This book came as a bit of a surprise, I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but Violet's antics were hilarious and kept me engaged and entertained even if the pacing of the book was a bit slow at times. 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 received a copy of No Life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby from NetGalley and Aria and Aries in exchange for an honest review. The narrative is based around a long term missing person’s case, and the main character Violet wanting to break free of the silly rules women are forced to follow and start working as a private investigator. Violet wants to test society’s boundaries, at her age she’s considered a spinster any way, she makes some amusing blunders along the way and discovers the possibility her mother is still alive.

My mother insisted upon coming with me, of course, no doubt planning to poke with a hat pin any bandido who bothered me. She is certain that I will end up being kidnapped and having to make tortillas for a bandido chief—after I endured unspeakable things. And I must admit that her insisting upon accompanying me put the minds of my brothers and my editor a little more at ease, for they, too, were positive that I would be putting myself in harm's way.

Victoria's Father introduces her to many gentlemen, all of which she firmly and creatively turns them down. She is a bit of an oddity, being 28 and unmarried. There is also a kind of public stain from having a missing Mother. Victoria has dabbled in charity work but longs for more purpose. It's not proper really for a spinster to work, being a gently bred young daughter of a banker. When Mr. Knight continues to investigate her Mother's disappearance, she continues to find him uncomfortable to be around. When firing him doesn't work, she looks for another detective. 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. 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?

No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby was such a treat to read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC. is a protagonist that you can’t help but love. From the start she had me giggling away with her witty comments or on-point observations. Her naivety to the social norms only made me love her more but I did fear for her safety.

This book was really easy to read and made me laugh at points. The story at parts felt slow but this is a book that drops clues throughout that you will miss if you aren’t careful. No Life for a Lady, Hannah Dolby’s debut is just perfect. Violet is a wonderful character, funny and interesting with a finely balanced naivety. She flings herself headlong into the search, paying only the briefest attention to the necessary conventions and hampered by her scant life knowledge until all the pieces start to fall into place. I, uh…" I fumble, caught by surprise, not knowing what to say. This is a first for me. I've never been asked out by a strange man. To the contrary, my life has been so occupied with helping my mother keep food on the table for my brothers and sister that I've had neither the time nor the inclination for courtship or even keeping company.