for Carroll, Morgan, and Bethany Wallace.
The author does a good job of world-building. I was able to easily visualize the setting. The small town atmosphere came through. The plot is straightforward and somewhat predictable, but the story is interesting and kept me engaged. Unraveling the mysteries of the house and its inhabitants was twisty and enjoyable. The ending wrapped things up nicely and set the stage for book four.
Overall, this book was an entertaining and steadily paced cozy mystery. What will Kate and Carroll uncover about the home’s original owners, Henry and Mary Barton? Did they marry for convenience or love? Did they have children? What happened to Mary? While there is information on Henry in the local newspaper of their era, there is scant information on Mary. Who is the dead man behind the wall and how did he die? When and why did he die? Will the preservation and renovation work on the house even be allowed to continue?
This is the third book in the Victorian Village Mysteries series and worked fine as a standalone novel, but reading the books in order would likely provide additional character depth. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Readers that enjoy cozy mysteries and history will likely enjoy this series.
St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Sheila Connolly provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for August 24, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
The Secret Staircase is the third in the Victorian Village Mysteries series but the first I’ve read and it did well as a standalone and I had no issues following along or coming to know the characters. I really enjoyed reading this and the ending and how things were wrapped up left me with a heavy happy sigh.
Kate Hamilton has moved back to her home town of Asheboro, Maryland. Like many towns whose industries have shut down, the town is struggling and Kate has been recruited by a friend to try to revitalize the town. Kate is between jobs so she agrees.
Kate has decided the best way to start is to rehab an old mansion that was left to the city a century ago and has high hopes of using it to attract tourists and events. The owner of the manor, Henry Barton, had left funds to maintain the house and while Kate plans on keeping things period correct, she does want to update the kitchen for catering use. Unfortunately, the contractor discovers a secret staircase with a mummified body in it. An autopsy reveals the time of death around 1880 and reveals the man was murdered. And later, another body is found at the manor.
Kate and her posse are investigating the life of Henry Barton and his wife Mary as part of their research. I found that part very interesting.
I received an ARC from the publisher but the opinion expressed is my own.