Until that is, she embarks on searching for the one thing she wants more than anything, to find her mother, Lily, who disappeared from Hastings Pier 10 years earlier. Violet feels her beloved mother’s disappearance wasn’t taken seriously, the police closed the case toot de suite, and Father won’t have ‘that woman’ mentioned in the house any longer. Violet even feels the house servants resent her for their lady of the house abandoning them. No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby was such a treat to read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC. Violet is a paradox, a product of her time and upbringing. In some regards, she is rigid by even the day's standards, valuing propriety and primness. In other ways, our protagonist steamrolls over societal norms. It's captivating to watch her character growth as she finds her voice. The narrative is so well done, as well. There's plenty of misdirection, but like any well-written mystery, it allows the reader to play detective, giving clues along the way. While I have many thoughts on this book (and all of them good), in an effort not to give away the plot, all I will say is I highly recommend this book. Violet wants to work and make her own way in the world, but despite this rebuffing of social conventions, she is still quite prim and proper and altogether living a sheltered life on the edge of societal ostracism because of her lifestyle choices - namely, being single.

This was so much fun! I love a historical mystery. This had a little romance that I really enjoyed also. I was randomly selected by the publisher to receive an ARC. Thank you to Netgalley as well. It's 1896 and Victoria is 28 years old. Her mother has been missing for ten years now. In that time, Victoria has searched her room and done all that she could think of to figure out what happened. An advertisement for a local detective catches her eye and she hires Mr. Knight on the spot. He seems a bit unsavory but she knew of no other detective. Victoria lives with her Father on the seaside and their two staff. She attends church weekly and is determined not to marry. No Life for a Lady is full of deliciously complex characters who, at first glance, seem typically two-dimensional, as can sometimes be the case when reading cozies. However, the author, Hannah Dolby, masterfully pulls the reader in by expertly layering her story so you cannot help but want to read more. Even though it is 1886, the West is not yet completely tamed, and I have read that Mexico is decades behind America in its own struggle to civilize itself. This makes the land south of us either fertile ground for exciting stories or a danger zone, depending on whether one is looking at the situation through my rose-colored vision or my mother's morbid fears. I, uh…" I fumble, caught by surprise, not knowing what to say. This is a first for me. I've never been asked out by a strange man. To the contrary, my life has been so occupied with helping my mother keep food on the table for my brothers and sister that I've had neither the time nor the inclination for courtship or even keeping company.I love the way Violet managed to persuade all her potential husbands that she really isn’t suitable. Full of tongue in cheek humour and inappropriate events Violet is a joy. Whether she would have really have been able to get away with everything she did just doesn’t matter. A well written and highly enjoyable easy read with a great protagonist. I hope to see Violet again as a fully fledged detective. It's 1886 and Mexico has not cast off all its bloodthirsty Aztec past. Among the towering pyramids in the ghost city of Teotihuacán, Nellie is stalked by ruthless killers seeking Montezuma's legendary treasure and an ancient cult that resorts to the murderous Way of the Aztec to protect it.

Violets whole world has revolved around her mother, from her mother’s guidance in the ways of love to her disappearance which created a big hole in Violets life and turned her life upside down and now Violet is going to take control of her life and find her mother, have some fun and maybe experience love… We meet Jean Price MP in her early days in office having earned her place in the Commons courtesy of winning a bi-election by a majority of 507. Little seems to have prepared her for the challenges of balancing the life of an opposition MP with a home life while at the same time battling the sneering of the government’s MPs and the sexism of operations within the House, despite this still being the time of Margaret Thatcher’s reign. This is such a wholesome read, set in a time where being a women meant all that was expected of you was to marry well, keep house and have children. No Life for a Lady’ tells the story of Violet Hamilton, a young woman living in Hastings, a seaside resort town in the south of England. Ten years have passed since the disappearance of her mother, having gone out for an evening with friends never to return, and Violet has always had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right about the disappearance. No body was ever found, nor did anyone remember her seeing her mother leave the pier in the evening, but how can a woman, especially one renowned for her beauty and charm, just seemingly disappear? The first thing I can't help but notice is his height—I have to look up. He's tall, probably over six feet; his body hovers over my five-foot frame. I assume he indulges in sports, for he appears to have the build of an athlete. He's young, maybe five or six years older than my nineteen,1 with striking green eyes that are framed in silver wire-rimmed pince-nez—another favorite of my dad's, except his glasses were gold. He's clean-shaven, which I prefer, and his hair—curly, dark brown—is not long, but not short, either, falling just below his ears. He's wearing a dark suit, giving him an eastern look, rather than the rough clothes of the westerners I see all around.Instead of giving in to my tugging and pulling to leave, my father knelt down and looked me square in the eyes and said, "Nellie, you'll never get anywhere in life if you don't face your fears. Worse, you will miss out on a lot. So hop on."

The Commons' chamber is never seen, with scenes alternating between Jean's office, which she shares with her Scottish colleague Ken Miller, the lobby, and various lounges of Westminster. Other characters include the whip Norman, and the Conservative MP Sir Godfrey Eagan, various visiting constituents, and Jean's secretary, Marc.When Violet finds another detective’s ad in an old newspaper, she chooses to approach him about taking over the investigation for her mother. Only he’s not so keen to do it, and in the meantime, Violet finds something else to fixate on - typing. Will Violet find her mother without jeopardizing her relationship with her father? And will she ever be taken seriously as a woman with ambition?

Victoria's Father introduces her to many gentlemen, all of which she firmly and creatively turns them down. She is a bit of an oddity, being 28 and unmarried. There is also a kind of public stain from having a missing Mother. Victoria has dabbled in charity work but longs for more purpose. It's not proper really for a spinster to work, being a gently bred young daughter of a banker. When Mr. Knight continues to investigate her Mother's disappearance, she continues to find him uncomfortable to be around. When firing him doesn't work, she looks for another detective. Violet is an amazing and lovable character - full of curiosity, humor, resilience, aspirations, and determination. Would love to read a series about Violet thriving as the best detective in town!Note: In the four Series One episodes in which Nigel Humphreys appeared, he was credited as Nigel Humphries. Violet Hamilton is an unmarried woman still living at home with her father in late Victorian Hastings. She seems surprisingly naïve for a twenty-eight woman and this jarred at first but as I read on, the reasons for this became apparent and I just fell in love with her character.