The year is 1910, towards the end of the Edwardian era. We are in the company of Lady Emilia Hardcastle and her faithful maid and companion, Florence Armstrong, recently retired to the countryside near Bristol after an exciting life. Lady Hardcastle’s late husband was a diplomat, and they have spent considerable time abroad and led mysterious lives acting as spies. Retiring to the country was supposed to mean a quieter existence, but in the series of novels, they are drawn in as amateur detectives to solve a variety of mysteries. Death Beside the Seaside is the sixth instalment in T E Kinsey’s series.
A holiday murder
The story begins with Lady Hardcastle declaring that she is fulfilling a long-made promise to take Flo on a seaside holiday and has made bookings for a hotel in Weston-Super-Mare. After much packing, they head off, planning a quiet week with some sightseeing, painting, and sea air. On arrival, they do manage some holiday activities. T E Kinsey writes a funny scene where they have an altercation at a Punch and Judy show, and they also manage to see a locally produced opera at a seaside theatre. Their plans, however, do not last long without interruption. On the evening of the first day, they share a dinner table with another guest, Dr Goddard, who claims to be a government scientist (but is very vague about what exactly he does), and after a lengthy conversation, they retire for the night.
Murderous chaos begins
On the morning of the following day, they are summoned to the manager’s office. Overnight their scientist companion has gone missing along with a mysterious trunk that was in his room. The signs suggest that a body was dragged across the carpet.
The manager has heard of Dr Goddard’s reputation and does not want to involve the police to avoid a scandal and preserve the reputation of the hotel. He asks the detective pair to investigate the disappearance discreetly and offers to waive charges for their stay in return, so they agree to do so. Lady Harcastle telegraphs her brother, who is high up in the Home Office, to seek his advice. He replies, telling them not to get involved, saying that it is a top-secret government matter, but true to character, T E Kinsey makes sure Lady Hardcastle pays no attention and continues regardless.
The pair begin their investigation. The small hotel is full of foreign guests travelling alone, and over the next few days, mayhem ensues as other guests are murdered on a regular basis. Each one is murdered by a different method. In each case, the guests’ rooms are in chaos as though the perpetrator has been searching for something. Emilia calls her brother again, and he sends some men to smuggle the bodies out of the hotel without other guests noticing. Using her detective skills, Flo figures out that the murders are being conducted in an attempt to gain possession of Dr Goddard’s mysterious trunk. She manages to track down the whereabouts of the missing object and secrete it in her hotel room.
The crisis point
The climax of the book occurs after the series of murders, where another guest (a young American woman) is kidnapped. Emelia and Flo promise her distraught aunt they will find her. Using their detective skills, the pair identify a possible location where she (and perhaps the missing scientist) may be being held. Driving in atrocious weather, they travel to this place, finding the missing pair, but they also have a dramatic encounter and battle with a long-forgotten nemesis. They succeed in overcoming this mysterious individual and in rescuing the two kidnap victims, as they organise the arrest of their old enemy.
The final part of the book is where the rescued scientist explains what was going on to cause all the killings, and the contents of the mysterious trunk are revealed in a clever twist. The novel ends with an unexpected piece of good news for Lady Emilia’s brother.
An unusual, mysterious series of novels
This is my personal favourite book in the detective series so far. The appeal of the stories lies in the relationship between Lady Emelia and Flo, their rampant eccentricity, and the sparkling dialogue they share with each other and with other protagonists in the books. All of T E Kinsey’s books in the series are well plotted, and the Edwardian era and environment make them a refreshing change from the standard modern-day police procedural. This particular story also includes a body count that would rival an episode of Midsomer Murders, but the gentle, whimsical writing is far removed from the grittiness of more conventional detective stories. These books are not great literature, but a gentle, whimsical evocation of a bygone era, with some very funny jokes and plot situations included in the mix. A great holiday read, or when you need to read something light and funny.
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