A friend whose opinion I value HUGELY recommended Rhys Bowen to me, so I was happy to receive a copy of Above The Bay Of Angels from Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Apparently, many of Ms. Bowen’s books move along crisply and bring the reader into another world (just what we need right now, with the state of our current reality!)…but this one is quite leisurely. Okay, it’s slow.

A young woman named Isabella, or Bella, is essentially a servant in search of a position (she longs to become a chef) when she comes across a dying woman who happens to thrust a letter into her hands. This letter serves as an introduction that leads to Bella going to work in the kitchen of a fancy household where she can learn her trade (think Sophie in the kitchen at Downton Abbey, learning the ropes from Mrs. Patmore). About ¾ of the way through the book (finally!), after lots of explication of day-to-day life, finally something happens: a member of the Queen’s royal party dies, and Sophie – I mean Bella—becomes part of the solution of the mystery.

I can only give this one three stars. I MIGHT try another by Rhys Bowen, because she clearly is a skilled writer, and I do love this time period. This one was just a bit slow for me. But I think my friend will adore it – she is waaaaaayyyyy more patient than I.