A Quiet Life in the Country cover art

A Quiet Life in the Country

A Lady Hardcastle Mystery, Book 1

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Quiet Life in the Country

By: T E Kinsey
Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.99

Buy Now for $28.99

About this listen

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they’ve just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life.

But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There’s a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation...

As Lady Hardcastle and Flo delve deeper into rural rivalries and resentment, they uncover a web of intrigue that extends far beyond the village. With almost no one free from suspicion, they can be certain of only one fact: there is no such thing as a quiet life in the country.

Revised edition: This edition of A Quiet Life In The Country includes editorial revisions.

©2016 T E Kinsey (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Amateur Sleuths Cosy Detective Fiction Historical Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Village Feel-Good Sports Crime Funny Mystery
All stars
Most relevant
Totally light hearted mysterious mayhem in English village life, with two new arrivals looking forward to not quite mundanity.

Rollicking good fun

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A very pleasant story to while away some time. It’s a little unrealistic but the narrator does a great job with a lovely cheerful voice.

Cute little story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
not a fast paced story but enjoyable to listen to and fun characterisation and good leads

fantastic narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Felt the plot was slow and lost interest as the storyline went on. Listened to the end but overall not riveting enough to keep my interest.

An ok listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is an amusing, well written and light hearted crime novel - nothing graphic or unpleasant here although there are several crimes involved in the storyline. The two main female protagonists are so extremely well and amusingly brought to life, this helps carry the story along.
The plot is so light-hearted, it hardly exists. There is no mystery and no violence, but characterisation and amusement make for a thoroughly entertaining read.

delightful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
grat story extremely well read very easy to distinguish the characters.
recommended to al lovers of cozy mysteries

great story and great reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderfully written and performed brilliantly! Elizabeth Knowelden is a master of her craft!looking forward to other Lady Hardcastle (and Flo) books.

Wonderfully written and performed brilliantly!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is an enjoyable and lighthearted period murder mystery with endearing characters that defy the social boundaries of the day.

Enjoyable and lighthearted

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrator was wonderful, story line wonderful, mystery interesting & characters great. Loved it.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved, loved, loved this story and performance. T E Kinsey is without doubt a very talented author, writing about events from a time long past with not only knowledge of the period, but with a great dollop of humour and a charming dose of affectionate interaction between the two heroines. Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong are a force to be reckoned with and I will be listening to the next book in the series with all due haste.
What makes it even more astonishing is that Kinsey is a male and his two protagonists are female; he brings these two amazing women to glorious life as if he were one of the fairer sex himself.
These two characters, along with a whole menagerie of secondary players were bought to all to believable life by the brilliant narration of Elizabeth Knowelden. This is definitely one of the most entertains audiobooks I have listened to for a long time.

Absolutely Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.