I have not read any cozies by Ms. Connolly, though I know she has written many. This was the first one I tried out and unfortunately, I just did not enjoy it.

Like the dead body in the wall, this book lacked "meat" (pardon the picture). I found myself waiting for substance, something to draw me into the story. Instead, I found most of the characters utterly forgettable and the protagonist quite scatter-brained and unlikeable. She has all these flurry of ideas and flits from one thing to the next and never writes anything down and then laments not having an assistant. Get a pad of paper!

I also thought her obsession with the past and daydreaming so often about what the owner of the mansion did with his wife got kind of old (pun intended) and also boring. I plodded my way through this mystery but based on this showing I am not sure I would read others by her. It was just an overall big snooze.

I enjoyed this book I liked the investigation into the two dead bodies (one historical & one current). I love the research into the lives of the mansion owner & his wife (Henry and Mary Barton). Very little is known about either, even though Henry is a wealthy industrialist. The mysteries kept me guessing and I like the characters and the town.

I am sad that we will probably never find out if the Mansion & the town get the renovation required to have it thrive as a Victorian town. I shall miss Ms. Connolly's books.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.

Kate Hamilton is a city girl who has come back to her home town of Asheboro to make a tourist attraction of the Henry and Mary Barton mansion and grounds. Overall, the “bones” of the property are sound.

The property was last lived in over 110 years ago and was basically locked and abandoned. Henry Barton had left an endowment to maintain the property and the grounds. One of the town mayors absconded with the money and the property fell on hard times.

Henry and Mary Barton were the only couple to occupy the mansion. There is little record of them in the community although Henry was a captain of industry in the town, helping to employ most of its’ residents. Kate and Carroll set out to develop a tourist attraction to help revitalize the community.

Sheila Connolly develops her characters well and attaches mystery and drama to the story. A hidden staircase is found behind a false wall in the kitchen and the drama blossoms. A hundred plus year old mummified corpse is found inside the staircase and the mystery begins to unfold.

This story takes you on a rollercoaster ride of historical secrets. How did the body get there and who was the victim? Can the answers be found and the mansion turned into a city attraction? 5 stars - CE Williams

We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions.

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.

Kate's work renovating the small town of Asheboro is finally clicking when.....a contractor finds a mummified body in, well a staircase, in the Barton mansion. She's intrigued enough to start investigating the Barton family history but then...there's a murder! I liked the merger of past and present as well as the small town atmospherics. Kate'a a classic cozy heroine with a good pal/romanic interest in Joshua Wainwright. This is the third in the series- and it will be fine as a standalone- and regrettably, it will be the last. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Fans of the genre will enjoy this one.

This cozy mystery is the third in a series. This is the first one of this series I have read. The first few chapters felt like it was catching people like me caught up on what had previously happened in the other books.

I know this is a mystery, not a romance, but I felt like the relationship with Ryan didn't move forward. They both ( Kate and Ryan ) don't seem to care if they spent time together or not. I also felt like renovations didn't make much progress.

The mystery was easy and fun to follow with a lot of history add in. I enjoyed it.

Trying to resurrect her hometown, Kate Hamilton is really feeling the weight of her own expectations. They have the Barton house and a chunk of money to refurbish it, but how will she find contractors? Will it be enough?
She finds a contractor, Morgan, who seems like he will be good at the job but the day that he's inspecting the house, they find a body, more of a skeleton really, walled up in the kitchen of the Barton house. He obviously died in the 1800s so it's not of great concern but it is still curious.

Katie is also dealing with Steve, one of Morgan's contractors who seems to have an ulterior motive for working on the house, as well as balancing her burgeoning relationship with Joshua, who seems to be distancing himself somewhat.
Then, another body is found in the house and this time it's someone that Kate knows. Of course, being a cozy, it is someone who totally deserves it. But that doesn't mean that it isn't disconcerting. And a little worrying.
The mystery in this one is not quite as tight as previous books in the series. Also, the ending was a bit abrupt, especially with a time jump that didn't make sense to me.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out August 24th, 2021
Follows Killer in the Carriage House
ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

What drew me to Sheila Connolly's newest entry in the Victorian Village Mysteries? Was it the title "The Secret Staircase" or the book cover featuring a turreted mansion? Having grown up addicted to Nancy Drew, it was probably a little of both.

FIRST SENTENCE: "I looked at the faces of the people around the large oval table in the dining room of the Asheboro Bed & Breakfast - the place I was calling home, at least temporarily."

THE STORY: Kate Hamilton has her heart set on restoring "The Barton Mansion" in a small town a short drive from Baltimore but a world away. The project is formidable and only part of an even bigger concept of recreating Asheboro as a Victorian Village to bring the town back to life.

Just as everything is starting to fall into place, a hidden staircase is discovered and at the bottom, a century old body. When another death occurs, Kate realizes there is something in the past that is still festering and dangerous.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Told in the first person, the reader is aware of Kate's hopes and fears for the project. It's interesting to follow her thoughts, decisions, and plans as she grapples with the complicated process of working on historic properties. I found the book slow-moving and repetitious at times as Kate vacillates. The mystery isn't particularly challenging and gets quickly tied up at the end by an unexpected discovery. (Please realize that I am NOT a cozy fan.)

BOTTOM LINE: This is the third and last entry in the Victorian Village Mysteries. Author Sheila Connolly died in April 2020; but she was a prolific writer of cozys and left many series including Orchard Mysteries, Museum Mysteries, County Cork Mysteries, and Relatively Dead Mysteries among others. A good solid read for lovers of history, Victoriana, restoration, and genealogy.

DISCLAIMER: Thank you NetGalley, and Minotaur Books for the advance copy for an honest review.

Kate finds a dead body long hidden staircase during renovation that was definitely not from natural causes. This book has loads of history and mystery in this really had a fantastic plot. It was sad to hear this will be the last book in the series as the author sadly passed away. I look forward to reading the other two books in this series and definitely recommend this book.

Kate's plans to recreate Asheboro as a living history-style Victorian village are moving forward. Her first priority is to renovate the mansion that will be the focal point of the village, and she wants to start with the kitchen. But when the contractor discovers a body at the bottom of a hidden staircase, and it appears to be the result of foul play, Kate is determined to find out who he was, how he died and why. When a present-day body is found, she has to figure out if the two deaths are related.

This is the third book – and sadly, the last – in the Victorian Village series, and I enjoyed it as much as the first two books. Perhaps because I live within a couple of hours of Baltimore, the city closest to the town in the book, the setting of a small town struggling to survive is easy to visualize. Most of the recurring characters are people I'd like to get to know, and I would love to spend some time poking around the Barton mansion.

There were several storylines running through the book, and one in particular caught my attention. Given that this is the last book in the series, I was afraid that it wasn't going to be resolved before the end of the book, but my fears were unfounded. The mystery was well done, with several viable suspects on my list, and I was unable to identify the killer until just before the reveal in the book. I'm going to miss Kate and her friends, and am sad that readers won't get to 'see' the transformation of the town.

I wish to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy of this book in return for an honest review. This is Book 3 in the Victorian Mystery series. Not having read the others, I may have missed out on some character development and events leading up to the present situation.

The plot was intriguing, but the story was very slow-paced and contained unnecessary fillers and details. I am not a fan of cozy mysteries. However, the book avoids gory details and explicit sex. Any violence and murders occur off the pages, making the story a comfortable read for many to puzzle over. The description of the mansion was well done and easy to visualize, but there was too much discussion of its needed renovations to keep me engaged.

The protagonist, Kate Hamilton, was annoying at first. She had taken on the task of returning to her hometown, Asheboro, Maryland, to revitalize the fading town by turning it into a Victorian village. The mansion belonged to a wealthy factory owner, Henry Barton, and went into decline after the death of his wife, Mary, and the closing of his business. She has obtained a sizeable grant from Mid-Atlantic Power and has started to restore Barton Manor to its former glory. Kate has many self-doubts about the project, is disorganized, and expresses many concerns about her ability to complete the work sufficiently.

Once she hires a contractor who enjoys the challenge of restoring the manor to its original shape and plumbers and an electrician, it looks like the renovations will proceed. This is delayed when a mummified body of an unknown individual is discovered behind a walled-in room containing a stairwell. The police begin an investigation, and we learn that the man died in 1880 and was murdered.
With friends and helpers, Kate begins to investigate the personal history of Henry Barton and his wife to add their story of life in the home as a point of interest for future visitors. This leads to tracing the family tree with some surprising twists.

Kate fears that finding the ancient body within the walls may deter future visitors and grants. This becomes a major concern when a present worker is found dead after falling down the stairs. Was he pushed? This leads to more police investigations. At this point, with two possible murders on-site and many suspects, Kate seems rejuvenated by her determination to help solve both mysteries and carry on with the project to restore the mansion and the downtown businesses.

The Secret Staircase is the third book in the Victorian Village Mystery series. Sadly, Ms. Connolly passed away in 2020, so I assume this is the final book in the series unless someone takes over writing the books. The main character, Kate Hamilton, is working with several board members to revitalize the town of Asheboro, Maryland. She is starting with turning a mansion left to the town by the late Henry Barton but the discovery of bones from a long ago murder followed by a new murder slow the process down. Kate can’t help but investigate to find out if these two deaths could be related.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but missed the second one. I was surprised that the restoration of the Barton mansion and the creation of the Victorian village in the town wasn’t further along. Things are moving slowly in that process. The pace of the book is even, but also slow and there were times I lost interest in what was going on. There are two many unnecessary details that bog the story down. However, I like the characters in the book. I especially like Kate’s love interest, Professor Josh Wainwright, and her best friend Lisbeth. Without spoiling anything, documents discovered in the home are intriguing for the reader and provide Kate some important clues needed in her investigation. I like the way things are wrapped up in the end and think fans of the prior two books in this series will enjoy the book. I would rate it 3.5 stars.

I received this ebook from NetGalley through the courtesy of Minotaur Books. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Since the last book, things are moving right along in the tiny Maryland village of Asheboro. After the sizable donation from Mid-Atlantic Power, Kate and her board have been able to start work on restoring Henry Barton’s shovel factory and have even begun planning for the restoration of the Barton’s Victorian mansion. If all continue to move forward, they should be able to begin work on Main Street before too long. Kate and the town’s, dream of creating an authentic Victorian Village – complete with downtown area, mansion, and factory will save the town from totally disappearing. So much is riding on the success of this project, and then … they find a body hidden in a closed-up stairwell. Why is the 100-year-old body in the stairwell? What happened to the man? Was he murdered? Did he fall down the stairs and die? Why would anyone wall him in? Since the house has been closed up for over a hundred years, they’ll probably never know the answer. But when another body is found – a very recent death – also having fallen down a stairway – well – things get curioser and curioser.

Kate vacillates between feeling positive about the project and apprehensive about it. Has she bitten off more than she can chew? The publicity around finding not one, but two dead bodies at the Victorian mansion could very well keep donors from contributing to the project, so Kate, Josh, and Carroll know they have to pull out all of the stops to learn the personal history of the reclusive Henry and Mary Barton. Learning that may help them solve the mystery behind the 100-year-old corpse. Is the second body related to the first in some way? Is it some weird family feud? The victim wasn’t a very pleasant fellow, so who did he anger enough to kill him?

This was a thoroughly enjoyable story. The mystery (both of them) was intriguing and the solution unexpected. There were lots of clues to follow and lots of suspects to clear before we finally have solutions. I also love following along with the overarching story of Kate leading the charge to turn Asheboro, Maryland into a vintage Victorian Village similar to Williamsburg, VA. I hope you’ll give this book a try and love it as much as I did. I definitely miss this author and all of her lovely series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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.

This is a great ending to the late Sheila Connolly's writing career. I loved visiting Asheboro and all of the characters again. The mystery was so fun to try to solve, and the writing had me on the edge of my seat.

This is a well written book with a mystery to solve. It has just enough twists and turns to keep you turning the pages to see what happens next. It will keep you guessing until the end. I really enjoyed reading this book. I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I feel bad, but I can't give this book a good review. It is the 3rd in the series, and I have been waiting to see if there is any progression in the characters, the plot, the renovation of the mansion and town, but there really doesn't seem to be. My main complaint is that, like books one and two, it seems filled with filler, going over the same things repeatedly. How many times do we have to read about all of Kate's doubts whether she can do the job or not? When they find the slightest new detail about Henry Barton's life, it is hashed and rehashed throughout the whole book, told to numerous people one at a time instead of as a group. It is the 3rd in the series, and only on about the last three pages do we read about some progress being made on the mansion. Unless the 4th (if there is one) book if offered to me free, (and even then I don't know) I seriously doubt that I will be reading anything else in this series.

Part of series but can be read without reading others.
Kate goes back to her hometown to restore a old mansion .
There she find a old mysteries a body hidden in staircase along with all the renewal process.
A good drama mystery and suspense.
Voluntarily reviewed.

I found myself immediately swept into the secrets of Asheboro, Maryland! "The Secret Staircase' is a good story with a murder mystery, as Kate Hamilton struggles to discover the secrets of a deceased body in the historic Barton mansion. Although this is the third book in the Victorian Village Mystery series, I wasn't lost in figuring out different characters in the story. I am very interested in reading the other books in the series!

This novel also has historical fiction elements, as we learn exclusive details within the Asheboro community as the mystery deepened. It kept me very interested to the final pages!

Thank you to St Martins Press and Minotaur books for the digital copy!