We’re back for another Below Stairs mystery!! I have loved this series, especially to follow the growing friendship between the central characters (Kat, Lady Cynthia, Bobby, etc) and of course, the romance between Kat and Daniel.

The last instalment in this series focused Kat’s history and her romance with Daniel. A Silence in Belgrave Square continues the focus on the romance; in this mystery, Daniel is sent on one last dangerous assignment before he is free of his paymaster. As the new secretary, Daniel is meant to uncover a dangerous plot and Kat, of course, cannot help but worry and do what she can.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been watching the Peaky Blinders but it feels like whenever you want intrigue in this period of English history, you have to bring in the Fenians. And I don’t know if it’s because I thought that “oh, another Fenian-related story” that I felt the mystery here was not as good as the previous ones. It also doesn’t help that again, we don’t get much in the way of the larger friendship group, even though there was a very natural position for them in the story as the people who get blackmailed! Instead, it’s more of Kat on her own, and with another new friend. Given that one thing I enjoyed about the series was how the friendship between this unlikely group of friends developed, I was a bit disappointed that they were, again, sidelined.

Thankfully, the romance between Kat and Daniel reaches its peak here, which helps a bit with the weak plot and new friendships crowding out the old. It’s almost like a romance novel disguised as a mystery, though I gotta say that I still enjoyed the romance part because I’ve been rooting for these characters for so long.

Overall, this was a satisfying story in the Below Stairs mystery. I’m not sure if it’s as good as the previous ones, but I will still pick up the next book (if only to find out more about Daniel and his backstory).

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