An Act of Foul Play

Written by T E Kinsey

Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

November 1911. Lady Emily Hardcastle is celebrating her birthday by seeing a play at the Duke’s Theatre in Bristol with her maid and confidante, the inimitable Flo. Act One is a triumph. Then Act Two opens with a body on stage—a real one. One of the cast has been brutally murdered during the interval.

When other matters get in the way of Inspector Sunderland overseeing the case himself, he asks the ever-resourceful Lady H to keep a watchful eye on the suspects—and his police colleagues. Rustling up some cunning disguises of their own, she and Flo are soon in deep cover among the cast and crew, pulling back the curtain on some shocking secrets and rivalries…

The problem is, everyone seems to have a motive, and everyone seems to have an alibi…In this locked-room mystery in which nothing is as it seems, the amateur sleuths need to put on the performances of their lives if they’re to stand a chance of shining a spotlight on the truth…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781978694378

T E Kinsey

T E Kinsey grew up in London and read history at Bristol University. He worked for a number of years as a magazine features writer before falling into the glamorous world of the Internet, where he edited content for a very famous entertainment website for quite a few years more. After helping to raise three children, learning to scuba dive and to play the drums and the mandolin (though never, disappointingly, all at the same time), he decided the time was right to get back to writing. Death Around the Bend is the third in a series of mysteries starring Lady Hardcastle. You can follow him on Twitter—@tekinsey—and also find him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tekinsey.

Reviews for An Act of Foul Play

[Marie Piotrowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Lady Hardcastle books are fun and are easy reads. I look forward to that next one.

[cathyskye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An Act of Foul Play takes one of my favorite investigative duos into the world of the theater, and although the pacing of the story dragged a bit from time to time, it was still a treat to watch Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong work their usual magic. This time, readers also make the acquaintance of Flo's twin sister, Gwenith, and she made an entertaining addition to the witty repartee. Hardcastle and Armstrong make short work of the bumblings of Inspector Wyatt while Gwenith proves to be an important part of the solution to the mystery of who's stealing booze from the local pub, the Dog and Duck.  As this series has progressed, author T.E. Kinsey has not only charmed me with his characters and their wonderful dialogue, he's given me glimpses into various aspects of English life in the 1910s. This is a series that never fails to put a smile on my face, and I've even added a word to my vocabulary after reading An Act of Foul Play. I would imagine that most of us titivate ourselves before leaving the house to go to work or shopping. I just didn't know that that was what I was doing.Anyone who enjoys light-hearted historical mysteries really needs to make the acquaintance of Lady Hardcastle and her "lady's maid, part-time spy and full-time nosy parker," Florence Armstrong. I wouldn't dream of missing any of their adventures.(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)

[barbararogers-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As always, I loved this book by T. E. Kinsey – it is witty, intelligent, well-written, and filled with wonderful characters and a puzzling mystery. While it can be read as a stand-alone if you want a fuller, richer experience you should at least read a few of the first books in the series. Lady Emily Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong (her maid/friend) have a very colorful background and you’ll learn all about it in the earlier books – which will make their ‘poking into’ police investigations much easier to understand. They were, after all, spies and certainly have the background for it.It is Lady Hardcastle’s birthday and she, along with several friends, is celebrating by attending a play in Bristol. The Duke’s theater is featuring a comedy written by the brother of one of Lady Hardcastle’s friends. The first act was hilariously entertaining and after the curtain came down for the intermission, they could hardly wait for the beginning of the second act. Little did they know how exciting that opening would be – for there, on the stage floor, was the body of one of the stars of the play. No, it wasn’t part of the play – it was real. Luckily Inspector Sunderland was in attendance as part of Lady Hardcastle’s celebration and he quickly took over the case. He got everything in motion only to be replaced by the totally incompetent, bumbling, lazy, Inspector Wyatt. When Wyatt quickly arrests someone, everybody knows he doesn’t have the evidence needed to make a case - and it is probably the wrong person anyway.Lady Hardcastle, Flo, and Flo’s twin sister (who is visiting) Gwen know they need to investigate on their own, but they have to keep out of Inspector Wyatt’s way. Wyatt has an exaggerated view of his skills and would not appreciate their interference. They use a ruse to gain entry to enter the theater and the company of actors and begin the investigation. Can the murderer be one of the actors? Is it the leader of the troop? What about the director? Then – there is a second murder. Obviously, it is related to the first – but how? Did that victim know something he shouldn’t have?This is, as always, a highly entertaining, witty read, and I loved every word of it. I can definitely recommend it and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

laugh-out-loud, laugh-riot, situational-humor, verbal-humor, England, historical-novel, historical-research, historical-setting, cosy-mystery, theatre, actors, twins, punny, women-sleuths, light-hearted, 1910s, murder, murder-investigation*****This CANNOT be an unbiased review because i LOVE the Lady Hardcastle series!This time Lady Hardcastle and lady's maid Florence bring Florence's twin sister into the sleuthing. An actor was murdered onstage and the detective on the case is unusually slipshod, so the women get involved to do the REAL sleuthing and see justice served. Good sleuthing and a cast of zany characters!Of course I loved it!I requested and received a free EARC from Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley. Thank you!