Death Beside the Seaside

A Lady Hardcastle Mystery, Book 6

By: T E Kinsey

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

July 1910. Lady Hardcastle and her tireless sidekick Flo have finally embarked on a long-overdue seaside break. But just as they’re wavering between ice creams and donkey rides, their fellow guests start to go missing - and the duo find themselves with a hysterical hotel manager and a case to solve. 

The first to disappear is Dr Goddard, a scientist doing something terribly top-secret for the government. Gone too are his strongbox and its mysterious contents. By the time Lady Hardcastle has questioned the horde of international guests, her number-one suspect has been dispatched in grisly circumstances - and then the others start vanishing too. 

As the case begins to look like a matter of national security, Lady Hardcastle takes advice from her brother in the secret service. But could there be an even more personal connection at play? To solve the case, Lady Hardcastle may face a shocking discovery of her own.

©2019 T E Kinsey (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Least favorite of the series (insert sad face)

I was smitten with this series and Lady H and Flo. In fact, I think I've listened to the first 3 books about 4x each. It felt like a visit with friends.

And now, I diverge from the maddening crowd opinion:

The last two books have had a very different energy and I can't quite put my finger on it. This one, even more than the last, was unsettling. The ancillary characters were boring and I couldn't even keep track of who was who and what was what. Each book has had its share of those but they all had characteristics that made them stand out. Not so here, unfortunately. Not only did I get lost on all the characters but I didn't even care enough to figure it out.

As for the main characters Lady H and Flo, while we did get a glimpse into how LH now openly(ish) speaks of Flo as a friend, mostly their relationship and how they work together doesn't grow a lot here.Some of the same tired things get dragged out in obvious ways and it's almost expected now.

I wondered if the divergence in energy/tone of the last two books can be attributed to a ghost writer because I can't account for any other reason why things feel so different to me. The Southern Sisters books (Mouse and Sister) carried on and grew the relationships between the sisters over the course of the series. I'm not sure why this isn't happening here.

You'll see that I am in the minority of opinions about this book (and the last one, as well) but my comments are tempered with disappointment because I love these characters and this series. I hope the next one is better.

Signed,
Sad in Maryland

Fantastic as always!

I love this series! I love the author! I love the narrator! If you want to be enthralled and laughter and be enchanted all at the same time you must read these books! If you have read the previous one, you will LOVE this one!

Always a fun story!

I love Elizabeth Knowelden's voices for the characters in the Hardcastle series. Laugh-out-loud personalities!

Wonderful

Love these books this author
Well written. Truly engaging. Highly recommend
Would make great movie!!

The Best One Yet

Lady H and Flo are at it again and Elizabeth Knowelden is as amazing as ever. A great story told by a wonderful narrator. EK is so much fun to listen to. I listen to this series over and over again. If you have never read/listened to these books before start with the first and you will be hooked! Just like the rest of us. ;-)

Amazing Narration and Storytelling

The narrator nails it everytime. I love the author use of language and the mystery is always enjoyable.

Superb writing and performance!

I am enamored of T.E. Kinsey’s writing style. From word one, you are drawn in and enveloped in the lives of Lady Hardcastle and her servant/partner in crime Florence Armstrong. The wonderful reading by Elizabeth Knowelden allows the listeners to to slip effortlessly into the characters and the story line.
Well done!

This narrator is my favorite!

I really don't want the book to end, not only because of the excellent story, but because (after half a dozen books!) the narrator feels like a friend! Her range of accents and voices is impressive and I could listen to her all day. Oh, wait! I did! 😉

The Lady Hardcastle mysteries is an absorbing series and I thoroughly hope there are more to come!

Terrific Series

This is the latest book in a wonderful series with some if the best characters I have met in a long while. Lady Hardcastle and her friend Flo are funny, smart and charming. These two solve crimes and meet interesting characters while on holiday. Don’t miss this fun addition to one of my all time favorite series.

Fun and interesting great narration

Fun and interesting great narration. The narration was terrific. The story was interesting. Lady Hardcastle and her sidekick are fun. But the interesting narration is the best

Excellent

Really enjoyed it. Good adventure, much humour, realistic historically and characters one can take to. I’m going to buy all of them

Why does Flo whisper all the time?

Another non-story where everyone's chasing a not-so-mysterious box. Why do I bother listening to these feather light stories? They're great for sending me to sleep when I go to bed....zzzzz

Wonderful escapism

I really enjoy the Lady Hardcastle series. It is a wonderful piece of escapism with strong character development and varied vocabulary. I am listening to them all through again while I wait for the next book. Flu’s character is particularly enjoyable and Lady H is tremendously ahead of her time.

great laughs, stories and narration

perfect, this is a brilliant novel. the ladies make great characters. all their shenanigans are fun, and good tales too.

Lady hardcastle and Flo

I have listened to all these stories and love them. They have plenty of incidents along the narrative and the characters are all adorable. I am looking forward to the next one

A multiplicity of spies.

This story was in many ways absurd with so many different countries’s agents involved. I still enjoyed it but the accents were weak with a soft Irish brogue often replacing upper and lower class English.

Really loving this series

I found this series of books when I downloaded a free book about the Skins and Barty (enjoyed it so much) and found out they appeared in the lady hardcastle books first. Decided to give those a listen too and have found them so enjoyable.

Better and better

These stories get better and better. The characters are interesting and fun. I look forward to listening to these stories and this was the best yet.

Very enjoyable

I love this series and Elizabeth Knowelden does a really good job of narrating. I did think this story was a little silly though. I mean seriously a seaside hotel full of foreign spies and really some incredibly stupid people working for Harry (Lady H's brother). And then Emily and Flo leaving a really mad, bad, albeit injured, foreign spy lying out in a storm and then Emily blaming Harry for the fact that he got away. There have been better books in the series, but it was still fun to read and listen to.

LOVE this books !

These books just keep me wanting more. I love lady Hardcastle and Flo. a fantastic team.

The narration is top class. I see all the characters come alive with her narration.

The extra historical author notes at the end is a wonderful bonus.

On to the next book and hoping there will be many many more.

Thank you both author and narrator.