The tenth book in the Beatrice Hyde-Clare murder mysteries series is fun. Like the previous book, this is a cozy mystery that is fast-paced and fun. I even learned about steam engines in this entry. My only problem is that Kesgrave is fading into the background. There are scenes where he’s in the room, but I forget about him because there is no reference made about him being there.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Potatoworks Press, in return for an honest review. This is the 10th book in a Victorian era series, set in London. Beatrice, newly married Duchess of Kesgrave, joins her uncle and cousins to attend a steam engine exhibit while her aunt is out of town. When the boiler explodes and its developer dies, was it a terrible accident involving a new process or was something more sinister at work? Bea convinces her husband to accompany her back to the exhibition site and look at the exploded engine. While they’re there, they encounter another interested party with unknown intentions and things progress from there, leading the Kesgraves to believe the explosion was deliberate but who was the intended target?
This book is the first in this series that I’ve read, and the opening was a challenge to understand the various players. It clarified after the first few pages so you understood the basic relationships. There is a great deal of exposition about low- and high-pressure steam engines and their development. I skimmed those sections as it didn’t add much to the story for me. If you like detailed scientific information with your mysteries, then you should enjoy those sections. The relationship between the Duke and Duchess is very well-written and the characters are enjoyable.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of An Ominous Explosion: A Regency Cozy by Lunn Messina. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Potatoworks Press for providing an ARC to review.

I DNFed the novel at 25%. Before you think it is a bad book, that isn't necessarily the reason. The story had a distinctive writing style that wasn't working for me. Sometimes a good book doesn't click with a reader and I think this was the case. So I recommend that everyone give this book a chance and see if it works for you.

I love Lynn Messina’s Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mystery series! . I really enjoy seeing Bea and the Duke’s relationship grow. and become a true partnership,
I love the. characters, Uncle Horace, Russel and Flora too! It is a joy to read this series. I hope there will be many more.

I read the first in this regency cozy mystery series with Beatrice Hyde-Clare and An Ominous Explosion is number 10. I think the reason I didn’t read the intervening books is because I couldn’t get my library to buy them. I’m glad to see all the banter with the Duke of Kesgrave has paid off and Beatrice is a duchess now.

After recovering from her latest escapade, Bea and a crowd of spectators witness the death of a steam engine inventor in a horrifying explosion accident. But something about the incident doesn’t seem right to Bea and she sets out to prove that it was murder with Kesgrave at her side.

The beginning might feel slow for anyone who doesn’t know the side characters or who hasn’t read the previous book, but I stuck with it. Once the accident occurs and Bea takes center stage, things picked up. My complaint overall was that there’s a lot of telling rather than showing, not enough of direct conversations. Fans of the series will probably be satisfied.

I received an arc from NetGalley

This book series just makes me happy. What? A murder mystery series that brings joy? Indeed. This one especially was delightful, so many precious Bea and Kesgrave interactions. Uncle Horace, Russel and Flora too! Flora also keeps getting better and better. I never, never guess the outcome of these mysteries, I'm rather terrible at it, but at this point, ten books in, the characters are what I love anyways and the feeling of being in on these inside jokes and references. So many lingering questions though, will Bea ever get proper Hoby boots, where is Nuneaton and can we get a book written from Kesgrave's POV? It is a treat to read this series. Keep them coming Lynn Messina! I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for a voluntary and honest review.

I absolutely adore Lynn Messina’s Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mystery series! An Ominous Explosion finds Bea and her duke investigating a suspicious steam engine accident. What I loved most about this installment in the series was the evolution of the relationship towards a true partnership, and of course the Rout Cake.

This book is a murder mystery!
Beatrice is bound to solve it.
To be clear: Beatrice, Duchess of Kesgrave, does not think every dead person in London is the victim of a sinister plot. The city is large, after all, and some of its inhabitants had to have died from innocent causes. Like Peter Huzza, who was killed in a horrifying steam engine accident. It is shocking, yes, the way his body was torn apart by the explosion of his very own machine, but not entirely surprising. High-pressure steam is notoriously dangerous to harness.
There is no reason to suspect foul play.
Nope, none at all.
And yet there is that disquiet Bea feels when she pictures the decimation caused by the blast. It just doesn't seem quite decimated enough. But the alternative makes even less sense, for how could she have noticed something that one hundred other spectators missed? Believing the inventor was murdered right before their eyes—it is a wildly implausible theory.
No doubt it is. But when has Beatrice Hyde-Clare ever let the impossibility of a theory stop her?
It appeared that there was more than one suspect.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.
This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.