annieb123's Review of The Secret Staircase (Victorian Village Mystery, #3)

by Sheila Connolly

From New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly, The Secret Staircase is the third Victorian Village Mystery, which finds Kate Hamilton discovering a long-dead body in a hidden staircase.

Kate Hamilton is feeling good about her plans to recreate Asheboro, Maryland as the Victorian village it once was. The town is finally on her side, and the finances are coming together.

Kate's first goal is to renovate the Barton Mansion on the outskirts of town. Luckily, it's been well maintained in the century since the wealthy Henry Barton lived and died there. The only substantial change she's planning is to update the original kitchen so that it can be used to cater events in the building. But when the contractor gets started, he discovers a hidden staircase that had been walled in years earlier. And as Kate's luck would have it, in the stairwell is a body.

After her initial shock wears off, Kate is relieved when the autopsy reveals that the man had died around 1880. Unfortunately, it also reveals that his was not a natural death-he was murdered. And serious questions remain: who was he and what was he doing there?

Kate begins a hunt to identify the man and figure out what he was doing at the Barton Mansion. But when a second body is found-this time from the present day-Kate realizes that real dangers lie in digging up the past...

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Secret Staircase is the third Victorian Village cozy by Sheila Connolly. Released 21st Aug 2021 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an appealing small town cozy mystery with a small (easy to keep track of) ensemble cast. The usual eccentric characters are present along with a historic mansion renovation as part of a Victorian living history village along the same lines as Williamsburg or Jamestown. When an unexpected long dead skeleton is found hidden in an unused area of the mansion, the ensuing long ago murder mystery threatens modern day dangerous repercussions. The pool of suspects is small, and although the denouement and resolution are fairly easy to guess beforehand, they're well written and mostly satisfying. Even though it's the third book in the series, it works perfectly well as a standalone. The language is clean, there's a strong romance element, and little on-page violence.

This would be a good choice for lovers of light cozies. There are some potentially triggering plot elements including death of a child, infertility and loss, and threatened rape.

Four stars.

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

The Secret Staircase (Victorian Village Mystery, #3)

by Sheila Connolly

Reviewed by annieb123 on Sep 17, 2021

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