Ask Me No Questions

Lady Philomena Dunbridge is recently widowed and also in the midst of a new scandal when she helps solve a crime. At twenty-seven, she feels to young to be considered a dowager and too old to be back under the thumb of the father who married her to the much older and dissolute earl when she was seventeen.

Phil decides to travel to New York to visit an old school friend and start a new life for herself. Unfortunately she arrives just in time to find her old friend in the midst of a scandal of her own. Bev's husband Reggie is found dead in the arms of his mistress. He was shot with a gun he had given Bev. Worse yet, they return to Bev's home and enter her husband's locked office to find another dead man. This one is a stranger.

The police show more in the person of Detective Sergeant Atkins are convinced that Bev killed her philandering husband. Phil is certain that she did not and is going to clear her name and protect her own reputation. Phil is assisted by her new maid Lily and her butler Preswick who accompanied her to New York.

Phil finds herself looking into Reggie's life and especially his horse racing stable. He has the current favorite for an upcoming race. Phil is also being followed by a mysterious stranger who seems as comfortable with costumes and undercover work as the fictional Sherlock Holmes.

This story took us from the social scene of 1907 New York City and to the underbelly of corrupt police, racing conspiracies, and murder. Phil investigates the mistress, the right-hand man, Reggie's cousin Freddy and his wife Marguerite among many others as she tries to untangle a complex situation.

At first I wasn't too fond of Phil. I thought she was a little useless and aimless. But then I realized that she was a product of her environment which didn't place any more value on women than their appearance, reputation, and social clout. Once Phil decided to do something, she revealed some intelligence and skills at investigation.

I can't wait to see what happens next for her and her employees. show less

I spotted this at the library and was intrigued. The year is 1907, we have Lady Philomena Dunbridge leaving England to perhaps move to Manhattan, and there is murder and horse racing. What could go wrong?

There wasn't much in the way of sparkling conversation, and the mystery was a bit mundane with a hint the size of a 2'" x 4'" beam dropped early on. I really disliked Bev, Lady Dunbridge's best friend, who was whiney and close to useless. I thought that Lily, Lady Dunbridge's lady's maid, was perhaps the most interesting character.

This is the first book in a series, so I will forgive this less-than-stellar opening in the hopes it will improve with the next book.

"I got an uncorrected advance reader copy at Bouchercon this year, but it was from a freebie table, meaning there is zero chance of bias.

Up front this is definitely an uncorrected ARC and I sincerely hope that someone not only corrects the grammatical and punctuational errors, but the huge, gaping plot error.

Briefly as possible: Lady Dunbridge's friend's husband is murdered. Lady D and friend find a hidden safe deposit box key in a safe, and checking the box they find thousand of dollars in cash, which they take out and hide. At the denouement it is revealed that he had this cash with him when he died, that the murderer took it after shooting him. Which would make it impossible for Lady D and friend to find it in his safe deposit box show more afterward. I mean, I'm pretty sure the murderer didn't kill him, take his money, and then return it to the victim's safe deposit box for the two women to find.
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Those issues aside, it's not a bad read. Lady Dunbridge is an interesting mix of traditionalist and modernist, in much the same way I'd bet a lot of women were at the turn of the century, just before WWI. Her morality has left the Victorian Age behind, but her pragmatism has her actively searching for a new husband who can maintain her in the lifestyle befitting her Countess title. That she decides to do that in America is a slight twist on an old theme.

Some of the secondary characters are all written to be interesting in their own right, with Lady D's ladies maid being a downright lady of mystery with some mad and disconcerting skills. Others are more cardboard prop-ish; either they have more development planned in future books (?) or they weren't meant to be more than props.

There's no romance, although the Countess is plenty interested, and there's heavy foreshadowing of mysterious men and sadly, a possible love triangle. Nothing specific, just inferences that can be made from inescapable tropes.

The plot, other than the train-sized hole running through the end of it, was pretty interesting. In a very weird coincidence, the book centered on horse-racing; the Belmont Stakes, specifically. (I was completely unaware of this when I picked it up to read.) It was an interesting story, and I loved the tie in with Doyle's Silver Blaze (which, towards the end of the book became Silver Blade, something I really hope they catch before publication). It could have been a tighter story - it did drag a bit in the middle - but overall, it held my attention.

I'd probably read another one if it comes across my radar; there's enough here to show promise." show less

I'm not sure why I didn't care for this book, but I didn't. It just seemed flat, as did the characters, and I do not know why. The storyline about horseracing was interesting, but that didn't really come into play until later in the book, and I was able to figure out who-done-it pretty early.

Countess Philomena is just coming out of mourning & into a scandal; her father who forced into a titled but moneyless marriage has given her an ultimatum: move back into his home, move into the estate's dower house or.... go stay with her school chum Beverly in N.Y.

Phil's maid abandons her and she picks-up a new maid with a secret past on the ship. Her Butler is there to help things along.

When they land in New York Bev is there to meet her, and for show more some reason Bev's husband Reggie is there as well, with his mistress, a Florodora girl.... Just as Bev is walking up to her husband's car he is shot and fall back against his mistress...

When Bev & Phil get back to the brownstone, the police open the library door to find a dead man shot with Bev's pistol...

Then there is a quite a bit of whining on Bev's part... and it bored me. There was just something missing from this book, it seemed dull. show less

Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “Ask Me No Questions” “A Lady Dunbridge Mystery” by Shelley Noble

Shelley Noble, Author of “Ask Me no Questions”, ” A Lady Dunbridge Mystery” has written a witty, intriguing. entertaining, and suspenseful novel. The Genres for this Novel are Mystery, Fiction and Historical Fiction. The time line for this novel is the turn of the twentieth century. The author describes her quirky and colorful characters as complex, complicated and suspect.

Lady Philomena Dunbridge (Phil) arrives in the United States as a widow who has been mourning and grieving for her deceased husband for two years in England. Phil is with her loyal butler Preswick, and her newly hired maid Lily. They are headed to visit with show more Bev Reynolds, an old friend.

Hearing gunshots coming from Bev’s husband’s car, Phil and Bev run to find Bev’s husband shot and bleeding in his mistress’s areas. There is no driver in the car. Phil guides Bev away, and soon a detective comes to question them. Bev as well as the mistress seen to be suspects.

Phil feels it is her obligation to play detective and find who did this. Bev’s husband Reggie Reynolds, owed everyone money. He has a stable of horses, and one that everyone was counting on running and making a fortune. It looks like there is corruption within the law. Reggie Reynolds had some very suspect friends, and very angry friends. Even Bev’s father has been angry with him.

There are twists and turns, and highs and lows, There are characters who are loyal, and some have betrayed Bev. Who can be trusted? I would recommend this captivating and entertaining novel for those readers who love a great mystery. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review. show less

I enjoyed this book though I thought it was a little repetitious in some parts. Lady Philomena Dunbridge, newly widowed and her butler, sail for NYC after rescuing a stowaway woman on the docks and making her into a lady’s maid. The day she arrives and is met by her old school friend, Beverly’s husband is shot and murdered with his mistress in their car. Bev is the chief suspect, and there’s a horse racing angle, corruption, a mystery man and a hunky detective.

Ask Me No Questions is the first book in the A Lady Dunbridge Mystery series.

Lady Philomena Dunbridge has just finished a suitable period of mourning for her husband an article in the newspaper refers to her as Lady Dowager. At twenty-six years old, she feels that she is too young to be called a dowager. Philomena(Phil) decides that she will head for America and start a new life. She writes Bev Reynolds, they had attended the same finishing school, asking if she could stay with the Reynolds until she could get settled in. Once the ship docks and the passengers are descending the gangway, spots Bev in the crowd and they wave to each and then starts to run away. Phil follows her to a car and in the car is Reggie Reynolds dead from a show more gunshot and a female who later identified as his mistress, Mimi LaPonte. Quite naturally Bev becomes the #1 person of interest in the death of her husband.

Phil, along with her lady’s maid, Lily, and her butler, Preswick, set out to identify who the murderer is. Phil soon learns that Reggie has two very expensive hobbies, gambling, and his horse racing stable. Also, he has gotten money from his father-in-law for a manuscript that no one knows about. She soon discovers that some of the most powerful members of society may have wanted him dead. Also, some of these same members of society are also involved with Reggie in his horse breeding and racing. The book concludes with a very exciting showdown at the race track

I thought this was a well-told and plotted story with an interesting cast of characters. I’m looking forward to more of the “stiff upper lip” Preswick, Phil’s wonderful butler. Also, I am hoping to learn more about Lily’s backstory. I thought she was quite an interesting young lady.

I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in this enjoyable new series. show less