{"id":5748,"date":"2016-03-26T09:28:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T13:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5748"},"modified":"2025-10-01T18:25:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T22:25:54","slug":"a-soupcon-of-poison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5748","title":{"rendered":"A Soup\u00e7on of Poison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Soup\u00e7on of Poison<\/a><\/em> (2015) Ashley Gardener<\/p>\n

\"A-Soupcon-of-Poison\"<\/a>Set in London in 1880<\/p>\n

Kat Holloway is a cook for Sir Lionel Leigh-Bradbury, and although the position isn’t ideal in pay, he agreed to her request for an unusual number of days out, so she stays, even when he begins to make unusual and ridiculous demands.<\/p>\n

But she is a very good cook.<\/p>\n

Late one night, after the other staff had gone to bed, I sat in the kitchen at the wide wooden table, sharpening my knives. \u00a0 <\/p>\n

A cook\u2019s knives are her greatest asset, and if they go dull, they are no use at all and should be replaced. As decent knives are hideously expensive, I kept mine in good repair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When she needs help, Daniel McAdam, a man of all work goes out of her way to assist, gaining her gratitude, but she knows little about him, and he does nothing to allay her suspicions.<\/p>\n

I knew Daniel wasn\u2019t married because I\u2019d asked him that, point blank. When a man flirts with a woman, she ought to know where things stand. <\/p>\n

Daniel had dark hair and dark eyes and a tall, attractive body. He spoke with a fairly neutral accent\u2014 he hadn\u2019t been brought up on the streets, I could tell. He could read and write and was quite clever, though he never admitted to any schooling. <\/p>\n

I concluded that he must be the son of a middle-class gentleman, possibly illegitimate, but he never spoke of his family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve been trying to read the first Captain Lacey mystery for about two years now. I just can’t get into it. So I decided to try a novella, for a different taste of her writing.<\/p>\n

I really liked this story, and very much want to read more about Kat Halloway. She firmly knows her place, and doesn’t seek to rise above it.<\/p>\n

I jumped to my feet, annoyed. The kitchen was my demesne. The master might own the house, but a good employer understood that not interfering in the kitchen made for a tranquil domestic situation. Sir Lionel had his rooms above stairs where I did not trespass, and he had no reason to trespass on me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She wants to do her job, the best she can, but she’s also smart and no-nonsense–delightful to spend time with.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there are currently not any Kat Halloway books out, so I have to wait. Perhaps I’ll try a different Captain Lacey book, because there are several series I love, where if I’d started with book one, I probably wouldn’t have picked up another book, and that would have been a terrible loss.<\/p>\n

And I’ll keep my eye out for more Kat Halloway stories.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by JA \/ AG Publishing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Soup\u00e7on of Poison (2015) Ashley Gardener Set in London in 1880 Kat Holloway is a cook for Sir Lionel Leigh-Bradbury, and although the position isn’t ideal in pay, he agreed to her request for an unusual number of days out, so she stays, even when he begins to make unusual and ridiculous demands. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,30,292,48,24,33,8],"tags":[372,870,616,456,457,557],"class_list":["post-5748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-female","category-food","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-ashley-gardner","tag-below-stairs-mystery","tag-cooking","tag-jennifer-ashley","tag-kat-holloway","tag-victorian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1uI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12636,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12636","url_meta":{"origin":5748,"position":0},"title":"Death Below Stairs","author":"Michelle","date":"March 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Death Below Stairs (2018) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway) Set in London in 1881. I read the novella A Soup\u00e7on of Poison awhile ago, and when I didn't find a novel immediately, forgot about it. Kat Halloway has just taken a position as cook for Lord Rankin. She is relatively young\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Death Below Stairs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Death-Below-Stairs-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12643,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12643","url_meta":{"origin":5748,"position":1},"title":"Scandal Above Stairs","author":"Michelle","date":"March 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Scandal Above Stairs (2018) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway Mysteries) Set in London in 1881 Kat Holloway is still cook at Lord Rankin's house, even though he has retired to the country, Lady Cynthia remains, and to give her countenance, her aunt and uncle are living with her. Kat and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scandal Above Stairs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Scandal-Above-Stairs.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24078,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24078","url_meta":{"origin":5748,"position":2},"title":"A Measure of Menace","author":"Michelle","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Measure of Menace (2024) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway #7.5) Set in London in 1883. Kat Holloway is once again asked to assist in a mystery--this time by Lady Cynthia's father, Lord Clifford, who is more than a bit of a cad. Couldn\u2019t you have used that to pay back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Measure of Menace","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Measure-of-Menace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Measure-of-Menace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Measure-of-Menace.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13435,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13435","url_meta":{"origin":5748,"position":3},"title":"Murder in the East End","author":"Michelle","date":"September 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder in the East End (2020) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway) Set in London in 1882 Daniel has once again come to Kat Holloway seeing assistance in dealing with a problem--in this case a woman and several children are missing from a foundling house, and Daniel's brother (of a sort) came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Murder in the East End","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Murder-in-the-East-End.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24640,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24640","url_meta":{"origin":5748,"position":4},"title":"The Secret of Bow Lane, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"June 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Secret of Bow Lane, Audiobook (2022) Jennifer Ashley narrated by Anne-Marie Piazza (Below Stairs Mystery #6) Set in London in 1882 Characters: Mrs. Kat Holloway, Mr. Davis, Mrs. Redfern, Mrs. Bywater, Mr. Bywater, Tess, Lady Cynthia Clifford, James McAdam, Daniel McAdam, Mr. Errol Fielding, Caleb Constable Greene, Mr. Thanos,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Secret of Bow Lane","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/The_Secret_of_Bow_Lane.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22643,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22643","url_meta":{"origin":5748,"position":5},"title":"Mrs. Holloway’s Christmas Pudding","author":"Michelle","date":"January 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Mrs. Holloway's Christmas Pudding (2023) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway Mysteries) Set in London in 1882 There have been two Mrs. Holloway novellas this year, and this one is focused more on Mrs. Holloway. It's almost Christmas and everyone is getting ready for the holiday. We\u2019d had an excess of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mrs. Holloway's Christmas Pudding","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mrs-Holloways-Christmas-Pudding.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}