Rating: Very Good
Source: Publisher
Description: On a cold night in February, the popular Lighterman’s ball festivities are cut short when a guest of honor, Stephen Bremmer, goes into spasms and abruptly collapses. Once again Inspector Witherspoon returns to the Wrexley Hotel to investigate a murder.
The victim was considered a boorish snob who felt entitled to anything and anyone he wanted. Yet despite his Oxford education, he was barely literate, lazy, and prone to make stupid mistakes – his last mistake turned out to be crossing a killer.
The owners and management of the Wrexley Hotel clearly don’t welcome the return of Inspector Witherspoon but he has his job to do, and Mrs. Jeffries, and the rest of the household must do their best to catch a murderer who shows no signs of slowing down…
Genre: Mystery - Historical
Why I Picked This Book: I really enjoyed the previous book in this series and am excited to see more of Mrs. Jeffries, Mr. Smythe, Wiggins, Luty Belle and everyone else.
My Impression: I really love this series. It's got a bit of an Agatha Christie vibe but with a wider cast of characters. I love all the class system issues and this kind of cooperative upstairs/downstairs interaction. Plus, there is very little I love more in a mystery than a team of investigators and this has that in spades with Mrs. Jeffries and Mrs. Goodge giving out orders to the rest of the team.
The mystery was a fun one and I do love a murder where not only will no one miss the victim but the number of people who could have wanted him out of the way are plentiful. I did start to have inklings of the way it was going to go in the last quarter or so but I wasn't sure until the very end and what an ending it was! I love the world that Emily Brightwell has created. It's cheery and cozy with nice people solving murders and it's one that I'm already looking forward to revisiting. My only mild complaint is that there are a lot of characters and some of them blend together a bit. It doesn't really matter because it's the information they're getting that's important not their identity so it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the mystery.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I'm looking forward to going back to the beginning of this series and catching up to this one.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you like cozy mysteries or historical mysteries this is a fun series and one I think you could jump in at any point.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
This is on a wish list at Netgalley. I have not had a single wish granted upto now!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a delightful read. Thanks for the review.
This does look like a fun series. I'm thinking of trying the holiday themed one(s) at Christmastime. And it's always nice to have nice, likable people solving the crimes. :)
ReplyDeleteI love a mystery with multiple suspects. Brings to mind Death on the Orient Express. :)
ReplyDeleteThis one does sound like fun. I can understand how it would be easy to confuse the characters but am glad it worked so well for you.
ReplyDeleteThe more you talk about this series, the more I am convinced I would love them. Psst.. did you see the newest Kat Holloway Mysteries book is on NetGalley?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a near perfect cozy, and I too love that British upstairs / downstairs vibe to a book.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of this series, and really must give it a try! The time period and setting, and a great set of characters . . . This sounds wonderful.
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