The insane trip I set out on has already taken more than one wrong turn, and I don't need anything else to go sour. I spent four days traveling from Pittsburgh to El Paso, sitting and sleeping on hard seats. My body and soul ache at the prospect of hard seats for the final twelve-hundred-mile—three long days and nights—leg to Mexico City. Violet Hamilton is not the lady her father would wish her to be; he wants her to be safely married while she is of a mind not to get married at all. Her mother disappeared on them some years ago and Violet has long dreamed of finding her; to this end she has finally got enough money to hire a private detective - but is he any good? The mystery of Violet’s mother's disappearance added to the story and I was fully invested in finding out what happened to her. The pacing in the middle bogged down a bit, but overall, I found the book to be very entertaining. No political comedy would be complete without the enemy to clash with. In No Job for a Lady, the first two series see a familiar face for Jean’s regular battles in the form of George Baker (at the same time also finding fame playing Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries). Baker’s role is that of Godfrey Egan MP, a pompous fossil within the government whose majority is so substantial that he has lost all touch with the everyday people, and as such he regularly butts heads with Jean as she tries to reform the processes of government that he feels should be left well alone – especially by a woman. If you are searching for a book full of adventure and self-discovery layered with witty social commentary, this is a perfect read.

The mystery is well thought out and I loved the ending. The mixture of Violet’s character, the mystery and humour combine to make this a fantastic read. In 1886, the beautiful and vivacious Lily Hamilton appeared to vanish in thin air, never to be seen or heard from again. A decade later and still finding no answers to her sudden disappearance, Lily's daughter Violet takes it upon herself to hire a private investigator but when he instills little confidence, Violet attempts to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance her way. However, in the close-knit town of Hastings where tongues wag and eyebrows rise, can Violet solve the mystery all the while keeping her reputation intact? He walks away, leaving me agitated—more at myself than at him. The invitation had been polite and my hesitation had annoyed or perhaps even embarrassed him. But he is also insensitive enough not to realize that I have a right as a woman to travel alone if I care to and that I am not hiding my head in fear. However, I also realize I am oversensitive about setting out alone, not only because of what it will do to my career if I fail but also about how it will shatter the high expectations of those who encouraged me. No Job for a Lady is a British sitcom that aired on ITV between 7 February 1990 and 10 February 1992. Starring Penelope Keith, it was written by Alex Shearer, and directed and produced by John Howard Davies. It was made by Thames Television for ITV.Violet is a 28 year old, unmarried woman in 1896 but rather than searching for a husband she’s searching for answers about her mothers mysterious disappearance 10 years ago. Price is a Labour MP, going against type somewhat for Penelope Keith’s on screen career, having been the upper class Margot and of course also having played Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To The Manor Born. Price is very keen to do well by her constituents, keeping her finger on the pulse of individual needs while accepting responsibilities that are now more national. To maintain that personal touch she needs the assistance of several people around her to keep the plates spinning. She shares an office with Scottish MP Ken Miller (Paul Young) who has been around long enough to know the do’s and don’ts within the corridors of power. This book was a real treat to read. It was heart-warming, romantic and funny in equal measure and a brilliant debut from author Hannah Dolby. Violet’s mother went missing ten years earlier. Her father has avoided most any talk of her mother, and Violet has missed her terribly. While she knew her parents fought, she did not think that her mother would simply abandon her. Most suspect that she is dead. Violet is sure that she’s not. So she hires a local detective to look for her mother. Only he’s a smarmy man that treats her as though she’s brainless. Not what Violet expected.

I enjoyed No Life for a Lady. As always when I read books set in this time period, I get frustrated with the limitations of being a woman during this time. However, it was fun to watch Violet ignore many of the rules and do her own thing. I loved her spirit and her ability to ignore social conventions. Thank you to NetGalley, Aria & Aries Publishing and Hannah Dolby for a chance to read an ARC for “No Life for a Lady”. This is my honest and unpaid review. We’re in late-Victorian Hastings on England’s south coast, with 28 year-old Violet Hamilton, who lives alone with her banker father since the unexplained disappearance of her mother ten years before. Having decided that marriage is not for her — based on her mother’s terrifying (and hilarious) description of marital relations — she stubbornly rejects every suitor that comes her way. I was randomly selected by the publisher to receive an ARC. Thank you to Netgalley as well. It's 1896 and Victoria is 28 years old. Her mother has been missing for ten years now. In that time, Victoria has searched her room and done all that she could think of to figure out what happened. An advertisement for a local detective catches her eye and she hires Mr. Knight on the spot. He seems a bit unsavory but she knew of no other detective. Victoria lives with her Father on the seaside and their two staff. She attends church weekly and is determined not to marry. No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby was such a treat to read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

It is 1886, 18-year-old Violet Hamilton says goodbye to her mother as she head off a party on Hastings Pier to never be

Until that is, she embarks on searching for the one thing she wants more than anything, to find her mother, Lily, who disappeared from Hastings Pier 10 years earlier. Violet feels her beloved mother’s disappearance wasn’t taken seriously, the police closed the case toot de suite, and Father won’t have ‘that woman’ mentioned in the house any longer. Violet even feels the house servants resent her for their lady of the house abandoning them. Violets whole world has revolved around her mother, from her mother’s guidance in the ways of love to her disappearance which created a big hole in Violets life and turned her life upside down and now Violet is going to take control of her life and find her mother, have some fun and maybe experience love… Set in 1896, Violet lives in Hastings on the English south coast with her father, a repressed and authoritative bank manager. Violet may be a Lady but she has no intention of marrying and living the life expected of her, for a few reasons. When Violet was 18 her mother, Lily, disappeared and ten years later, when No Life for a Lady is set, it is still something that aches on Violet’s heart and mind. Violet Hamilton is a woman who knows her own mind. Which, in 1896, can make things a little complicated…

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Violet is a strong, independent character who just doesn't fit into the mould of a women of that era, much to the dismay of her father who is desperate for her to get married and forget about her mother's disappearance ten years prior. Violet knows her own mind and isn't afraid to stand up for herself (without feeling like an unrealistic character for the time period), and I love that. When I first started this novel it wasn’t what I was expecting. It took me a little while to get used to the pace of the novel as well as the author’s writing style but as soon as I settled in, I truly enjoyed this quirky novel. Violet is a determined, single minded young woman but she’s also naive and somewhat misguided. She has not had a mother to ask questions about life and her father is unemotional and doesn’t want much to do with Violet because she reminds him of her mother. Although he does seem to want her to marry well, if not only to get her out of his house. As Violet finds out things about her mother, it taints her view of the world and men in general. She goes out of her way to dissuade her beau’s from falling for her and is actually quite comical in her excuses to get away. This rather endears her character to me at the same time as making me shrink away in embarrassment for her. I also have a strong appreciation that most of the side characters were women, giving those who had less of a voice in their time a chance to be seen.

It is 1886, 18-year-old Violet Hamilton says goodbye to her mother as she head off a party on Hastings Pier to never been seen again. Ten years later Violet is now 28 years old. She is an independent confident, but quite naive woman, that knows her own mind and her father fears that she will never get married and keeps finding suitors for her. But Violet is not interested but she doesn’t think that they have her best interests at heart anyway. When Violet embarks on a mission to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance, the adventures that follow make for a rumbunctious romp of a read, involving a quirky cast of characters and all manner of shenanigans Violet Hamilton has maintained her singledom to the ripe age of 28, much to the chagrin of her father. It's not that there haven't been suitors, her father continually finds more, but she wants more from life than they can offer her. The mystery element of the story was really well-balanced with the rest. While I did really like the answer to the various questions behind the mystery, the way they were resolved was quite sudden, and honestly felt like an easy way out! I think there could have been more satisfactory ways of wrapping up that particular storyline (no spoilers!). One of the reveals also had me rolling my eyes a little bit at the start, but by the end it was pretty well-executed so I did enjoy it overall.

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At twenty-eight, Violet's father is beginning to fear she will never marry. But every suitor he puts forward, she finds an increasingly creative way of rebuffing. Because Violet is a woman who knows her own mind - and her mind is on her mother, who went missing ten years earlier, vanishing from Hastings Pier without a trace. Looking for the missing is not a suitable pastime for a lady. But when Violet hires a seaside detective to help, she sets off an unexpected chain of events that will throw her life into chaos. Last of the main characters is party whip Norman (Garfield Morgan), who Jean initially refers to as the warder. He carries a headmaster-like air as he attempts to ensure that all his MPs behave appropriately in opposition. Like Egan, he too has a rather old-fashioned view when it comes to women in parliament. Briefly, ten years after Lily went missing and despite repeated attempts by her father to introduce her to eligible gentlemen Violet is adamant she doesn’t want to marry. What she wants to do is find her mother and to that end she needs a private detective. What follows is a rather enjoyable romp with Violet breaking all the rules for a Victorian lady. But can she find out what happened to her mother?