No Life for a Lady
Enola Holmes vibes and I’m not mad about it.
Violet Hamilton’s mother, Lily, disappeared ten years ago and everyone seems to have given up trying to find her. Now a spinster at the ripe old age of 28, Violet takes it upon herself to:
Hire a detective
Fire the useless detective
Take up the hunt for her missing mother herself
There are some problems, however:
Misogyny
It’s 1896
In her search, she encounters various eccentric characters who expand her sheltered worldview, including a nice furniture salesman who also dabbles in detective work. Many of these scenarios are very funny and I really enjoyed my experience reading this book. I think there were instances where the prose dragged a bit, but overall I think the writing style was good.
There is not much more I can say about the plot without giving away important details, but I will say that Violet’s search has a satisfying ending and that she goes on some amusing side quests before the conclusion. This seems to be Hannah Dolby’s fiction debut and I will definitely be reading more of her work as it comes out.
