This book will keep you glued to the page and there will come a point where you just won’t be able to put it down. The format of the book was very interactive and although it distracted me a bit, I enjoyed finding out about this period in history. With her story are countless stories of life on the ranch, people who came in and out of her life, and the growth of the area, from horses and wagons and buggies, to the first of the cars to come to the area. As the reader, I lost momentum around 60% of the way through because I couldn't get a hold of where it was going.

Benjamin Blackthorn immediately strikes her as much more trustworthy than Knight, but he is recovering from a broken leg and insists it was his father, Bernard who was the detective: he now only sells furniture. And there’s a little treat subplot storyline involving gay characters, which, while trying not to give spoilers, reminded me of a jollier Tipping the Velvet! Violet was brilliant in the way she scared off her suitors and absolutely adorable when trying to escape an uncomfortable situation.

Violet is more enthusiastic than subtle at the outset, which leads to some hilarious confrontations. Her reminiscences make vivid the everyday details of the cattle industry from the earliest years of the open range. Benjamin was like a big puppy; good natured but clumsy at times, I just wanted to hug him 🤗 While romance is not the center of attention in this story (no smut, pervs!

Biography: Hannah Dolby's first job was in the circus and she has aimed to keep life as interesting since. The pace of the book started slowly at first, but then it picked up, and by the end I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

Through her life experiences and that of her family members she documents travel by horse and wagon, living on the frontier with Indians, more times than not friendly Indians though close by evidence existed of not so friendly times, being sent east to be educated, what a balanced diet consisted of, the availability (or not) of medical care, the arrival of the trains, cowboys wearing 6 shooters up through the 1930s, cattle and sheep ranching, the arrival of "farmers," and so much more. This is, after all, 1896, so an unmarried woman on the cusp of thirty is already heading towards the scrap pile (cue the mass eye roll). There's a lot of dry wit to be had here, and her descriptions of people and landscapes are marvelously evocative. There were a number of things going on within the plot to keep your attention - and a cute, awkward romance to boot. I really enjoyed reading this book; it's nicely organized even if not strictly linear and is well-written.

Some of those investigations turn out to be real eye-openers for a sheltered young spinster: tailing a woman’s fiancé, breaking into a museum, visiting a brothel, and foiling a theft; but “I wanted to find my mother. Finding the solution to the mystery of her mother’s disappearance provides Violet with grounds for believing she has what it takes to become a detective.Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. I was cheering Violet on and like how confident she came after getting to grips of becoming a ‘Lady detective’.

No Life For A Lady is driven by Violet’s determination to become a lady detective, but what pushes the character forward is the personal mystery surrounding her mother’s disappearance. When Violet decides to hire a detective, she sets in motion a chain of unforeseen events that spell disaster on one hand, but also push Violet to becoming a sleuth herself. If you are in a reading slump look no further , this is a beautiful, fun easy to read book unlike any I have read in a while. Part of the problem being the disappearance of her mother, and the stories she told her about marriage before she left.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect going in but I was in a ‘just go with it’ mood and found that this story, while slow in places, was enjoyable and had something for everyone. There’s a good deal of humour in this tale, as well as a cute twist, a very dramatic climax, and plenty of scope for further stories featuring this cast. Violet wants to test society’s boundaries, at her age she’s considered a spinster any way, she makes some amusing blunders along the way and discovers the possibility her mother is still alive. The area was arid, remote, open range for cattle and children grew up fast yet still had time to be children.