Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong
A Victorian Mystery #35
Emily Brightwell
Berkley Prime Crime, May 2017
ISBN 978-0-399-58420-6
Trade Paperback
Inspector Witherspoon has the best household staff in all of Victorian London. A wealthy man, he’s still dedicated to justice for everyone, and his staff is determined to help him bring that about. The hardest part is convincing him he discovered all the clues himself. when he’s called upon to solve a murder.
When a despicable shyster con artist is murdered in his hotel room, no one is particularly sorry. Apparently everyone he came in contact with had a motive, but do the seeds of this crime lie in the past or in the present? This is what Mrs. Jeffries, Inspector Witherspoon’s stellar housekeeper, has the staff trying to find out. They work like well-oiled cogs in a fancy machine as they work their way through the mystery. All this and they manage to keep up their other duties too.
These are quite a diverse and egalitarian group for Victorian England, enjoyable for their differences. The dialogue seems suitable for who is speaking, the action never falters, and the descriptions are good, putting the reader right in place to observe.
Mrs. Jeffries never fails to put the Inspector in the way of catching the crook. There must be at least two dozen of these tales for readers to enjoy, and you probably won’t be able to stop at just one.
Reviewed by Carol Crigger, August 2017.
Author of Three Seconds to Thunder, Four Furlongs and Hometown Homicide.
Buried Under Books 