Rotten to the Core

Written by T E Kinsey

Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

Summer 1911. A scorching heatwave engulfs the quiet town of Littleton Cotterell and brings about an unusually early harvest. The villagers are thrilled, but events quickly turn sour when one of them turns up dead in an apple orchard, stabbed through the heart.

Amateur sleuth Lady Hardcastle and her trusty lady’s maid, Flo, suddenly have a juicy case on their hands. Might the mysterious stranger they recently met in the village be to blame?

When a second cider-related murder takes place, it quickly becomes clear that there’s more to these mysterious deaths than meets the eye. The daring duo uncover whispers of an ancient order and moonlit rituals. And evidence points to a macabre secret in the village stretching back years. A secret someone will do anything—anything at all—to keep hidden.

Something is rotten, that’s for sure. With the local constabulary baffled, Lady Hardcastle and Flo must use all their powers of wit and whimsy to get to the bottom of the dastardly deed. But can they catch the killer before any more people drop dead?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jun 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781713670223

T E Kinsey

T E Kinsey grew up in London and read history at Bristol University. He worked for a number of years as a magazine features writer before falling into the glamorous world of the Internet, where he edited content for a very famous entertainment website for quite a few years more. After helping to raise three children, learning to scuba dive and to play the drums and the mandolin (though never, disappointingly, all at the same time), he decided the time was right to get back to writing. Death Around the Bend is the third in a series of mysteries starring Lady Hardcastle. You can follow him on Twitter—@tekinsey—and also find him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tekinsey.

Reviews for Rotten to the Core

[preeti · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am in love with this detective duo and the brilliant narration is cherry on top.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lady H and her diminutive sidekick are recruited to assist the police when a member of a secretive local men's group is found murdered. Other deaths follow before they sort it out and eventually delve into the recent history of this group. Much about cider and good fun as the team does its thing.

[barbararogers-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This delightfully entertaining, witty, and well-written series just keeps getting better and better! This latest installment brings us a mysterious ‘secret’ society that does good works (or do they?); victims who are likable, but certainly have secrets; past murders to solve; and some pretty nasty villains, Our usual cast of funny and entertaining characters are out in full force as is our intrepid former spies turned investigators – Lady Hardcastle and her lady’s maid, Flo. If you are looking for a refreshingly entertaining read, this is the one for you!With the unseasonably hot weather bringing on an early apple harvest, the villagers are tickled to have an early cider festival. Everyone is busily planning events and all of them are centered around apples and cider – from food on the square to the secretive rituals of the Weryers. Those Weryers are an ancient group with darker roots than the current participants utilize. They do good works, support charities, and generally help the areas. But, maybe those dark roots haven’t completely disappeared – because one of them is found murdered in his apple orchard. Then in a matter of days, two more Weryers are also found murdered.Who in the world could have it in for the Weryers who do nothing except help residents of the area? Could it be another Weryer who wants to move up within the organization? Could it be the stranger who is visiting the village? Does it have anything at all to do with a murder that happened twenty years ago?As always, the constabulary turns to Lady Hardcastle and Flo to help solve the case. Will they solve the case or become victims themselves? This villain doesn’t care how many bodies there are as long as he doesn’t get caught, so a couple of amateur sleuths wouldn’t bother him in the least.I can highly recommend this book and this series. I love the lively banter between Lady Hardcastle and Flo as well as all of the antics they get up to. When you add the locals into the mix, you have a wonderfully entertaining read. I’m already counting the days until the next release!

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Anyone who enjoys historical mysteries which involve minutiae, merriment, and musing really needs to make the acquaintance of Lady Hardcastle and her (so much more than a) maid, Florence Armstrong. The banter between these two main characters is the highlight of the series, but there is much more to T.E. Kinsey's mysteries than laughs.In Rotten to the Core, I learned about the cider industry in England and about some of the ancient organizations created to make the business thrive. (That's one of the things I love about this series so much-- Kinsey focuses on "something new" at the turn of the twentieth century in each book, so I've learned about automobiles, flying machines, the movie industry, etc. as I follow along in the two characters' wake.) I also learned that butterfly in Welsh means "living ember," one of those trivial nuggets perfect for squirreling away to bring out to amaze and amuse your friends at a later date. And how about those librarians who disobeyed orders and began creating the newspaper archives that became important sources of information for Lady Hardcastle and Florence? Three cheers for librarians!As the hunt for a murderer becomes dire, Kinsey's two intrepid sleuths find their list of suspects growing instead of shrinking, and even though Lady Hardcastle believes that the mysterious woman staying at the Dog and Duck has more to do with this business than meets the eye, Florence urges caution: "The mysterious stranger is always a red herring. You should read more."Is that mystery woman a killer? You'll just have to get your hands on a copy of Rotten to the Core to find out. The book has enough backstory so that new readers should not feel lost, but I will warn you: these books are highly addictive. Don't be surprised if you read one and find yourself looking for all the rest. They are little gems of light-hearted fun. (Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)

[khenkins-687878 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn't know exactly what to expect when I read the first Lady Hardcastle mystery, except that it was a cozy mystery with “quirky” characters (if I remember the description correctly). And I was absolutely delighted with what I read. That is equally, if not more so, true for this latest in the series, Rotten to the Core. Lady Hardcastle and her associate Flo Armstrong are in their hometown of Littleton Cottrell, learning about the upcoming autumn harvest festival when someone is killed (surprise, surprise). An apple orchard owner was stabbed and placed with an apple in his mouth.The amateur sleuths' investigation, conversations with their friendly barmaid-gossip Daisy and their in-the-know cook Edna, diligent clue searching all ensue. Of course, complications abound with many possible local suspects, a newcomer to the village, and secrets held by a mysterious apple warden group (they may have coined that term).I know that many other readers of T. E. Kinsey's series are like me – I read these books more for the incomparable repartee between Emily Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong than I do for the who-dunit. Superb, droll badinage that clearly resonates with a mutual, long-standing comprehension of each others personality and foibles. And this iteration has much more of those comical conversations than the last couple of novels – in which I was sorely missing the abundance of humor, given the times we live in.If you haven't read any of this series, do so as soon as possible! There are a few references to previous plot points from earlier books, so reading an earlier one-- or reading them all in order (my recommendation!) – might slightly improve the reader's appreciation of Rotten to the Core. But it is sufficiently stand-alone to more than repay the time taken to relish in the goings-on of Littleton Cotterell. I want to thank publisher Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. This is an honest review.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

England, punny, sly-humor, amateur-sleuth, situational-humor, light-hearted, women-sleuths, historical-fiction, historical-research, history-and-culture, 1910s, cosy-mystery*****All of the Lady Hardcastle books are a fun escape from reality and this one is no exception! The personalities of the characters are as much fun as the dialogue, the sleuthing is creative, and the descriptions are exceptional. The plot twists are inventive and the whole thing is a blast! Never a dull moment, even if some of the old catch phrases sound like something from Beowulf! Of course I loved it!I requested and received a free e-book copy from Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley. Thank you!