2.5 Stars

After a night of festivities at the Hampton Court Palace, one of the ladies doesn’t answer the door in the morning. Mrs. Lydia Bramble, palace housekeeper, steps in to investigate and finds Miss Philomena Franklin murdered with a knife in her back. When the police seem to be on the wrong track, it’s up to Mrs. Bramble to play a sleuth and find the killer. After all, who better than servants to know things the masters and mistresses won’t talk about? 

The story comes in Lydia Bramble’s third-person POV. 

So, this is a debut historical cozy mystery set in an apartment complex (a sort of mix between a modern apartment and a gated community from what I understood) where widows live with their wards/ children and maids. Also, the author’s note reveals the setting is based on a real place. 

The book starts with a list of characters, which I appreciated. Even though the list was detailed and provided information about who lived where I still got confused. A map would have helped. 

The death happens fairly soon, so it is not a long wait to get to the mystery. We are introduced to the characters during the initial round of investigation (by our amateur sleuth, of course). 

I liked the attempt to show how the detective (from Yard) was proud of his credentials and looked down upon others (especially the sleuth). It is also a display of misogyny where men consider women inferior and weak. 

However, this is a women-dominant book with most characters being widows, maids, or wards. Still, it was hard to enjoy this one. No one was easy to like. Everyone was judgmental, even the MC. 

I went along despite the slow pacing but started to zone out often. Then, I switched to speed-reading. This helped a little. Still, I was ready for the book to end at 60%. The reveal came a long time afterward! 

The mystery as such was okay. It was certainly well-thought-out with red herrings, suspects, and twists. However, being unable to empathize with even a single character meant I couldn’t appreciate it as I should. 

The ending is set for a series with a lead provided for the next book. My journey stops here, though. 

To summarize, Murder at the Palace has a historical writing style and vibe but the characters fail to make an impact. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley #MurderAtThePalace