1911. Stephen Pike has relocated to London as the personal assistant to Miss Decima Stockingham, the most unconventional – and successful – detective in all of London. following the events of The Murder At World’s End – Grand Puzzly Winner 2025. While she may be successful, Miss Decima is itching for a case where the butler didn’t obviously do it – but be careful of what you wish for.

During a large suffragette protest, a policeman is found with his throat sliced open, and three suffragettes were seen fleeing the scene – and Stephen was the only witness. As the hunt begins for the missing women, the tension in the city begins to rise. The coronation of George V is rapidly approaching, and someone – somewhere – is planning a tragedy that thus far has only been hinted at…

As I mentioned, this is the sequel to the excellent The Murder At World’s End which I should say, you should read before this one, because a) it’s excellent and b) this necessarily spoils rotten quite a lot of it. Right, that’s the warning over with, let’s take a look at this one.

As with the first book, the characters here are tons of fun. Stephen starts out  railing somewhat against his role as Miss Decima’s dogsbody, alongside his training as a detective. She is relying on other investigators, such as the twenty-seven Ivys, an army of housemaids that Miss Decima can’t be bothered to learn the names of, and some other secret operatives, one of whom won’t be a surprise to anyone who knows what foreshadowing is.

Stephen comes to the fore, however, when they are presented with the murder case, which proves to be far more complex than anyone realised. It’s an absolutely cracking read, with Stephen’s narration proving to be as entertaining as ever, and Miss Decima’s behaviour balances the line between over the top and deep and meaningful perfectly.

There are a lot of moving parts here that Montgomery balances perfectly. It’s a gripping read with two genuinely surprising reveals. Talking of balance, it is very impressive as to how the author balances what is in essence a humorous book with the serious themes of the suffragette movement. It’s interesting how the future events concerning the movement are detailed in the text, rather than as an afterword – it contains things that I wasn’t aware of (and probably should be) so this is a strong and effective choice.

What is perhaps missing are clues. A lot of the deductions are based on people being recognised – not all of them – but my review e-copy is missing the maps of Kensington Gore that might have given me a little insight as well. I’m sure the finished versions will have that. As I said, though, the reveals are very impressive and should surprise even the most hardened armchair sleuth.

All in all, I had a lot of fun with The Shadows Of Kensington Gore – if you liked the first one, you’ll enjoy this one too. I’m looking forward to what happens next…

The Shadows Of Kensington Gore is out now in hardbook and ebook for Penguin. Many thanks for the review e-copy via NetGalley.