Though the pacing is good and the characters are fun, these are starting to get really repetitive, and plot quality has really gone downhill.

Technically this is the beginning of a new series, but I can’t fathom why. It’s just another installment in the Fiona Figg series. This feels like a marketing rebrand rather than anything that’s actually fresh or different, and I guess I can see why they felt they needed it since all of this felt like it was recycled from Oliver’s previous novels focused on this character.

It’s strange to title the book Chaos at Carnegie Hall when more than half of it takes place on a transatlantic liner, and the first murder takes place there too. Perhaps most disappointingly for me personally, Carnegie Hall is a really exceptional building and this book didn’t bother at all with attempting to bring the setting to life. Even the ship feels a bit like an afterthought while the characters are on it.

What Oliver does best is write dialogue, so I suppose that’s why there is so much of it in these books. Still, its excess comes at the expense of a more compelling plot and a stronger (or really ANY) sense of place.

And the “disguises” are just really rough. Very Scooby Doo ridiculous. It’s a shame because I really enjoyed the first book I read from Oliver about this set of characters, but it seems the material has more than run its course.

I was really looking forward to reading this, but I was sadly disappointed. On the one hand, I really liked the writing here - very snappy and alive, and the premise was something that intrigued me.

Then I saw that this Fiona Figg character appeared in a previous book by Oliver, and that got me wondering if I missed something by not having read that one first.

However, that wasn't why I gave up on this book. If these are the type of people who the British Home Office sent abroad on espionage missions during the Great War, it is a wonder that the allies ever won the war. They're all so preoccupied with everything else around them (romance, their dogs, flirting with women), that I can't see them solving any kind of mystery or catching even a fly! And they all seem so... well... stupid (even having a photographic memory doesn't mean you can figure out the meaning behind what you're brain has photographed), and they were all far too talkative for people wandering around under cover.

Finally, there were all the "famous" people here - Dorothy Parker, Margaret Sanger, Thomas Edison, J. Edgar Hoover. The characters coming across them just felt far too convenient, highly unlikely, and it felt like the author inserted them just to drop their names. Sorry, but this wasn't a winner for me.

A catchy historical fiction with mystery elements. It is an amalgamation of cozy mystery and historical fiction. The characters are fun and quirky. The plot and narrative is strong. However, I feel that the author couldn’t sell Fiona as a spy to me. While I loved her antics, I couldn’t see her as a spy.

A perfect read for readers who love light cozy mysteries. If you get into too much detail and how and why of a plot – this may not be a great match. Read it for fun.

This was… OK. I love historical whodunnits, but this just felt a little… inconsistent maybe. Fiona came across as a bit overconfident in her abilities, kept on about her disguises and photographic memory, and I guess I just didn’t take to her overly much. As for Eliza… practically two characters in one which was mental whiplash for the reader. It just felt a bit clunky and exaggerated at times, to me at least.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review, apologies for the delay in providing this.

Chaos at Carnegie Hall is a fun and engaging historical cozy and the first Fiona Figg & Kitty Lane mystery by Kelly Oliver. Released 15th Nov. 2022 by Boldwood Books, it's 288 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The second book in the series, due out 25th April 2023 will also be available on KU.

This is a lightly humorous historical spy cozy set in WW1 and featuring returning spy (from another series by the same author), Fiona Figg as well as introducing a new adversary-to-sidekick character, young Kitty Lane. It's a fast and engaging read, quite humorous in places, and easy to follow.

The language is clean and the plot is woven around actual historical events fairly skillfully. It's a cozy, and without graphic, on page violence. It's not at all derivative, but it will definitely appeal to fans of Andrea Hicks and Verity Bright.

Four stars. Light entertainment.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver is an enjoyable start to a new series. Here we are introduced to a new spy who will be collaborating with Fiona. However, Fiona Figg has had three previous adventures. I found the referencing to her previous cases slightly annoying since I had not realized that it was not technically a new series.

It is a mystery which has several layers. I enjoyed learning about the Suffragette Movement along with other fascinating parts of American history in 1917. Fiona is a British spy who does not like a lot of American customs.

I would recommend this mystery to fans of historical mysteries. I gave it 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the free Advanced Reader’s Copy of Chaos at Carnegie Hall.

There is always space for a story which doesn't take itself too seriously. I hope I'm right in saying that, but it's only my opinion after all. First of many?

Despite being billed as the first in the series, it feels like we come into this series with plots already in progress. Plucky Fiona Figg is constantly belittled by her male coworkers at the war office but is nonetheless sent to follow a potential German spy to America. Armed with a suitcase of disguises and pressed into service as chaparone to a bright young woman, she finds herself caught up with historical figures and embroiled in a murder. 

I enjoyed this take on the historical period as we explore how the rest of the world fared. World War One rages in Europe and sits behind everyone's motives, but America is far from the front lines and life continues on. I wouldn't want to visit the time but it's certainly fascinating! The (period appropriate) misogyny Fiona faces make me grit my teeth. Fiona isn't always the most perceptive - despite her photographic memory - so there are plenty of red herrings and it did seem that everyone got very distracted. Although the mystery ended up solved, it didn't seem to matter as much as setting up the series. However, I'm not sure I care enough about the characters to read what they do next.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own

This book is a cozy mystery set in the time period of WWI. Fiona Figg is sent by Commander Hall to follow a man suspected of being a German spy. Frederick Fredericks invites Fiona to see a famous opera singer, so Fiona leaves England, sailing aboard a ship for New York. Throughout the books, there is much name dropping, J Edgar Hoover, Dorothy Parker, Margaret Sanger. The suffragette movement is well represented. When two murders take place at Carnegie Hall, Fiona is unsure who to trust and investigates to get to the bottom of the murders. A good start to a new series. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Loved this from the cute cover to the fun, mix of whodunnit and thriller set amid American high society….. This has an interesting cast of characters that carry the story along a nice pace and create depth to the story. Great plot and I found myself filling an afternoon readi…

My thanks to Boldwood Books for a widget of this book via NetGalley.

Chaos at Carnegie Hall is a comic, cosy historical mystery–thriller which (something I hadn’t realised when I chose to read the book) either continues from author Kelly Oliver’s series featuring Fiona Figg or is perhaps an additional set introducing a new character. While not difficult to follow, it does reference past events which does make one feel a little lost at times.

Twenty-five-year-old Fiona Figg works for British Intelligence and must face the usual disapprovals and snide remarks from her male colleagues as a woman operative. It is 1917 and the midst of the Great War, and Fiona is charged with following and gathering evidence on Frederick Fredericks, a South African suspected of being a German spy, and one who seems to admire Fiona. For this task, she is travelling to New York where Frederick Fredericks has invited her. She is to travel with a colleague, the not-too-bright yet congenial Captain Clifford Douglas who is to act as her chaperone. But before they even start, she finds herself saddled with an unwelcome additional assignment—escorting her boss, Captain Hall’s seventeen-year-old niece, Eliza Baker (accompanied by her Pekingese, Poppy), to school in New York.

On the ship, Fiona’s co-passengers include Margaret Sanger, Emily Hobhouse and Dorothy Parker as well as the chemist Hugo Schweitzer. Soon Fiona witnesses some suspicious activity—something (a body?) being thrown overboard. She begins to snoop around but can’t find much, though there certainly seems to be some conspiracy being hatched. Once in New York, she is drawn into the city’s social life, as well as the activities of the suffragettes, alongside attempting to carry out her mission and look further into the suspicious happenings on the ship. With Eliza, who is to be with her for a further week, she attends the opera at Carnegie Hall to which she had been invited by Frederick Fredericks. Here, though during a recording demonstration by none other than Thomas Edison, a murder is committed, with suspicion falling on Fredericks. But he pleads innocence, and Fiona is inclined to believe him. Will she manage to clear Fredericks’ name? And what of her mission which was to take down Fredericks? With Eliza, New York society, the suffragettes, her mission, and the mysterious activities she witnessed on the ship, Fiona has plenty on her hands. And it isn’t helping that the dashing Archie Somersby whom she is interested in, is on the scene at well.

Chaos at Carnegie Hall was a quick, reasonably entertaining and fun read, which reminded me slightly of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody books, going into that exaggerated, almost spoofy territory (this I should mention here, is not a genre I particularly enjoy). There is a mystery or mysteries proper at its centre but it all plays out in a mostly comical way, with Fiona also donning some disguises (and at times forgetting she is in one). Fiona might be spirited and resourceful, and perhaps brighter than her colleagues, but she doesn’t always catch on to things right before her, and seems to get distracted often or let her feelings get in the way.

I quite enjoyed the historical setting of the book which gives the reader a good sense of time and place. We get a feel of the atmosphere of war, the young soldiers having to fight, espionage and counter-espionage, and shortages, and on the other side also of New York society and the issues of the day. We have the suffragettes fighting for women’s right to vote, in which Fiona gets involved (and even taken to prison), and Margaret Sanger working for women’s access to contraception. Alongside, Edison is demonstrating his inventions and also involved in the war effort. And of course, we have the various real-life characters including Dorothy Parker and Emily Hobhouse, as well as J Edgar Hoover, among others, woven in, and witness, for instance, Parker’s wit and Hoover’s opposition to the suffragettes. (Having so many historical characters means though, that the suspects are few).

The mystery element or elements were not particularly complex or hard, especially one reveal towards the end which seemed fairly clear part way into the book. Still with the book’s general structure and genre, I suppose these worked fine.

While I do enjoy historical mysteries and mysteries with a thread of humour running through them, this one was a tad too silly and spoofy for me to really enjoy but still fun enough.

This is a historical mystery firmly established in the setting. We get a good dose of the culture of the day, like the suffragette movement, for example. There are several actual historical characters making an appearances too, such a John Edgar Hoover as a young man and Margaret Sanger smuggling contraceptives into the U.S. I appreciate the author's note at the end establishing the facts upon which the novel was built.

Fiona is an interesting heroine. She is a master of disguises, even getting away with posing as a man. She otherwise does not seem to be that clever. I found Eliza, the young woman Fiona is chaperoning to be much more engaging. Eliza has studied criminology and comes up with some interesting evidence and conclusions, some of which come from her youthful exuberance.

Oliver's writing style is easy to follow and this is a good mystery for readers who like a novel deeply embedded in the culture of the day. It is part of a series and many of the characters relating to Fiona's actions do have a history with her. Nonetheless, I felt this novel read well enough on its own.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

1917. British intelligence agent Fiona Figg travels to America for a meeting with a notorious spy and to act as chaperone to her boss's niece. She becomes embroiled in a murder investigation with possible links to the war...
Chaos at Carnegie Hall is an historical spy and murder mystery novel set during the First World War. It is the first book in a new series to feature the author's already established character, however it is not necessary to have read the earlier books.
Fiona suspects a murder has taken place on board the ship but no one is missing so her fears are dismissed. A night at the opera halfway through the book hosts the first official murder of the book and her nemesis Fredrick Fredricks is caught holding a smoking gun. Surprisingly, Fiona is convinced of his innocence and investigates in order to free him.
The book is written from Fiona's first person perspective. The tone is light hearted and almost chatty. I loved the personal reflections on the man she loves, the man she despises and the situation of women in 1917.
There is a lot of historical detail so the author has clearly done a huge amount of research. I enjoyed the mix of real and fictional characters and the author's note at the end unpicks the fact and fiction.
Chaos at Carnegie Hall is a warm and cosy murder mystery and historical spy novel with a wonderful narrative style and lead character.

Fiona is sent on assignment to New York City. Frederick Fredericks has invited her, and despite her coworkers still not seeing how capable she is, her boss is beginning to appreciate her. Except, he saddles her with a blonde and ringletted young woma, Eliza, that she must chaperone on the trip over and once there.

Frederick Fredericks is his usual smug self, and is spending time with suffragettes, campaigning for birth control, among them the later revealed eugenics-loving Margaret Sanger, and attending demonstrations by Thomas Edison. J. Edgar Hoover shows up to be bigoted, and Fiona also has the bluff Clifford along to keep an eye on her.

When Frederick Fredericks appears to be framed for the murder of a German spy, once they’re all in NYC, Fiona and Archie argue about what must be done about Fredericks, even while Fiona’s heart is also fluttering because she’s finding herself even more attracted to Archie. And Eliza begins demonstrating wells of knowledge and skills very different from those of a girl who has just completed Finishing School.

Fiona is repeatedly on the backfoot thanks to her teen charge Eliza’s unexpected and surprisingly useful skills and knowledge. All of which comes in use as Fiona must deal with new Frederick Fredericks’ and other German spies’ problems.

The pacing is quick, and Fiona is amusingly exasperated between dealing with a too-chummy Fredericks and a teen who rarely stays where she’s told. Clifford is his usual ridiculous self, though, he’s beginning to appreciate Fiona’s unconventional detection methods and disguises. I appreciated how Fiona grew a little worried and disenchanted about how Britain is deploying some spies, and their assignments; it’s a far cry from what she thought her country’s espionage efforts comprised.

This is a fun, and despite its silliness (no one ever recognizes Fiona whilst disguised??!) but I am enjoying this series for its pacing, humour, and underlying commentary about the bigotry of the period.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Boldwood Books for This ARC in exchange for my review.

'Chaos At Carnegie Hall’ by Kelly Oliver is a cosy mystery set in 1917 at the height of the First World War. Fiona Figg works for the War Office and is determined to prove herself, despite pushback from those who refuse to believe women can help the war effort. Frederick Fredericks has eluded capture so far, but the German spy is on Fiona’s radar. When he sends her an invitation to the opera at Carnegie Hall, New York, her bosses jump at the chance to nab him. Fiona is sent on the RMS Adriatic - but must babysit the flighty Eliza on the way. 

Fiona soon realises that her shipmates have much to hide, and her introduction to New York involves intrigue and political shenanigans galore. Will she capture Fredericks at last? Or is he not as guilty as he seems? It will take difficult decisions and superior sleuthing on Fiona’s part. 

I loved the time period as it captured the dangers of war and the perils for those working behind the scenes. Although the old world of privilege was still in full force on board ship and in New York, it was evident that everything was changing. Women’s suffrage was at the top of the agenda for some - and those opposed to it were willing to do anything to stop it. 

Fiona found it difficult to work out who to trust, as spies from all sides tried to influence the war. Who was a friend, and who could be a collaborator? I loved how the author brought in true events and real life characters and put a fictional spin on them. Thomas Edison, Dorothy Parker and J Edgar Hoover played their parts in the story and added to the historical interest. 

‘Chaos At Carnegie Hall’ is a delightful cosy mystery, with excellent historical detail. It is exactly the type of read to lighten the mood.

I was given this ARC to review.

Lively and light hearted cozy crime focused on the era of the suffragettes and features two female spies working for the home office.

Heroine Fiona is escorting her charge to New York however the trip is disguised as this but is so much more! Dastardly plots and murder at the theatre are sent to try Fiona and serve as a good excuse for utilising her many fancy dress disguises.

A good book but I would have been better served reading the previous one I feel as I didn’t understand some of the backstory. I will definitely go and research that and read what I have missed.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quotes:

Eliza had taken to calling me “Aunt Fiona.” Only seven years her senior, I was hardly old enough to be her aunt. Technically, I suppose I was old enough. Still, “Aunt Fiona” sounded positively hideous— the kind of homely aunt one locked in an attic and only allowed out when the company had gone home— and altogether too informal for my tastes.

I may have overdone it with the face powder, but she’d been overly enthusiastic with her rouge. She looked like a radish.

I had to admit, there was something reassuring about Clifford and his carefree manner— an ease born of a life of comfort, privilege, and abstaining from contemplation.

I was just telling Marc about my in-laws. The only obscenities they don’t use to describe me are the ones they can’t pronounce.

This was a task for Clifford. He could chat up a turnip and find out what lay beneath its roots.


My Review:

This was an easy, enjoyable, and lively read that kept me guessing and entertained. I admired Feisty Fiona, she was independent and ahead of her time. The writing style was easy to follow and descriptive and pulled colorful and detailed visuals to my mind's eye. The engaging storylines were well-paced and populated with unique, amusing, and authentic characters. I’m already looking forward to more of Ms. Figg’s breezy adventures.

‘Chaos at Carnegie Hall’ is a light-hearted romp of a historical mystery that is packed full of historical details and figures! This is the first book I have read from this author and I enjoyed my time with Fiona Figg. Although, this is the start of the a new series Fiona has appeared in his other books and I felt as if I was missing out on something as I was working my way through the first section of the book. It felt as if it was maybe book two or even three in a series as there were fleeting references to past events without proper explanation.
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Fiona Figg ( love the alliteration of her name) is a spy for the British government during the first world war. I loved that she was independent and fighting against the patriarchy in her job! She has been tasked with following the German spy to New York as they think he has been influencing the US from joining the war and then from actually putting boots on the ground. Fiona and Frederick have a history and have a love-hate relationship with one another. Whilst heading to New York she has been asked by her boss to look after his niece so she has her hands full!
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I am a sucker for a mystery set on a passenger liner on the Atlantic in this period! It just evokes so much history and it’s this era is also my period that I studied at uni! So I loved all the inclusion of historical figures like Hoover, Edison, Sanger and many more!
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This was a fun read with lots of red herrings, missed connections and great characters. I must say I think I preferred the niece out of the lot of them! She certainly had hidden depth to her shall we say! I can’t wait for the next adventure between the two of them.
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Let me know if you pick this one up.
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My Review: Set in 1917 we meet Miss Fiona Figg who works at the War Office in Room 40. She is sent with Eliza Baker who is due to study music in New York over to the Big Apple on a mission on RMS Adriatic. The star of the story is definitely Poppy. We encounter all kinds of characters, including Opera singer Anna Cable. It’s a thrilling and engaging sneaky beaky story, well written, clever with great characters, instinct and action. A recommended easy to follow read.

I enjoyed the other books in this series and enjoyed this one. Entertaining, a solid mystery that kept me guessing, a lot of fun.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine