Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered.

Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself."

 My Thoughts:

I enjoyed reading this book so much and am now so excited about this new series!  I basically read the above description and just knew that I had to get my hands on this book.  It was one of those reads that sounded totally up my alley and after finishing I can tell you that it really was.  One of my absolute favorite things about this book was reading about Kat's cooking and everything that she put into it.  I love a good mystery that features food as you probably already know by now.  But this book stood out for me because it was set in a day and age where everything is prepared differently along with different types of foods than what we eat nowadays.  I adored reading about Kat making these different meals and honestly I loved those parts of the books most.  What I also enjoyed though was the relationship that Daniel and Kat had.  It was unique to say the least and the banter between the two of them was something that I just couldn't get enough of.  I'm really excited to read future books in this series and see where their relationship goes from here!  The mystery portion of this book was also well done and left me guessing.  I really don't have a single negative thing to say about this book as I enjoyed it so much!  

Overall after finishing this book, I was absolutely thrilled to find that book two in this series will be releasing later this year!  I just cannot wait to see what kind of trouble Kat finds herself in next!  There is nothing better than not having to wait ages for the next book in a favorite series.  And if the next book is as good as this one was, this series will definitely be added to my must read favorites list!  I think that fans of mysteries and cozies alike will enjoy this book.  If you've read and enjoyed Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen (which now saying that makes me want to get back to that series - or maybe reread book 1) then I really think that you will enjoy this book as well.  They aren't the same by any means but have enough similarities that I think if you enjoyed one, you would definitely enjoy the other.  I can easily recommend this book and now begins the wait for book two!

Bottom Line:  A great beginning to this new mystery series!  I can't get enough of these characters!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.