The Secret Staircase by Sheila Connolly

 The Secret Staircase

Book Summary

From New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly, The Secret Staircase is the third Victorian Village Mystery, which finds Kate Hamilton discovering a long-dead body in a hidden staircase.

Kate Hamilton is feeling good about her plans to recreate Asheboro, Maryland as the Victorian village it once was. The town is finally on her side, and the finances are coming together.

Kate's first goal is to renovate the Barton Mansion on the outskirts of town. Luckily, it's been well maintained in the century since the wealthy Henry Barton lived and died there. The only substantial change she's planning is to update the original kitchen so that it can be used to cater events in the building. But when the contractor gets started, he discovers a hidden staircase that had been walled in years earlier. And as Kate's luck would have it, in the stairwell is a body.

After her initial shock wears off, Kate is relieved when the autopsy reveals that the man had died around 1880. Unfortunately, it also reveals that his was not a natural death—he was murdered. And serious questions remain: who was he and what was he doing there?

Kate begins a hunt to identify the man and figure out what he was doing at the Barton Mansion. But when a second body is found—this time from the present day—Kate realizes that real dangers lie in digging up the past...

My Thoughts

The Secret Staircase by Sheila Connolly has Kate Hamilton working on her plans for the Barton Mansion in Asheboro, Maryland.  Her first order of business is to find a contractor.  The third one on the list seems like the best fit for the project.  He discovers a hidden staircase in the kitchen with a body laying at the bottom.  It turns out that the man has been there since the late 1800s and someone murdered him.  This is not the type of history Kate wanted to uncover on the Victorian home nor the family that occupied it.  Not long after the kitchen work begins, a second man is found dead inside the mansion.  Kate wonders if there is a connection between the two deaths and sets out to get answers.  

The Secret Staircase is the third book in A Victorian Village Mystery series.  I like the premise for this series which is why I have kept coming back to it.  I grew up in German Village in Columbus, Ohio and nearby there is a Victorian Village.  I find myself, though, unable to get into the story.  It is told in the first person, so we are subject to Kate’s thoughts (she has so many of them).  Kate seems to have an endless list of questions and list of items to accomplish (but she does not write them down).  If she is going to get this project completed, Kate needs to get organized (and be more professional). She also needs to get over her self-doubts (she goes on endlessly about them).  Kate needed a contractor for the project who does reconstruction not renovation.  Most people would have used a search engine, but Kate kept asking people if they knew a contractor.  I wondered if Kate owned a computer (or any office supplies).  There are quite a few characters in the story.  We are given basic information on them, but they are not fully fleshed out.  I like Carroll, Lisbeth, and Bethany.  Josh seems like a nice man, but how many times do we have to hear about his looks.  The author’s descriptions of the mansion allowed me to visualize the beautiful Victorian home.  However, the details about the renovations were dry and repetitive.  The story moved at a slow pace and many details were repeated at least three times (sometimes more).  The research into the Barton family is interesting (some parts were more fascinating than others).  It just became dreary at times (the research part).  I found this series different from Sheila Connolly’s A Museum Mystery series.  I wanted this series to be more like the one featuring Nell Pratt.  The mystery was fascinating.  I was curious to see how everything would tie together.  I was beginning to wonder if any progress would be made on the Barton Mansion.   As you can tell, I did not enjoy my experience with The Secret Staircase.  There are good bones, but it did not come together into a pleasing whole.  The Secret Staircase is small town cozy with staircase surprises, a kitchen conundrum, fine food, congeries of research, and a pair of murders.  

The Secret Staircase publishes Tuesday, August 24 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon*.  The first two novels in A Victorian Village Mystery series are Murder at the Mansion and Killer in the Carriage House.  You can find Sheila Connolly's other novels here.  Thank you for reading my review today.  Tomorrow I am featuring An Unexpected Amish Harvest by Carrie Lighte.  It is the 2nd novel in  The Amish of New Hope series.  I hope you have a joyful day.  Take care of yourself, be kind, and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader 

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