This cozy mystery is the first in a series of mysteries with the main character of Katherine Wright, the sister of Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Katherine teaches Latin at Steele High School in Dayton, Ohio, as well as doing the bookkeeping for her brothers' bicycle shop. Their mother dies when she was 15, which necessitated that Katherine also take over the home responsibilities - cooking, cleaning etc. while their father, a Bishop carries on his parish responsibilities.
The book opens at the high school right before Christmas break in 1911. Katherine is informed that she has been passed over for a promotion for a man (who is not as proficient as she is). She goes to her classroom and tells Benny, the son of one of the most prominent and wealthy men in Dayton, that he is suspended from the class because he is a troublemaker. Her brothers have just flown their new flying machine for a few seconds and are on their way home from N Carolina. Katherine and her father are anxious to read about their flight, which is given very little space in the local papers. Her best friend invites her to a Christmas party at the mansion of Benny's parents, and the mystery begins with the stabbing of a man at the party and Benny taken to jail as the criminal.
This mystery was engaging, with an outspoken, sensitive, intelligent woman at the center of the story. I loved the way the author brought 1911 Dayton to life and included the typical behaviors of the time - men smoking while working, the advent of the motor car, the duties of maids, and the daily activities of regular folk. I also liked the way Kate uncovered clues to whodunit and her protectiveness of Benny. There were a few red herrings, which I think are essential to a good murder mystery. The characters were well developed as was the plot.
I look forward to visiting Dayton Ohio and seeing what else Katherine can do.
I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley and Kensington Publishing and a paperback ARC from the publisher. The opinions expressed are my own.

Fans of historical fiction where famous people try their hand at sleuthing will love this. A murder mystery and a glimpse of early days of flight provide an interesting read. Liked the spunky heroine.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #ToSlipTheBondsOfEarth for advanced digital copy.

I loved this story! Based on Katharine, the Wright brothers' feisty and independent younger sister, this early 20th century historical fiction delves into the first flying machines, societal norms of the time, feminism, classism, and more, all wrapped up in a cozy mystery. It reads very quickly and has an interesting setting and characters. I can't wait for the next one! Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the advance digital copy!

I liked finding out more about an historical figure, even if it was fictionized.. I also liked the setting

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

This book was a blend of biographical fiction and cozy mystery, spotlighting the sister of the Wrighr brothers. Inspired by the real life Katherine Wright, the story weaves historical facts into a clever murder mystery. The story has clues, twists, and a satisfying resolution. Katherine is a unique and engaging sleuth.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower is a mystery featuring Katharine Wright, the spinster sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright, of flying fame. Katharine is the main character in a novel which heavily relies on family: her, three of four of her brothers, and her father. They are all extremely supportive of Orville and Wilbur, albeit they don’t really understand. The mystery arrives when, after agreeing to go to a party with his sister, Orville stuffs their notes in to a pocket so if he has a chance he can work on them. A very unpleasant young man embarrasses Orville to playing charades, taking off his coat and leaving it when he was able to flee. As they are looking for the coat/notes, they stumble upon his dead body. Standing over it, bloody, is a student of Katharine’s and son of the house. He flees but is caught immediately and arrested. Katharine does not believe him to be a murderer but is more concerned with finding the notes before Wilbur discovers them missing.

I loved the character of Katharine. She was firm and determined but loved her family and her students. She was caring and sympathetic. She made a fabulous protagonist and sleuth. Well done, Ms. Flower. The plot was fairly simple. The old adage, “Follow the money,” applies. The question was, from where was the money to come? Blackmail? Theft? So much to be learned but through dogged persistence, Katharine follows the trail and discovers the murderer. This book is the beginning of a series, I hope. Although the Emily Dickinson books were good, this is better. Please give it a go. Thanks, Amanda!

I was invited to read To Slip The Bonds of Earth by Kensington Books. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #KensingtonBooks #AmandaFlower #ToSlipTheBondsOfEarth

This is the first in a new series by Amanda Flower. It is set ln the early 1900s. Our sleuth, Katharine (Kate) Wright is the younger sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright. She is a highly educated woman, teacher, bookkeeper, and runs her father’s home. She is often passed over for promotion due to her sex. To hold her job, as most women during this time period, she has to remain unmarried. She is a firm believer in equal rights.
I liked the concept of the book but the pace was too slow for me. It may have been the initial setting up of the characters and creating the small town feel that bogged the story down. It could not have been easy during this era for anyone. Life was tough but Kate comes from a well to do family and she is the bishop’s daughter.

I did not finish this book but will be picking it up again to do so. The book is intertwined with plenty of historical facts. It must have been a heady time with the development of the automobile, motorcycle and planes.

I am hoping the next installment moves a little more quickly since the characters have been developed significantly in the first book.
I was given an advanced copy and these are my opinions.

To Slip the Bonds of Earth is the first in a new series by Amanda Flower. The book/series will spotlight Katherine Wright, the sister of the Wright brothers and keeper of the clan. When Katherine, AKA Katie, is 15 her mother dies--leaving the household management to her as well as her father and brothers. When her father' s health declines and brothers Orville and Wilbur devote time to building their flying machine, Katherine picks up the slack by also managing the family bicycle shop, keeping the books and teaching high school Latin.

Though Katherine is a go-getter, she is frustrated with the bias of other male teachers who believe women aren't suited to work outside the home. Quite by accident she is present at a holiday party when another guest is found murdered. In the course of finding the culprit in order to protect her student, she discovers that sleuthing is challenging and that she is good at that.

Though I uncovered the killer early on, the story was interesting and entertaining. I have enjoyed biographies on the Wright Brothers but their sister received only a mention, or two.

This historical fact and fiction blend was an enjoyable read. I recommend this read to those who enjoy cozy, historical, light mysteries, clean reads.

I appreciate the e-ARC that I requested and received. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #KensingtonBooks # #ToSliptheBondsofEarth #NetGalley #AmandaFlower

TO SLIP THE BONDS OF EARTH (Katharine Wright Mystery Series Book #1) by Amanda Flower is the perfect mash-up of biographical fiction and cozy mystery featuring an overshadowed and forgotten sister finally being recognized for her strengths and accomplishments and weaving into the facts of her life a smartly plotted cozy murder mystery. This is the first book in the series, and I am thoroughly hooked.

Katharine Wright is a brilliant scholar, teacher, and suffragette who also runs the family household of her reverend father since the death of her mother at the age of fifteen. Besides all these personal accomplishments, she also assists her brothers, Wilbur and Orville, with their books in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. While disappointed when she is passed over for a head teaching promotion, she is very excited by a telegram received from her brothers in North Carolina stating that they have flown their motorized flying machine.

When the brothers return for the Christmas holidays, Katharine talks Orville into attending a Christmas party given by the head of the PTA. Orville’s coat goes missing and when the siblings find it, it is in the billiards room with a dead man stabbed with a screwdriver. One of Katharine’s students is in the room with blood all over his shirt and the design papers for their flying machine Orville had in his coat pocket are missing. Katharine’s student is arrested, but Katharine is not satisfied with the detective’s conclusions.

Katharine begins asking questions that lead to the prominent men of Dayton having secrets that are worthy of blackmail, but do they lead to murder? And the flying machine design papers are still missing, could they be worth killing over?

I loved this story for so many different reasons. I knew nothing about Katharine and was happy to be introduced to a strong, independent, educated woman who was so accomplished in a time when it was not common. She lends herself to being a perfect protagonist in a mystery plot with her curiosity and tenacity. The depth of research into Katharine’s life, the Wright family, and all the history of the period is evident and intertwined seamlessly throughout the book. The cozy mystery plot has all the red herrings and twists that keep the reader guessing, and it gives believable resolutions to all questions by the end.

I highly recommend this engaging historical cozy mystery and I cannot wait for more mysteries to follow in this series.

What a marvelous historical cozy mystery! I have read several books by Amanda Flower and am partial to the Farm to Table Series but To Slip the Bonds of Earth is by far now my favorite written by her. I did not even know that the Wright Brothers had a sister, let alone one so inspiring.

In this story the Wright family come to life. Before this book they were figures of history, in rather cut and dry books. Now they are real in my mind eyes and with unique, strong personalities. Katherine stands out as on strongminded, loyal dedicated teacher who can become tenacious when searching for the truth. That is exactly what happens in this story as she tries to clear one student being accused of murder, searching till she finds the whole truth not settling until she does. My new favorite sleuth, Katherine Wright, teacher extraordinary and amateur sleuth. Please let there be more stories to come!

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In To Slip the Bonds of Earth, the author pulls real historical figures into a mystery. I had never heard of Katherine Wright prior to reading this book. She is a strong woman who blessed her family. She taught Latin and Greek at a school in Dayton and helped Wilbur and Orville with their bicycle shop, which funded the flying machines they built.
This was an interesting mystery involving lost drawings and a death. Herman Wheeler was stabbed by Orville’s screwdriver. Despite the description, Orville was never really a suspect, but one of Katherine’s students is. Katherine investigates to find the papers and the real murderer.
The story is well developed. I enjoyed reading the book. I suspected the killer but still kind of wish it had been one of the other main suspects simply because I didn’t like him much. Not fair but hey, I can have an opinion.
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this book.

I really enjoyed this book by Amanda Flower. It is about the Wright Brothers and their family. The story centers around their younger sister, Katherine. The Wright Brothers are trying to get a plane to fly and have discovered the missing link that makes it possible. However, when their drawings and notes regarding this discovery come up missing along with a dead body being discovered, Katherine takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of both. Katherine is a high school teacher of Latin and a very independent woman that takes care of her father and brothers as her mom passed when Katherine was only 15. I highly recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.

This was a historical mystery surrounding Katharine Wright, the sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright. It was an interesting story and I like that the characters are based on real people. I enjoyed learning a bit more about Katharine who was a big influence on the success of her famous brothers. However I was expecting the Wright brothers to be more prominent in the story but they were more background characters which was a little disappointing. Even though I normally read more thrillers/suspense this was a nice change of pace and I would recommend it to cozy mystery readers. My thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

To Slip the Bonds of Earth, gave some background on the brothers, Orville and Wilber Wright, as told through their sister Katherine. Yes, Katherine was a real sister to the Wright brothers and taught school. One of the first 'career women' .

This 'Cozy Mystery' was a fun look at a fictional loss of the patent papers the Wright Brothers brought back with them from Kitty Hawk. We have the murder of a Herman Wheeler, who taunted Orville during the Christmas party and Katherine's student who has the murdered mans blood on his clothing, charged with the murder.

With her brother asking her to find out who took their papers and her student (although not one of her favorites) charged with murder, what can she do but try to solve this murder and hope it leads to her brother's papers and the exoneration of her student.

A fun mix of historical fact, historical fiction, the suffragette movement, women's inequality in just about everything, and other issues in the early part of the 20th century. I had an issue with the first part of the book dragging a bit, but after that, it was a great cozy mystery. I liked being able to learn a bit more about the whole Wright family.

4 stars since it did take me until about the first quarter of the book to get totally invested in continuing.

“To Slip the Bonds of Earth” is the wonderfully done first book in Amanda Flower’s Katharine Wright Historical Mystery series. This book focuses on Katharine Wright, sister of Orville and Wilbur – while I knew nothing about her before reading this book, I am now fascinated by her life and want to read more about her. Katharine is a wonderful (and from what I can tell historically accurate) character who chafes at some of the restraints of being female yet is totally devoted to the men in her family. She is so well done a character that I sometimes forgot that the mystery was fictional and didn’t really happen. The mystery was well done (if a bit sad in places) with just the right amount of suspects however I figured out pretty early on who the killer was (Flower was a bit heavy handed, in my opinion, with pointing a finger towards the guilty party). Still, despite this, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books in the series (and reading more about Katharine Wright).

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

In December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright were in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, making history by flying an airplane they had built. Back at home in Dayton, Ohio, their sister, Katharine, teaches introductory languages at Steele High School. She hopes to achieve her goal by requesting to teach Greek III to upper-level students. Not to mention that her teaching is just one aspect of Katharine’s life. She also cares for her father at their family home and ensures her brothers’ bicycle shop runs smoothly, ordering supplies, checking accounts, and balancing the books. It’s almost Christmas, her brothers are coming home, and Katharine never suspected another role, a high-stakes role, will soon take priority.

I was not aware of the Wright brothers' sister. I was fascinated to learn of Katharine Wright. To learn of the reliance by her father and brothers for her care of the family home since the loss of her mother at 15 and the brothers for their business when out of town, her intelligence, independence, and strong work ethic, her interest in moving beyond gender inequality, is inspirational and revealing of a woman moving the benchmark of men's thinking and habits forward in her quiet way.

I loved the combination of unveiling a woman in history who deserves as much respect and recognition as her brothers and a fictional mystery woven by a master storyteller, which is a delight to read. Although I had read from the start that the mystery was fictional, the author’s meticulous research of history made the mystery seem entirely plausible.

Don’t miss meeting Katharine Wright! Highly recommended.

The "Author Note" and “Discussion Questions” are available at the end of the novel.

Thank you to Amanda Flower, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.

Katharine Wright is home in Dayton, Ohio, minding the bicycle shop her brothers, Orville and Wilbur, have temporarily abandoned while in North Carolina with their flying machines. She is a full-time Latin teacher who becomes frustrated with the gender inequality she encounters at work and in society in general. When her brothers come home for the holidays and the plans for their flying machine are stolen, it falls to Katharine to solve the crime. But when her primary suspect is found dead, she has a bigger crime to solve – to keep her brothers out of jail.

This is what I hope is the first book in a new series by one of my favorite authors. I like Katharine; she is intelligent and doesn’t let her being a “mere woman” stop her from doing much of anything. Her family and friends are sometimes aghast at her behavior, but she perseveres. The background story of the Wright brothers’ first flight was a fun addition, and the steps needed to obtain a patent gave me something to think about.

Although the police seemed to think they had the murderer in custody, there were actually quite a few possible suspects to think about. I was glad when some of them were ruled out, but kept waffling between two or three of the remaining characters. One person stood out in my mind as the most likely killer, and I was eventually proven correct, but I had not figured out the motive, although it should have been obvious. The identity of the person who stole the plans for the flying machine should also have been obvious, but I was so wrapped up in the murder investigation, I forgot all about the theft until it was revealed in the book.

If this is to become a series, I look forward to reading the next book when it is released.

1903 Dayton, Ohio

Orville and Wilbur Wright are well known. This novel's heroine is their younger sister Katharine. The mystery is fictional, but many details about the family are factual. Katharine was a Latin Teacher at a local high school and took care of the brothers' bicycle shop while they were away testing flight ideas.

When the Wright Brothers plans go missing and a young man is found murdered, Katharine works to find the missing plans and suss out the murder's identity. She takes a no nonsense and no hesitation approach to solving the mysteries.

It was fun to simultaneously solve the mysteries while learning more about the Wright Family. Loving the historical mysteries with a factual base the author is writing.

Katie Wright is the lesser known Wright but she's a firecracker, It's 1903, someone's stolen her brothers' plans, and then there's a murder and she turns intrepid investigator. It's a unique cozy with a good heroine. And I learned a bit. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.