(Spoilers included). Another great addition to the Daniel and Kat series. I’m really enjoying getting to know more about his past. The introduction of his brother was really intriguing. I’m also glad that Kat and Daniel might finally be letting their relationship develop. The only criticism I have about this installation was the murder. We sort of find out who did it, but no names and they didn’t really have a reason. The story got sidetracked following the missing children. While that part of the story was engaging and unpredictable, we never really solved the murder. Daniel just kind of announced it to Kat at the end. I’ll keep reading these because I love the dynamic between the main characters.

I love the Lit Holloway’s mysteries! The are fun with likable characters. The only frustrating thing about these mysteries is trying to find out Daniel’s identity. However, in this novel, we get to learn more about him! These mysteries are really fascinating, and Jennifer Ashley is an excellent writer! She lured you into the story from the first page! I recommend this for fans of The Lady Evelyn mysteries, The Eleanor Swift mysteries, and A Miss Underhay Mysteries!

The A Below Stairs Mysteries just keep getting better and better. Kat Holloway is one of my favorite Victorian amateur sleuths.

Kat Hollaway and Daniel McAdam are once again at their crime solving best. Although the mystery of missing children and the possible murder of a beloved nurse; sees the pair far afield of the pomp and circumstance of Mayfair.
The setting for these terrible crimes being the rough and tumble streets of London's East End.
The children, the oft forgotten residents of London's Foundling Hospital.
The threat to all concerned more deadly than ever.

This fourth offering of the Kat Hollaway Mystery series sees trouble brewing for our beloved heroine at every turn. With her relationship with the rule flouting Lady Cynthia putting her job as cook for the penny-pinching Mrs. Bywater in constant jeopardy. While her quest to help Daniel's adoptive brother, Erroll Fielding, solve the mysteries plaguing the East End. Just may cost her life.
This book is by far the darkest of the series. Tackling the very real problem of children in the sex trade.
Though the author very deftly handles the subject in such a way that it is neither glorified, nor exploitive.
The addition of Mr. Fielding provides a much needed glimpse into the past of Daniel. Serving as the much needed bridge bringing Kat just that much further into both his world and his heart.

Lady Cynthia, ever the maverick. Is making her way ever closer to the shy and scholarly Mr. Thanos. And seeing these two playing what amounts to a very adorable game of "emotional peekaboo" is enough to warm even the most cynical of hearts.
It is in fact, the very sweet, almost chaste romance of the adult pairs that serves as the perfect reprieve from the harsher realities that our favorite characters must face.

This book is a sheer joy to read. Captivating the reader from beginning to end. With likeable characters, intelligent plot structure, excellent world building, and seamlessly flowing dialogue. That makes one dread the having to end the story.

This book is the fourth in a continuous series that may be read in its entirety. Or as a standalone.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing the eARC on which this unbiased critique is based.

Jennifer Ashley's latest Beneath the Stairs series is an energetic romp filled with mystery, suspense, and a stealth romance that leaves me on pins and needles with anticipation. Our heroine, Kit Holloway, is a delightful mixture of sensibility and compassion as she uses her wits and position to solve the various mysteries that seem to cross her path.

FULL REVIEW ON FRESH FICTION
MURDER IN THE EAST END, book four in the Below Stairs mystery series by Jennifer Ashley is an intriguing and entertaining Victorian murder mystery. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this series is checking in with the cast of characters--Lady Cynthia, niece of Kat’s employers who pushes the boundaries of what is expected from a proper young lady; Mr. Thanos, Daniel’s friend who is a genius and quite awkward; Tess, Kat’s eager kitchen assistant, and many more. New characters, like Mr. Fielding and Judith Townsend, a wealthy artist who may have connections to Daniel and his mysterious line of work, are seamlessly woven into the narrative and will hopefully be seen in future books.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: https://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10796

Kat Holloway is a fine cook. She’s also a fine detective. With the help of Daniel McAdam, she’s found herself in several predicaments in the past. When she receives word Daniel would like to see her, it’s at the end of a long day of service—a supper ball arranged with little notice or thought for those who make it possible.

She’s shocked when Daniel introduces her to a vicar and then finds out the man is his brother. The vicar is on the board for the foundling home and has heard children have gone missing. It’s said they’ve been adopted, but checking the addresses where they are supposed to be, he finds empty lots. Worried the children may have been sold for immoral purposes, he’s sought out Daniel’s help. Daniel, knowing Kat can learn a lot talking to other servants, has recruited Kat to help.

As cook, Kat has a better schedule than most servants. She gets a day and a half off each week so she can spend time with her daughter who boards with a family nearby. She also has the freedom to leave the house more easily, with the excuse of shopping for ingredients. When she detours to the foundling home and speaks to the servants there, she learns that a nurse has also gone missing.

In addition to concern about the children, she’s worried about Lady Cynthia who has no money of her own and whose relatives are constantly trying to marry her to a rich but boring man. When the lady of the house is angry that Cynthia visits Kat in the kitchens, Kat’s job is threatened.

Kat is an independent woman forced to live by society rules, much like Lady Cynthia. Class and status matter but it boils down to knowing your place, following the rules, and having money. Usually careful, Kat sometimes finds herself in precarious positions while investigating. With the help of a (mostly) cool head and Daniel as backup, she’s able to keep herself from harm.

Daniel has always been mum about his past and most of his present. He’s a chameleon, appearing as a delivery man, a gentleman invited to dinner, a consultant for the police, a possible agent for the Foreign Service. Who could resist the intrigue, his charm, and good looks? Certainly not Kat although she’s careful to not let him get too sure of himself.

This is an enjoyable series with a look into the past, into the importance of class, and its rules. Readers will enjoy reading about the meals Kat and her assistant Tess make—some sound wonderful, some not so much. I look forward to the next book as Daniel and Kat grow closer.

This is the fourth book (plus an ebook) in the series. All four print versions have been reviewed for KRL. Ashley also writes the Mackenzies series, thirteen in all.

Murder in the East End is the fifth in the Below Stairs mystery series set in Victorian London. Cook Kit Holloway is called in to track down the children and their nurse gone missing from a foundling hall by the foster brother of her friend and associate Daniel. Something is very wrong at the foundling hall; first the nurse is found murdered and then possibly the children sold into a brothel.. Nothing is what it seems. Kit's associates are interesting and the areas she is hunting for the children in are very dangerous. Here is a chance to see the different levels of London society as they intersect.

Stevie‘s review of Murder in the East End (A Below Stairs Mystery, Book 4) by Jennifer Ashley
Historical Mystery published by Berkley 04 Aug 20

I’m really appreciating all the snippets of everyday Victorian life we get to see in the course of Kat Holloway’s adventures. This story is no exception, beginning as it does with Kat and her fellow below-stairs staff working hard to prepare and deliver a luxurious meal at short notice to impress their employer’s dinner guests. Into all this barely contained chaos steps the son of Kat’s great, if mysterious, friend Daniel McAdam with a summons for Kat from his father. This, obviously, heralds the beginning of a new mystery for Kat and Daniel, along with all Kat’s other usual helpers, to investigate.


This time Kat finds herself working on behalf of a man Daniel refers to as his brother, another former street urchin raised by the same man who took Daniel in. The Reverend Errol Fielding turns out to be both more and less respectable than Daniel. He’s an Oxford-educated clergyman with a parish in the East End, and who has additional duties with several charitable organisations, but whom Daniel refers to as a rogue only really interested in bettering himself. One charity that Fielding works on behalf of is the Foundling Hospital, which, as an aside, is a very real place still – albeit that it’s now a museum – and somewhere I would probably have visited by now were it not for this year’s pandemic. He reports that a number of children taken in by the charity are unaccounted for and the nurse who alerted him to their disappearance has since vanished herself.

Kat agrees to help, and to speak to others in her kitchen with knowledge of the hospital, but very soon the case takes a sinister turn when the missing nurse is found beaten to death. Meanwhile, Fielding’s involvement in the goings-on turns out to be more complicated than he initially admitted to, and Kat is caught up in complex household politics back at her employer’s home once again. Fortunately she has an ally in the form of Lady Cynthia’s new friend, an artist who wants to paint Kat at work in her kitchen, and who is also keen to help Kat, and the ever useful Lady Cynthia herself, with the case of the missing children.

Although the cast of this series keeps expanding, the characters are all very distinct and incredibly memorable. There’s some progress in Kat’s relationship with Daniel, although his past – as well as his present duties – keeps getting in the way of Kat’s willingness to get fully involved. It was good to watch her spending some of her free time with her growing daughter as well.

All in all, another superb addition to this most excellent series.

Grade: A

I think historical mysteries is becoming one of my favourite reads. I like how people and in this case lady, have to use their wit and brains to solve mysteries, as they don’t have the benefits to modern forensic science. Who doesn’t love a wise lady detective. The mystery was good and atmospheric, and at time can be dark and deal with some heavy subjects. I liked how our main characters interacted and we get to know more about Daniel. Overall, Murder in the East end is another great addition to the historical mysteries and to Kat Holloway series.

Kat Halloway had no idea that her friend Daniel McAdam had a brother, or that he was a vicar. But one rainy night, at Daniel’s request, she meet with Errol Fielding who makes a request of her. Fielding, who holds a governor’s seat on the board of the Foundling Hospital, has found that some of the children, and a nurse, have gone missing from the Home. He wants Kat to look into it, and while she’s unsure of Fielding and his intentions, she can’t say no. Kat’s questions uncover some very unsavory facts, but with the lives of innocent children at stake she’s not going to stop until she gets to the truth.

First...my apologies for taking so long to review this. Illness, quarantines, family matters...2020 can't end too soon!

On to the review...

I have read all of the books in the Kat Halloway series and enjoyed each and every one. And this latest in the series is a fabulous addition. The main plot is a complex one, exploring a theme (child exploitation) that is darker than in any of the previous books, but Ashely handles it in a mature and sensitive manner.

It’s not all darkness though, as Kat continues in her role as cook for the Bywaters, which means that all of my favorite characters are back (upstairs and downstairs) and Ashely introduces some delightful new ones too. As always, Kat is engaging, intelligent, and strong of character, and Daniel—is an enigma. But, Ashely does let us in on a few new tidbits to keep us satisfied until the next book comes out.

This is definitely a favorite for me in the historical mystery genre. I’ll be waiting patiently for the next book, but in the meantime, I recommend that you read this one now.

Murder in the East End is book four in the series written by Jennifer Ashley. I you love Downton Abbey and the story of life below and above stairs, of trying to find the place where you fit in life, then you will love this series. Mrs. Holloway is a cook for a house in Mayfair. She has assisted an undercover policeman, Daniel McAdam, on a few cases before. She is an artist in the kitchen but smart as a whip and keeps a cool head in stressful situations.

When Elsie the young girl who washes dishes in the kitchen tells Mrs. Holloway about children and a nurse missing from where she grew up, London's Foundling Hospital, and asks for help. Mrs. Holloway is determined to help find these people. She enlists the help of old and new friends to investigate.

This is a spectacular series, one of my favorites. I highly recommend this for reader's advisory too.

Kat Holloway is a talented cook, working in a fine London household. She’s also an intelligent woman, one with an inquiring mind, and a knack for solving mysteries. Kat is a single mother whose circumstances forced her to board her daughter with friends. She lives for those two days a week when she is able to spend time with Grace, and dreams of the day when she’ll have the means to keep her daughter with her all the time. During the course of her employment, Kat has come to be acquainted with Daniel McAdam, a deliveryman and so much more. Daniel occasionally works in assisting the police with investigations, many of which have him requesting Kat’s assistance. Still, Daniel has a mystery about him. Though he and Kat have grown closer, there’s a part of his life he withholds, keeping his true occupation a secret, either by choice, or by demand.

The latest case Daniel is investigating involves children disappearing from a foundling home, and Kat is only too willing to help. The situation grows more serious, when one of the concerned nurses at the home turns up missing, as well. Their inquiries lead them on a path that suggests someone or several someones on the very board governing the foundling home is using the children for their own financial gain. The twisted trail also reveals murder, child prostitution, and the usual assortment of bullies who are involved in such schemes.

MURDER IN THE EAST END is the fourth book in the KAT HOLLOWAY MYSTERY series, but can easily be read as a standalone without any confusion or sense of being lost. What a reader gains from having read the previous books is the knowledge of the developing relationship between Kat and Daniel, as well as their children, the other servants, and the friendships Kat has developed with those from “upstairs.” Kat is a woman to be admired – she has a toughness about her, yet plenty of compassion for others. She has a vulnerability regarding her growing feelings for Daniel which she tries to hide, but isn’t entirely successful. She knows her own worth and has a lot of pride in her abilities. Daniel is a charming and intelligent man. In each book, another small layer of his life is revealed, and he becomes more open about his regard for Kat. I love their relationship and their interactions, and look forward to their becoming even closer. MURDER IN THE EAST END is a satisfying mystery, one whose resolution left me surprised, though pleasantly so. My favorite part of the book is definitely the multiple relationships, those that cross class lines, those of family, and those of blooming romance.

Kat Holloway is a young cook and also an amateur detective. When children from the Foundling Hospital begin to disappear and the young woman charged with their care also vanishes, she is asked to uncover the mystery. Working with her confidant the mysterious Daniel and his vicar "brother", Kat is determined to find the children safe, before it is too late.

Can't wait to read more in this historical mystery series!

So I really love this series and this book was just as good as the other ones in the series! In this one Daniel actually ask Kat for help because he sort of doesn't trust his judgement because of who is involved. Kat goes with him to the foundling hospital and finds out that some foundlings are missing along with one of the nurses. Kat also finds out that the guy running the place is someone from Daniels past and he just doesn't trust him. 

They all have to work together to track down who is involved, meanwhile, Kat is having some problems with the family she works for because the lady of the house doesn't like the fact that Lady Cynthia hangs out downstairs with her which is threatening her job. Despite that Lady Cynthia as well as Thanos and some others also help her and Daniel figure things out.

I absolutely love the characters in this series! Kat is one of my favorite historical mystery sleuths, she feels a bit more real to me than some female sleuths because she works hard, loves what she does, tries to provide a good life for her child even if that is not living with her and how that affects her. She is smart and fiesty to boot! Daniel is probably one of the most mysterious characters who I absolutely love and I love him and Kat together! Lots of things keep them from being together but I am hoping that changes soon, it seems like it's getting closer! Lady Cynthia is a pretty fun upstairs character because she loves to wear pants and doesn't act like a Lady much at all...lol. I could go on it just has a lot of fun characters so I always have a great time when I read these books!

I totally recommend this series!

When Kat finds out children are missing from the foundlings home, she's upset. They're young, small and can't protect themselves. Where did they disappear to?

Net Galley and Berkley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can get a copy now.

As she questions staff, they tell her they've been adopted. But the addresses that have been given are either empty lots or new development going up. When the little nurse living there and taking care of the children disappears it's another concern. Kat gets her boyfriend to help. He finds the nurse but she's dead.

Kat meets Daniel's older brother. He was in love with the nurse. She learns a lot about both of them as they look for the killers and the children.

They find themselves visiting the wrong side of town looking for the children. Kat gets roughed up. Soon Daniel has got the police helping them.

Will they find the children alive or dead?

This is a busy story with complications, but it's a good read.

*first published at Feathered Quill Book Reviews*

In this fourth installment of the Kat Holloway series, Mrs. H. is called by her beau, Daniel McAdam, on a rainy night to meet his vicar brother, Errol Fielding. Aside from managing a parish, the dubious Mr. Fielding also holds a governor’s seat in the Foundling Hospital’s board. He asks to meet Mrs. H. about something that definitely smells foul with regards to the adoption of some children.

Mr. Fielding insists, though he is not sure, that the children are missing, contrary to the belief that they have been brought under the care of new families. This cacophony involves two young boys and one girl. Mrs. H. is appalled but it becomes more complicated when a certain Nurse Betts goes missing too.

With Mrs. H’s hectic schedule as the cook for the Bywaters and with her growing love and doubts towards Daniel, this news further rocks her world and takes more of her free time, which she would rather spend by her daughter’s side. But given the big heart that she has, Mrs. H. does not turn down the brothers’ request. How could she when the lives of innocent children are at stake? With more help coming from a few wealthy and wise friends, they unfold the mystery enveloping the Foundling Hospital’s eerie disappearances.

Jennifer Ashley’s Murder in the East End starts with great imagery, pushes through an unexpected darkness, but ends happily. The readers are welcomed to a world with vibrant scenes and curious characters. The story holds promise and it kicks off with a fast pace but it generally slows down in the middle. Interestingly complex while written with a light tone, the book is easy to digest and has a nice flow. Although Ashley is careful with her language, there are certain words that appear quite repetitively.

Even when it is set way back in the Victorian era, it’s wonderful to see the book taking a progressive stand, showing examples of feminism and diversity. Mrs. H. and Daniel’s sweet relationship may be subtle but it has an allure that makes readers cry for more.

Murder in the East End has a beautiful mix of suspense and romance that leaves a mark long after the story ends.

Not all is has it seems in the latest Kat Holloway Mystery. Children are missing and a new character arrives to bedevil both Kat and Daniel. The plot moves smoothly as Kat and Daniel work together but stay apart. On the plus side their relations also moves forward as we learn more about Daniel's past. Great addition.

The Below Stairs mystery series does not take place solely downstairs, the milieu of talented cook Mrs. Kat Holloway. She’s called missus out of respect for her position, which is on par with the butler and housekeeper. Scandal Above Stairs, the second Below Stairs mystery, called upon Kat and her enigmatic friend Daniel McAdam, to solve the “mystery of stolen antiquities.” Kat has relatively more freedom than other servants, allowing her to hone her talent for sleuthing. Unlike scullery maids or footmen, cooks move freely between their kitchens and the world outside (as long as upstairs gets their meals on time!).

Kat’s co-workers and the family she serves have a roof over their head and food to eat. Not everyone in Victorian London is so fortunate. Murder in the East End addresses the sad and circumscribed lives of foundlings.

When young cook Kat Holloway learns that the children of London’s Foundling Hospital are mysteriously disappearing and one of their nurses has been murdered, she can’t turn away.

Kat’s daughter Grace is the apple of her eye. Her earnings go to pay for Grace’s contented and safe existence with the Milburn Family. Kat knows if not for her profession, Grace might be one of the foundlings.

In the end, I was grateful to the gray brick building and its frowning windows, and the equally gray children I’d seen in the courtyard, dressed all alike, marching along under the guide of a matron or rector. It made me decide to work my fingers to the bone to raise my daughter myself, to never give her up, to hold her in my arms and keep her safe.

It’s Daniel who tells Kat about the missing children and their nurse. He introduces her to his brother, Mr. Fielding, the improbable vicar of a parish in the East End, who’s on the board of directors at the Foundling Hospital. Nurse Betts, a friend of the vicar, told him about the missing children but now she too has disappeared. Were the children taken so criminals can sell them to brothels for “prostitution purposes?” Daniel, Mr. Fielding, and Kat fear the worst.

How can Kat gain access to the hospital? Does Elsie, her scullery maid, who grew up a foundling, have any ideas? Elsie says that Lady Cynthia “could pretend to be a charity lady and you could visit with her. Or she could go on a Sunday afternoon to watch Sunday dinner.” Watch Sunday dinner—how odd that sounds. Elsie elaborates.

“It’s a fine thing for ladies and gentlemen, innit? To pay a shilling or tuppence, or whatever it is, to view the foundling boys and girls eating their charity food. All in a row we’d sit, all in our same frocks, happy to have our grub. They’d file in and watch us like we were animals in a menagerie, they would. Talking all about us as they did.”

One of the delights of an evolving mystery series is the introduction of new characters. Cynthia, the pants-wearing niece of the Bywater household, leads an uncomfortable existence. Her aunt’s “insistence that Cynthia marry so she’d be out from underfoot,” means Cynthia is frequently subject to soirées where her aunt dangles boring suitors in front of her. After a dinner ball, Mrs. Holloway is sent for so the guests can applaud her culinary efforts. Cynthia’s friend Miss Townsend, praises the excellence of Kat’s lobster rissoles. The next day, Cynthia beards Kat in the kitchen to ask if Miss Townsend, an artist, has Kat’s blessing to paint her at work.

“I return to my original question,” I said. “Why does Miss Townsend wish to paint me? And how exactly does she mean too?”

Tess, Kat’s assistant, listens avidly to the conversation: “‘Artists’ models are dreadful wicked women, ain’t they?’ She sounded more eager than appalled.” But Cynthia reassures them—Townsend paints domestic scenes. Kat’s kitchen is cramped, hot, and dirty, so how is an artist from a genteel background going to blend into the background while she sketches?

“Miss Townsend is quite sturdy. The stories she tells me of places she’s lived and things she’s done in pursuit of her art would make your skin prickle. It did mine.” Cynthia rubbed her arms as though feeling the prickle still. “If it is too much trouble for you, I’ll put her off.”

It’s rather ironic that the foundling children are put on display weekly and Mrs. Holloway agrees for her person and her domain to be surveilled and sketched. Miss Townsend lives up to Cynthia’s description of her. She is not only sturdy, she’s preternaturally skillful at bending others to her will. She rescues Kat from a cruel and petulant display of cruelty by Mrs. Bywater. Mysteriously, Townsend has worked with Daniel in the past—and as is his wont, Daniel says he can’t explain the circumstances. It’s all hands on deck to find the children, a task that becomes more urgent when Nurse Betts is found murdered.

Two aspects of Jennifer Ashley’s books are gifts to her readers. First, obviously, the delicious meals. How’s this for a sumptuous repast?

I gave them cod in cream and butter sauce, a stuffed veal roast, a fresh green salad with plenty of Miss Townsend’s herbs, slices of ham, rhubarb tartlets, Tess’s cauliflower with mushrooms and dill, and finished with my apple tarts served with cream, and a vanilla custard with raspberry jam.

Secondly, Kat has a gift for friendship. Working side-by-side with Daniel solving crimes has greatly enlarged her circle of acquaintances. Miss Townsend is an intriguing addition to the cast—a woman of means who prefers a bohemian lifestyle and has no interest in marriage.

Murder in the East End is another winning entrée in an enthralling historical mystery series.

This series just does not disappoint! Anytime Kat Holloway is on the page I will be reading - especially if Daniel McAdam, Lady Cynthia, Mr. Davis and the rest of the downstairs staff are present! I especially enjoyed this one because I felt like we made some progress on just who exactly Daniel is. He's been so mysterious since the very beginning of the series that it was nice to have, if not answers, at least more of a direction. I also enjoyed seeing Kat and Daniel butt heads a little more. In the past Kat would get frustrated with Daniel but never actually address it with him. As well, I thought Miss Townsend was a welcome addition to the team.

The mystery in this book was a bit on the darker side with missing children and a dive into the darkest side of child exploitation. Kat explored darker and grittier places then she ever has in the past and there were a few nail biting situations. I was pulled in from the very start of this one couldn't wait to find out what happened next. This is a fascinating historical mystery series with lots of upstairs/downstairs action and a full ensemble of entertaining characters.