A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem

By: Manda Collins

Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

An intrepid female reporter matches wits with a serious, sexy detective in an award-winning author's fun and flirty historical rom-com, perfect for fans of Evie Dunmore, Julia Quinn, and Tessa Dare!

England, 1865: Newspaper columnist Lady Katherine Bascomb finds herself the subject of speculation when her latest article leads to an arrest in the murders plaguing London. The English believe women ought not to write about such vulgar things as crime, and a particularly attractive detective inspector is incensed that she's interfered with his investigation. To escape her sudden notoriety, Katherine heads to the country - only to witness a murder upon her arrival.

Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham is appalled when Lady Katherine entangles herself in one of his cases - again. Her sensationalist reporting already nearly got him kicked off the police force, and he'll be damned if he permits her to meddle a second time. Yet, her questions are awfully insightful, and he can't deny his attraction to both her beauty and brains. As the clues point to a dangerous criminal, the two soon realize their best option is working together. But with their focus on the killer lurking in the shadows, neither is prepared for the other risk the case poses - to their hearts.

©2020 Manda Collins (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"When I pick up a Manda Collins book, I know I'm in for a treat. With compelling characters and a rich Victorian setting, A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem weaves mystery and romance into one enthralling tale."—Tessa Dare, New York Times bestselling author

"[Manda] Collins is a delight! I read A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem waaay past my bedtime, absorbed by its spot-on period detail, the well-crafted characters, and of course the intriguing mystery. Brava!"—Elizabeth Hoyt, New York Times bestselling author

"Mystery, romance and an indomitable heroine make for a brisk, compelling read."—Madeline Hunter, New York Times bestselling author

Adult Romance +18 read

So I was looking for another series like Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries and it sounded like this one would be similar... but sadly not. I had a much harder time getting into the story and then it went the way of the bodice rippers. This is very much an adult romance with a side of mystery. The language is fairly clean, violence isn't overly graphic and the bedroom door is left wide open and pretty graphic so it's definitely an adult read.

Narrator has a good pace and does well with the differentiations.

Adequate almost cozy narrated very well

With a single, fairly tame, but certainly not fade to black get-together, this book cannot be called a cozy. Yet, the mystery, tone, dialogue and personalities all stay on the shallow end of regency romance or crime procedural. I sometimes found my mind wandering, even with the stellar narration of Mary Jane Wells to bring the characters to life.

Like book 2, there are themes of the plight of women in Victorian England and a concerted effort to paint the leading ladies in a strong feminist light. I didn’t find it to be too preachy. I also didn’t find it particularly credible given that, at the end of the day, it’s Kate that screams upon finding a body, Kate that gets konked on the head like Daphne in Scooby Doo, and Kate that needs to be rescued. An author wishing to practice what she preaches would have placed Andrew in peril or made Kate of sterner stuff. All in all, bought on sale, this was a lovely, if not hugely memorable, matinee listen.

LOVED

LOVE LOVE LOVE! Binged this in a day and a half! A great story, start to finish.

Exciting mystery!

I enjoyed this story of independent women and a Scotland Yard official, and a murderer mystery. Kate was the owner of a newspaper, which she only acquired after her cruel and domineering husband's death. She was happy with her freedom and was adamant to keep it. She goes to a Lake District house party given by her long time friend and there meets Andrew - the Scotland Yard inspector. Previously, there murderers had only occurred in London, but now they are happening in the Lake District! As Kate intrudes into Andrew's investigations, the two of them become lovers. When he finally admits he loves Kate, and asks her to marry him, she refuses. When it walking with her long time friend who is giving the house party, he finds out from him how controlling Kate's first husband was(before he died) and then understands her fear of marriage. When Kate is captured by the murderers, both Kate and Andrew realized how much they need each other, and that Kate DOES trust Andrew completely. The murderers are arrested and Kate agrees to marry Andrew.

Rushed at the end

I enjoyed the storyline and characters, but the story seemed drawn out in places and the end seemed to come together in a rush.

I would have liked the author to explore the secondary characters a bit more, especially those who spent a large amount of time together at the estate.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The performance was excellent! I was able to easily tell the characters a part because of the different intonations the narrator used to distinguish between voices.

Loved it!

I loved it so much!! So much fun and definitely lots of mischief and mayhem!

Fabulous ❤️

First time reader of this author Manda Collins. I really enjoyed this story, very fun and entertaining. Great characters, the narrator is super with all her different voices for each character. I will be reading her next book to this series. I highly recommend this book.
Leslie😃

fun listen, twists and turns to keep your interest

I enjoyed this book. It had a combination of romance, mystery and humor. It was fun to listen to the characters interact and I enjoyed the personalities of the leads.

Cute Story Good Mystery

I enjoyed this book it has a cute romance and an overall interesting mystery. There’s a few heated scenes love scenes but nothing really spicy.

Enchanting mystery-romance

I love the merging of my two favorite genres. The author must be a MFM fan! (There were too many parallels to ignore the inspiration from Georgia and Karen and Elvis)! The story was enjoyable without being overly graphic in the crime or romance department. I hope there is a second story in the series where the story of Val an Caro will be explored. 😊