Author's Notes - Spoiler Warning
Be advised this page contains major spoilers for the books, if you haven't read them, I adivse you move on.The Kensington Quartet arc is set in Europe and deals with our heroes adventures around the Great War.
The Kensington arc was planned when the third book (A Berth to Bombay) was being plotted, at that point I had decided the next quartet would be set in Europe and the first book in that arc would deal with their family background.
The Kensington Quartet is set across the 1910s and the 4 books deal with the build up to the Great War, the actual war and the post-war implications.
The books will explore different themes across the narrative; forgiveness in A Wedding in Winchester, nature vs nurture in Our Man in Munich, the futility of war in A Summer at the Somme and
national betrayal in A Vaisakhi in Versailles.
This arc will explore the Indian experience during the Great War and the post-war effects of the British reneging on their promise to grant Indian independence, including the Jallianwala Baghatrocity in the Punjab.
Enjoy!
art by Ileana Hunter. Design by Ash Collins
The second complete quartet adventures of Charlotte Holmes and her companion Dr Watan during the Great War in Europe.
A WEDDING IN WINCHESTER (2021)
Annabelle Holmes, elder sister of Charlotte, is getting married but the bridegroom is missing and our heroes must solve the mystery.
Meanwhile Watan is hired by Baron Zorkin, the Russian agent, to retrieve some valuable items but the investigation repeatedly collides with the priorities of the Holmes siblings.
Dark family secrets are revealed and brutal truths confronted in the opening book of the new arc; The Kensington Quartet .
OUR MAN IN MUNICH (2021)
Europe, the Summer of 1914.
In the shadow of a looming conflict, Charlotte and Branwell, together with their families, undertake the Grand Bavarian tour.
Unbeknownst to her, Branwell is on a secret mission for the British Foreign Office to find and expatriate a British industrial spy.
A baffling case hides a deadly secret, the corruption of innocenct at the expense of their sanity; can Charlotte survive her most perplexing case?
A SUMMER @ THE SOMME (2023)
The Western Front, 1916.
The world is in turmoil as the Great War stalls in the muddy fields of Europe, the stagnant frontlines scythe through the flowers of youth, as the Empire is called on to defend the Mother Land.
Charlotte and Watan are enrolled as surgeons in a field hospital whilst Branwell is a Captain in the Indian Army— a sympathetic English officer in charge of the Indians; however, his superior, Major Charles de Beque is markedly less sympathetic.
The Great War extracts a heavy toll on our heroes both in mental and physical scars that will never heal.
A VAISAKHI IN VERSAILLE (2024)
Europe - 1918.
The Great powers convene in Versailles to decide the fate of Germany and Charlotte attends, with Dr Watan, as a delegate to assist the British envoy in the negotiations.
Branwell returns to India with his family and is charged by the Maharajah of Lahore to take his grandson to the Golden Temple in Amritsar for anointment as heir.
An old adversary makes an unwelcome return, new friendships are formed & lovers are savagely parted in the conclusion of the Kensington Quartet .