Arsenic at Ascot by Kelly Oliver
Saddle up for this first class historical mystery, perfect for fans of Helena Dixon and Verity Bright.
London, 1918
Fiona Figg finds herself back in Old Blighty saddled with shuffling papers for the war office. Then a mysterious card arrives, inviting her to a fancy house party at MentmoreCastle. This year’s Ascot-themed do will play host to a stable of animal defense advocates, and Fiona is tasked with infiltrating the activists and uncovering possible anti-war activity.
Disguised as the Lady Tabitha Kenworthy, Fiona is more than ready for the “mane” event, but the odds are against her when both her arch nemesis, dark-horse Fredrick Fredricks, and would-be fiancé Lieutenant Archie Somersby arrive unexpectedly and “stirrup” her plans. And when a horse doctor thuds to the floor in the next guest room, Fiona finds herself investigating a mysterious poisoning with some very hairy clues.
Can Fiona overcome the hurdles and solve both cases, or will she be pipped to the post and put out to pasture by the killer?
About the author
Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, will be published in November 2022.
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Review
‘Arsenic at Ascot’ is a tense and brilliant historical mystery that is full of fun and whimsy! This is the fourth book in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane mysteries and can definitely be read as a standalone novel. I do recommend reading the whole series though, as well as the individual Fiona Figg books as they are great examples of historical fiction done exceedingly well!
Fiona Figg finally finds herself back on home soil and is also given her first solo mission. She is to infiltrate an anti-vivisectionist group and find out who their mole is at Porton Down, a military facility where animal testing is taking place. Of course, Fiona loves this as she gets to dress up! I love it when she dresses as a man and realises the freedom of it. Also, it makes for some humourous reading. I have really grown to like Fiona, she is fiercely intelligent but can also be a bit of a fool at times! In this outing, we get to see more about her love life, with her love triangle between Frederick Fredericks and Archie - both are also spies but one of them working for the Germans! I loved the ending and can't wait for the next chapter, especially since I studied that era of their history at university!
What I adore about this series is the number of characters who were actual historical figures! Also, make sure to read the Author’s note at the back of the book as it details all the inspiration for the story and the characters. It's this that I feel makes this book top-notch, as the narrative feels completely authentic and the characters sparkle off the page. The fact that the actual ‘crime’ didn't happen till halfway through the book meant there was much less repetition of going over the facts which I particularly found was a positive aspect of this book.
The pacing of this book was great and I flew through it in one sitting! But then this is right up my street! Great story, great characters and I can't wait to read the next one.
Let me know if you pick this one up!
