Violet Hamilton is a woman who knows her own mind. Which, in Victorian Hastings, can make things a little complicated…

At 28, Violet’s father is beginning to worry she will never find a husband. But every suitor he presents, Violet finds a new and inventive means of rebuffing.

Because Violet does not want to marry. She wants to work, and make her own way in the world. But more than anything, she wants to find her mother Lily, who disappeared from Hastings Pier 10 years earlier.

Finding the missing is no job for a lady, but when Violet hires a seaside detective to help, she sets off a chain of events that will put more than just her reputation at risk.

Can Violet solve the mystery of Lily Hamilton’s vanishing before it’s too late?

No Life for a Lady is set in my favourite historical era, The Victorian era, and features a strong-willed young woman of twenty-eight, Violet Hamilton, who is searching for her mother, Lily who disappeared in Hastings ten years prior after visiting some friends.

The police believe that her mother drowned but Violet has never agreed with them and hires a private detective to discover the truth. When shocking information is revealed Violet looks to herself to carry on the search and into her mother’s disappearance. But being a female sleuth in the late 1800s is not easy.

No Life for a Lady is a light-hearted, fun book that was quick to read even though the pace was quite slow. I loved Violet and her outgoing nature. I love that she didn’t conform to society’s rules and that she wanted more for herself, although she knew she had a lot of growing and learning to do.

The story is very sweet and charming even if the rules for women back in those days were anything but. Imagine because you are female you need a chaperone just to leave your house. I’m glad society has moved on from the ridiculous rules.

Overall, I really enjoyed the read, and good to see it is the first in a planned series (book two is already out). I loved the seaside location and that the author managed to capture the essence of the Victorian era perfectly while at the same time making the characters such good fun and humorous too. An enjoyable read from beginning to end and I now look forward to reading the next book.

Hannah Dolby’s first job was in the circus and she has aimed to keep life as interesting since. She trained as a journalist in Hastings and has worked in PR for many years, promoting museums, galleries, palaces, gardens and even Dolly the sheep.

She completed the Curtis Brown selective three-month novel writing course, and she won runner-up in the Comedy Women in Print Awards for this novel with the prize of a place on an MA in Comedy Writing at the University of Falmouth. She currently lives in London.