Murder in Blackfriars

Murder in Blackfriars (2026) Jennifer Ashley (Below Stairs Mystery #9)

Set in London in 1884

This series seems like its winding up. Daniel is disentangled from Mr. Monaghan and Kat and Daniel are settled into a relationship.

Daniel and I had come to an agreement to wed, though we were waiting to iron out the direction our lives would take.

And despite her protestations, Tess is coming into her own as a cook.

“You will do well, Tess,” I said a trifle impatiently. “There is only the family today. The chop and some potatoes and greens, along with bread, will be fine. You must learn to command a kitchen at some point.”

“Maybe, but I ain’t necessarily ready for it today,” Tess shot back.

But things are not completely settled, especially when Joanna has news for Kat.

Joanna quickly set down the cup, which clattered into its saucer. “Forgive me, my friend. It is actually good news. Sam has been offered a position connected with the solicitor who employs him. They are expanding one of their offices and wish Sam to be head clerk there.”

Grace still lives with Joanna and her family, and this will move her out of the city and away from Kat–away from her regular visits.

Additionally, someone has contacted Daniel with information about his past–information perhaps about who is truly is and who his family might have been.

I laid my hand on Daniel’s, but I said nothing. There was nothing to say. It was his pain, which he’d carried with him for more than twenty years, and all I could do was sit with him, letting him know he was not alone.

In that search Kat makes a new friend, an older woman who becomes curious about Kat’s search for Daniel’s family.

“My beau had such an awful childhood that I suppose I want to show him he was loved once.”

“I think you should show him he is loved now,” Mrs. Davies stated.

A woman who has a used bookshop.

I had given Grace the book from Mrs. Davies’s shop—Miss Sewell’s novel about a horse—and Grace had expressed delight and a promise to read it right away.

Because they both have known Daniel since he was young, Mr Fielding and Mr Grimes are both pulled into the search.

Neatly reasoned,” Mr. Fielding said with approval. “Not that we have any clear evidence of any of this.”

“Yes, but it is a direction to go. Evidence can be obtained if you look for it.”

“Aye, she’s right,” Mr. Grimes put in. “Best way is to wander about the docks and see if anyone tries to kill us.”

One of the things I appreciate is that neither Fielding nor Grimes is smoothed into something other than the complicated characters they are.

“I am forever put upon,” he said to the air. “My own fault for deciding that becoming a vicar would be the best joke I could play upon the world. Now I’m forced to do good works whether I like it or not.”

Kat doesn’t see them for something they are not, but does see their potential to be more than their pasts.

This mystery was particularly good, as there is a good deal of work to try and uncover Daniel’s past–work that Kat and Daniel’s friends are (mostly) pleased to assist with.

“Did Mr. Thanos agree to help?”

We spoke in low voices, mindful of Elsie peeking in from the scullery and the footmen arguing in the servants’ hall.

“He leapt at the chance,” Daniel said. “He declared he could prepare his lectures and search the archives at the same time. What a nice, quiet place to work, Somerset House, he said.”

I continue to enjoy this series, and look forward to the next book–even if it does turn out to be the last book in the series.

Characters: Mrs. Katharine Holloway, Grace Holloway, Daniel McAdam, James McAdam, Mr. Zachariah Grimes, Joanna Millburn, Sam Millburn, Matthew Millburn, Mark Millburn, Jane Millburn, Mabel Millburn, Hannah Dunnett, Mr. Davis, Tess, Elsie, Charlie, Mrs. Redfern, Mr. Elgin Thanos, Lady Cynthia Shires, Mr. Bywater, Mrs. Bywater, Mr. Errol Fielding, Lewis, Julius Naismith, Bobby/Lady Roberta, Miss Townsend, Mrs. Davies, Constable Caleb Greene, Inspector McGregor, Inspector Ferguson, Sergeant Scott, Albie, Hubbard, Mr. Gordon Patterson, Mrs. John Kerr, Mrs. Duggan, Mr. Ramsay, Howard Banks, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Hodder, Mrs. Forbes, Carrie, Mrs. Mason, Fergus Draper, Eddie Barlow, Dr. Boland, Mr. Robert Munro, Rose Patterson Munro, Gerald Meade, April Meade, Jemmy Meade

Cover art by Larry Rostant

Publisher: Berkley Mystery

Rating: 8.5/10

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