Ask Me No Questions

A Lady Dunbridge Mystery

By: Shelley Noble

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

"Witty, racy, and full of gorgeous period detail, Ask Me No Questions is the perfect book for all of us who miss Downtown Abbey." (Tasha Alexander, New York Times best-selling author)

From New York Times best-selling author Shelley Noble, Ask Me No Questions is the first in the Lady Dunbridge Mystery series featuring a widow turned sleuth in turn-of-the-20th century New York City.

A modern woman in 1907, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She's ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. From the decadence of high society balls to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.

©2018 Shelley Freydont (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Witty, racy, and full of gorgeous period detail, Ask Me No Questions is the perfect book for all of us who miss Downtown Abbey.” (Tasha Alexander, New York Times best-selling author)

Well done mystery in High Society New York!

High Society, check. Horse Races, check. Murder, check. Many suspects, check. Witty banter, check. Ask Me No Questions by Shelley Noble follows the young and recent Dowager Countess Philimina Dunbridge, known to her friends as Phil or Lady Dunbridge by others, who crosses the pond to visit her dearest friend Beverly, Bev, Reynolds in High Society Manhattan, New York in the early 1900's. Upon stepping off the boat Lady Dunbridge is thrown into a murder case involving her closest companions. Lady Dunbridge, with the help of her Lady's Maid Lily and her Butler Preswick, work to solve the mystery of the murder along with some shady activities happening at the Horse Race Track that Bev's husband owns. With a large cast of characters to investigate who might have committed the crime, while also maintaining the proper proprieties of her station and title, can the Lady Dunbridge solve this murder before she herself, or her companions, are put in danger?

I struggled with this book on and off for a little while, but it was mostly with keeping the characters straight in my head. I was listening to this as an audiobook so it wasn't like I could go back and forth to see who was who. There was quite a lists of characters in this book that made things a little complicated to follow, but at the same time, for me at least, it made it more difficult to figure out the whodunit. Other than that I really enjoyed the book. It had well placed humor and banter, high society atmosphere, nicely developed characters, and a complex plot. I do have to say Shelley Noble doesn't spend a lot of time describing her characters or going into much of their past, but she has a good talent of describing her characters through their actions and words as the story progresses. Erin Bennett as a narrator does a wonderful job and has a great voice, but I did find the speed of the reading was a little slow and had to speed it up to get a normal feeling reading/listening speed going. Erin also does a fantastic job though with changing her voice and narration style to give the different characters their own personalities.

If you are a fan of things like Downton Abbey or Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, then I feel this book will be right up your alley. It's a fun read as you have Lady Dunbridge brought up in England High Society, but the events happen in New York High Society. They have some similarities, but also their differences and it was fun seeing the two worlds blending together. I look forward to seeing what happens with this dynamic trio in future books!

Intriguing but complex, unlikable characters

The plot of this book is interesting enough, but it was a little challenging to remember all the characters and twists, and one big clue was way too obvious IMO. A few things felt like errors. At one point the wrong name is used (possibly the narrator's error). And why would the crowd face right (a point that is stressed) to watch the start of a clockwise horse race?

Most importantly, though, I just didn't like any of the major characters. The two primary ones are self-absorbed, selfish, unfeeling women, more concerned with missing a ball and the color of a gown than with a death.

It was all too obvious that this book was intended to begin a series, which I usually welcome. Unfortunately, I don't care to spend any more time with these characters.

Excellent story

The story keeps you interested. Always guessing who did the murders and why. Great ending

Well done!

Fun book! Enjoyed it immensely! Great one for cozy mystery fans. Can't wait to read the next one.

Great fun

This is great fun; a mystery set in 1907 New York City. The main character is a young widowed English countess. She was unhappily married for 10 years and goes to New York after his death to visit an old school friend. There is murder and intrigue. I hope there will be more. The Reader was very good except when attempting English accents but no one is perfect.