In The Burning Issue of the Day by T.E. Kinsey, Lady Hardcastle receives a letter from Lady Bickell of the suffragette Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), begging her and her lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, to save the life of one of their members. Mr. Brookfield, a journalist who has often been antagonistic towards their cause, has been killed in an arson fire, with WSPU pamphlets spread everywhere and a note purporting to come from WSPU member Lizzie Worrel and claiming responsibility. Lady Bickell is certain that Lizzie would never have committed this crime, and she urges Lady Hardcastle and Flo to free her friend by finding the true culprit.
The pair get involved in the investigation, involving their good friend, Inspector Sunderland, in the case. Soon they join forces with their former adversary, journalist Dinah Caudle, who has found Brookfield’s notebook. The problem is that it is in code, and it takes a long time for Lady Hardcastle to break it. They additionally find themselves getting entangled in further crimes and involved in more adventures.
As with all the books in this series, The Burning Issue of the Day is exciting and fun. I enjoyed the historical background to the book, including details about the methods that the suffragettes in Britain used to gain attention to their cause. They would break windows while leaving leaflets about women’s suffrage in order to get people to pay attention to the effort to get votes for women. The book contains an afterward explaining the historical accuracies found within. I appreciated seeing the extent of the research Kinsey put into making the book as true to the history as possible.
This book, as in all of Kinsey’s, is full of clever word play and fun linguistic jokes, with a lot of teasing back and forth between Lady Hardcastle and Flo that made me laugh. The characters add to the flavor and make the book all the more delightful.
Elizabeth Knowelden performs the audio edition of this book, and she does an amazing job of making the book come alive. With a strong sense of the book’s flavor, Knowelden uses a fast pacing that suits the style of the word play used throughout the book. I have trouble imagining this book being read any better by anyone else.
I greatly enjoyed getting to listen to The Burning Issue of the Day as much as all of Kinsey’s other books. It was such a fun book that delighted me immensely. I give the book five stars.
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