The Shadows of Kensington Gore - Ross Montgomery
THE SHADOWS OF KENSINGTON GORE
ROSS MONTGOMERY
*****
Be sure to check out my review for Ross Montgomery's other novel: The Murder at World's End which was a Kindig Gem of 2025!
London, 1911. Coronation fever. Suffragette unrest. A city crackling with tension.
When a policeman is found brutally murdered on the streets of Kensington, blame falls on the three women seen fleeing the scene.
Their sole witness? Stephen Pike: ex-borstal boy, under-butler extraordinaire and assistant to the most unconventional detective in London, Miss Decima Stockingham. Sharp-tongued, fearless and bored of behaving herself, she’s the only one able to see that this case is not what it seems.
Aided by an invisible network of maids – their eyes and ears in every house in London – this unlikely duo must catch the killer before time runs out. But in a city dazzled by ceremony and divided by change, you never know what might be lurking in the shadows…
MY REVIEW
*****
The Murder at World's End was a Kindig Gem for me in 2025, so I was excited to read the sequel – The Shadows of Kensington Gore.
A woman’s suffrage march turns deadly when a police officer is killed, his throat slashed and stuffed with a WSPU ribbon. The witness to the crime? Stephen Pike, assistant to eccentric detective Miss Decima Stockingham. Are the women responsible? Or are they being framed?
One of the reasons I adored The Murder at World's End is Ross Montgomery’s easy writing style and well-paced and plotted storytelling. That carries on through to this novel, which kept me hooked throughout and kept the plot simple enough to follow whilst also providing a lot of twists, turns and red herrings. As with the first book, the characters are well-rounded and memorable, with interesting quirks which made them feel real. I feel that Stephen wasn’t quite as naïve or sweet as I found him in the first book, but this really shows character growth in the time in between the books. The relationship between Stephen and Miss Decima develops nicely in this book as well which is lovely to see, and I look forward to more of this in the rest of the series.
This book works well as a standalone, although there are a few references to the previous books (and characters), as well as hints to the overarching mystery as well. This is enough to keep readers of the previous book happy but doesn’t feel like it would be particularly alienating for newer readers (although I would highly recommend reading them in order as they are both so good!). The world of London in 1911 felt realistic as well, and Ross Montgomery shares his sources at the end which proves it is well researched as well as entertaining.
Overall, The Shadows of Kensington Gore is another hit for Ross Montgomery and a great next instalment in the Stockingham and Pike Detective Series – I look forward to the next one! Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin General UK – Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton and Viking for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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