Violet wants to work and make her own way in the world, but despite this rebuffing of social conventions, she is still quite prim and proper and altogether living a sheltered life on the edge of societal ostracism because of her lifestyle choices - namely, being single.

This is a wonderful blend of humour ( laugh out loud at times), of innocent/not so innocent misunderstandings and crossed wires, of the unconventional versus the conventions of the day and there’s the mystery of the missing mother and a dash of Victorian/not so Victorian romance all in a great setting of St Leonard’s on Sea and Hastings. It’s an extremely easy glide through read and a gem of a book. It’s a highly entertaining, joyful book and I’m so hoping to meet Violet again maybe as a fully fledged detective! She’s a character you won’t forget in a hurry. Even though it is 1886, the West is not yet completely tamed, and I have read that Mexico is decades behind America in its own struggle to civilize itself. This makes the land south of us either fertile ground for exciting stories or a danger zone, depending on whether one is looking at the situation through my rose-colored vision or my mother's morbid fears. 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.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? So, she decides to try and do something about it and hires a private detective – Frank Knight – to find out what happened to her mother. The thing is, Frank Knight isn’t a very good detective, Violet is sure she could do a better job herself. The thought appeals to her… 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. 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

The character-led storyline is definitely the selling point of this book for me; it’s funny and outrageous, with a little mystery to tie it all together.Enter Violet Hamilton who, at 28, is an elderly spinster in the minds of most, especially that of her father. But she is fiercely independent, ambitious and wishes to make her own way. Her mother who disappeared ten years earlier instilled a unique mindset and outlook into her daughter. Violet secretly seeks the right detective to search for her mother, one who will take her seriously. In doing so she meets Ben. She also discovers layers of secrets and learns more about herself. To me the mystery is almost secondary to the characters. Some are more endearing than others but all are interesting. The main character, Violet, was such a brilliant protagonist. She’s in her late twenties, sure of herself and forthright, but also painfully naïve. Her mother disappeared ten years earlier, and without a parental figure to guide her (her father is physically present but emotionally not) she has some glaring blind spots in her knowledge of the world. I’ll be honest, I was worried at the start that she was just ‘not like other girls’ but her character made perfect sense within her world and her family. What was great across the course of the novel was that she not only grew more knowledgeable about the world, but actively took those steps herself, admitting to herself that there were things she didn’t know and seeking the answers.