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A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem (Ladies Most Scandalous Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Manda Collins (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 1,009 ratings
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"[Manda] Collins is a delight" (Elizabeth Hoyt) in this fun and flirty historical rom-com, where an intrepid female reporter matches wits with a serious, sexy detective -- perfect for fans of Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn, and Netflix's Enola Holmes!
England, 1865: Newspaper columnist Lady Katherine Bascomb finds herself the subject of speculation when her latest article leads to an arrest in the murders plaguing London. The English believe women ought not to write about such vulgar things as crime, and a particularly attractive detective inspector is incensed that she's interfered with his investigation. To escape her sudden notoriety, Katherine heads to the country-only to witness a murder upon her arrival.
Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham is appalled when Lady Katherine entangles herself in one of his cases-again. Her sensationalist reporting already nearly got him kicked off the police force, and he'll be damned if he permits her to meddle a second time. Yet, her questions are awfully insightful, and he can't deny his attraction to both her beauty and brains. As the clues point to a dangerous criminal, the two soon realize their best option is working together. But with their focus on the killer lurking in the shadows, neither is prepared for the other risk the case poses-to their hearts.
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  1. Book 1 of 4
    Ladies Most Scandalous
  2. Print length
    353 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Forever
  6. Publication date
    November 10, 2020
  7. File size
    578 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delectable mystery that reads like Victorian Moonlighting (with a good heaping of Nancy Drew's gumption). Collins writes with a brisk whimsy, her diverting characters popping off the page . . . adroitly threading the needle of her darkly amusing sense of humor, genuine suspense, and a deep sense of connection. The novel truly sings, however, when it comes to its themes of violence against women . . . . The book bursts with pointed commentary on misogyny, particularly when directed at women's power and sexuality. But ultimately, it celebrates a cultural love affair with true crime as a way for women to exert some semblance of control over the chaotic (rarely random) violence that can dot our lives. . . . A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is wickedly smart, so engrossing it'd be a crime not to read it immediately."―Entertainment Weekly

"Part Victorian romance and part cozy mystery . . . [an] utterly charming read."―Popsugar

"Smartly plotted, superbly executed, and splendidly witty."―Booklist

"A fun and flirty historical rom-com with a mystery afoot!"―SYFY WIRE

"Manda Collins smoothly blends romance and an English country-house whodunit . . . The twists and turns of the plot will keep readers guessing, but Kate's independent attitude and the interesting friends she gathers around her bring the story to vivid life."―Bookpage

"Collins blends historical romance and mystery with characters who embody a modern sensibility . . . the protagonists and setting of this first in a promising new series are thoroughly enjoyable."―Library Journal

"Both romance and mystery fans will find this a treat."―Publishers Weekly

"[Manda] Collins is a delight! I read A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem waaay past my bedtime, absorbed by its spot-on period detail, the well-crafted characters, and of course the intriguing mystery. Brava!"―Elizabeth Hoyt, New York Times bestselling author

"When I pick up a Manda Collins book, I know I'm in for a treat. With compelling characters and a rich Victorian setting, A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem weaves mystery and romance into one enthralling tale."―Tessa Dare, New York Times bestselling author

"Mystery, romance and an indomitable heroine make for a brisk, compelling read."―Madeline Hunter, New York Times bestselling author

"With wicked smart dialogue and incredibly strong characters, Manda Collins reminds me why I love historical romance so much. Witty, intelligent, and hard to put down, you'll love A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem."―Rachel Van Dyken, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A go-to for historical romance."―Heroes and Heartbreakers

"Manda Collins writes sexy and smart historical romance, with a big dash of fun."―Vanessa Kelly, USA Today bestselling author

"Sexy, thrilling, romantic . . . Manda Collins makes her Regency world a place any reader would want to dwell."―Kieran Kramer, USA Today bestselling author

About the Author

Manda Collins grew up on a combination of Nancy Drew books and Jane Austen novels, and her own brand of historical romantic suspense is the result. A former academic librarian, she holds master's degrees in English and Library & Information Studies. Her novel Duke with Benefits was named a Kirkus Best Romance of 2017. She lives on the Gulf Coast with two lazy cats, a very spoiled Shih Tzu, and more books than are strictly necessary.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B085C76Q65
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Forever (November 10, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 10, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 578 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 353 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 1,009 ratings

About the author

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Manda Collins

Manda Collins

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Manda Collins grew up on a combination of Nancy Drew books and Jane Austen novels, and her own brand of historical romantic suspense is the result. A former academic librarian, she holds master’s degrees in English and Library & Information Studies. Her novel A LADY'S GUIDE TO MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM was an ABA Indie Romance bestseller, and her book DUKE WITH BENEFITS was named a Kirkus Best Romance of 2017. She lives on the Alabama Gulf Coast with a persnickety cat named Toast and more books than strictly necessary.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
1,009 global ratings
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem
3 Stars
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda CollinsHistorical police and amateur detective / reporter mystery. With a side of romance. 1st in the series.Lady Katherine Bascomb has a nose for news reporting and she feels the women of London deserve to know the truth behind the current “commandment” killings. Her news article has unintended consequences and she’s the one to find the next dead body.Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham thinks Katherine has put herself in the middle of trouble but he will work with her, and protect her while he investigates.A bit of teaching on both sides, police and aristocracy as they work through clues, suspects and secrets. A couple of times, I found myself zoning out from the “telling” rather than action. Katherine and Andrew start a bit of a romance on a superficial level apropos of the times and their stations in life. There is going to be a bit of a learning curve if there is to be a future to the romance as well as their partnership in investigations.A nice twist on a historical romance outside of the standard ballroom and debutant.
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Top reviews from the United States

Frenchie Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars Great historical romance
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024
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This book was both lighthearted & yet dealt with some difficult issues. I also jappreciate romance that let’s me use my own imagination & is not overly sexually graphic.
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Amy
4.0 out of 5 stars A Lady's Guide to Mischief & Mayhem
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2020
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4.5

Lady Katherine Bascomb is tired of women being pushed to the background due to their "sensitive personalities". When Katherine became widowed and took over her late husband's newspaper, she's been able to give women more of a voice with the articles she choses to write. But she still has a long haul ahead. When a slate of unsolved murders ravages London, Katherine sees it as her duty to keep the women in the city informed, especially since the investigators on the case aren't doing the job.

Katherine feels the full weight of guilt when her article leads to an innocent man's arrest, which becomes even more apparent when the killer strikes again.

Inspector Andrew Eversham has always taken pride in the job he does as a Detective. It's why his track record is impeccable. That is, until the Commandments Killer began ravaging through London. When Lady Katherine publishes her article, he's looked at as incompetent for his lack of progress and is thrown off the case. When he's sent to the countryside to investigate a murder at a house party, he's loathe to find Katherine among the guests.

While they may be at odds with one another, they both agree that the killer is still at large, and they'll discover that they have more to gain when they work together.

This has been one of my most highly anticipated reads since I first learned about it a few months ago. So, expectations were pretty high for this one. Happily, it really delivers in every aspect as a Historical Romance/Mystery.

I thought the differing viewpoints between Katherine (a journalist) and Eversham (a policeman) were very timely. The women's issues that Katherine is trying to shine a light upon are also very relevant today as so often our voices are not heard.

One of my only complaints about the book is that it took just a bit to long to find its legs, so to speak. We get quite a ways into the story before connections start being made and there's a clearer path of what's going on. But even still there were a few instances where things felt a bit too coincidental. Like things weren't built up enough for be to believe the way situations transpired. This revolves a lot around the mystery which is why I'm being rather vague here. Once the story really gets going and the pieces start falling better into place, I was hooked.

Of course the interactions between Katherine and Eversham fuel the story. I loved their animosity towards one another - although to be fair they're not complete enemies. They are two people with different viewpoints and different ideas about how to get things done. It was a joy to see them both on opposite sides as well as when they were aligned. This also creates delicious chemistry between the characters. I almost wish this was a series that followed the same main characters throughout numerous books because I could have read at least a couple of more with Katherine and Eversham each trying to outwit the other all while garner feeling for each other.

As it stands, however, it seems as though we will get a different couple in the next book, and they're already pretty much set up in this first book.

Another aspect of the story that I could have used more of is the friendship between Katherine and Miss Caroline Hardcastle (Caro). They are two like-minded women, Caro is even the co-author of the article Katherine write regarding the murders. I wish there could have been more interactions between this pair. I always feel like the friendships are just as important (maybe sometimes more important) as the romance and this is one I'm hoping we'll see explored more in the next book.

I'm happy that I book I was so looking forward to delivered in a great way and also gives me another series to add to my TBR!
9 people found this helpful
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Madison W Fairbanks
3.0 out of 5 stars A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2023
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A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins
Historical police and amateur detective / reporter mystery. With a side of romance. 1st in the series.
Lady Katherine Bascomb has a nose for news reporting and she feels the women of London deserve to know the truth behind the current “commandment” killings. Her news article has unintended consequences and she’s the one to find the next dead body.
Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham thinks Katherine has put herself in the middle of trouble but he will work with her, and protect her while he investigates.

A bit of teaching on both sides, police and aristocracy as they work through clues, suspects and secrets. A couple of times, I found myself zoning out from the “telling” rather than action. Katherine and Andrew start a bit of a romance on a superficial level apropos of the times and their stations in life. There is going to be a bit of a learning curve if there is to be a future to the romance as well as their partnership in investigations.
A nice twist on a historical romance outside of the standard ballroom and debutant.
Customer image
Madison W Fairbanks
3.0 out of 5 stars A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2023
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins
Historical police and amateur detective / reporter mystery. With a side of romance. 1st in the series.
Lady Katherine Bascomb has a nose for news reporting and she feels the women of London deserve to know the truth behind the current “commandment” killings. Her news article has unintended consequences and she’s the one to find the next dead body.
Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham thinks Katherine has put herself in the middle of trouble but he will work with her, and protect her while he investigates.

A bit of teaching on both sides, police and aristocracy as they work through clues, suspects and secrets. A couple of times, I found myself zoning out from the “telling” rather than action. Katherine and Andrew start a bit of a romance on a superficial level apropos of the times and their stations in life. There is going to be a bit of a learning curve if there is to be a future to the romance as well as their partnership in investigations.
A nice twist on a historical romance outside of the standard ballroom and debutant.
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Joyous
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023
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I love the idea of two Ladies writing for a newspaper. Their foibles were quite entertaining. I highly recommend this!
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Claudia
4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2023
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A woman's position in Regency England was constricted by the opinion of society. Katherine, however, ran her life the way she wanted and owning and running a newspaper gave her satisfaction as well as happiness. When London is horrified by a serial killer, Katherine decides to use her paper to help, having no idea of the dire consequences she sets in motion.
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E. L. Welty
3.0 out of 5 stars More romance than mystery
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021
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I had high hopes for this based on reviews but it was disappointing. Getting dialogue right is really important when you're writing historical fiction. This novel is set in the mid nineteenth century in London. The dialogue, however, sounds like mid twentieth century United States. It isn't filled with slang, but it doesn't ring true to the place and time either. The mystery was puzzling but the solution was not particularly convincing.
6 people found this helpful
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Marcie in Mommyland
5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Is HILARIOUS
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2023
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If you love Bridgerton books because of the witty female characters, this is the book for you!
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Katy
4.0 out of 5 stars Adorable
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2023
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Crime solving with a little romance mixed in? Who could ask for anything more? This whole series is cute but I think this one was my favorite.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

V. Ramesh
1.0 out of 5 stars Dull
Reviewed in India on October 19, 2021
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Boring. Tries to be a Victorian romantic mystery, but ends being a total drag. Did not even finish it; wasted a few hours.
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Kindle Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Okay
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2021
Verified Purchase
if you can put aside the historical inaccuracies and the very, very modern relationships between the main characters and just read it as a romantic mystery is Not too bad, not great but Not bad.Not sure what era it is supposed to be in but it seems to romp all over Victorian and Edwardian England. The romance was building but then took great big leaps that made me think of missed a chapter or two. The mystery side was probably the best part of the book. I may read the next one as Caro seemed a more engaging character, the mc in this one could be a bit annoying.
One person found this helpful
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