The Kensington Kidnap by Katie Gayle

The Kensington Kidnap is the first book in Katie Gayle’s Epiphany Bloom Mysteries.

Pip is not your usual amateur sleuth. In fact, she’s not a sleuth nor did she want to be one. It so happens that after trying her hand at a plethora of temp jobs (and failing miserably at each one of them), Pip finally lands a temp job at Boston Investigations. But the boss at BI is a huge believer of mansplaining so Pip the temp who was supposed to do the filing becomes Ms du Bois the PI.

Pip aka Ms du Bois is supposed to find a missing teenager. What’s so special about this teen? He’s the ambassador for Save the Forests campaign and the son of a famous actress. So off goes Pip du Bois in search of Matty Price, the missing teenager. What could possibly go wrong? Pip’s not a PI and the only ‘experience’ she has in solving cases is the ones she read – Miss Marple – and we already know Pip is very successful at… ahem, nothing?

What a hoot! The Kensington Kidnap is a witty, quirky and wackalicious cozy debut. Katie Gayle is a pseudonym for writing duo Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. At present, Bookouture has signed a deal of three books with Katie Gayle. I loved The Kensington Kidnap so much I cannot wait to read the next two books. Kate and Gail, you have a new fan. 😀

Meet our protagonist Pip. She’s good at.. um. Anyways, lets talk about Most, Pip’s three-legged cat. Well, he has three legs and is a cat. *Ahem* Pip was working as a temp receptionist at a Vet when she came across Most. Most’s owners never came to take him home after the surgery and the vet was planning to put him to sleep (put Most to sleep, not himself) when Pip rushed to the surgery, picked Most up and ran away.

Then we have Mummy, Pip’s mum. She’s decided to start a lemur farm in South America. You know, the ones which looks like small donkeys. Donkey-sized lemurs. Meanwhile, Flis, Pip’s sister (she’s the one who spoke to Pip of donkey-sized lemurs) thinks Llamas are pronounced as lelamas. (Double L and all that, you know). Also, Flis’ English is excellent. Save trees, avoid defenestration. In for a penny, in for a hound. *Who let the dogs out?*

Coming to the main mystery – yes, yes, Pip’s life is ‘mysterious’ but I am talking about the kidnapped teen here. From saving forests to mysterious cult, Pip learns a lot about the teen and his friends as she starts to investigate. We also meet Tim, Pip’s Landlord/flatmate and Jimmy, a might-be-ex-gang-member. As the story ends, we readers are given a hint as to what might happen in Pip’s life next. Job wise and also, heart department wise. All’s well that ends in a bell, right?

The Kensington Kidnap is a laughter riot. It’s been a long time since I read something as wacky and hilarious as this book. My, my! I laughed so much my tummy started to ache. Kudos to the authors for coming up with such a wackalicious story!

The character development is excellent and the pacing is simply perfect. The suspense is well-maintained throughout the story. The twist at the end is mind-blowing! A very well-written mystery, indeed. The Kensington Kidnap has made its way to my Best Books of 2020 list. Do I need to say more? 🙂

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Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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