Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump (A Victorian Mystery)

Incredibly the Mrs. Jeffries series just keeps on getting better. This is something like the 24 book in the series, and it just kept me turning pages. So often a long-running series gets stale, and the writing seems to get more brief, but not with Emily Brightwell. This is one of the best books in this series. Of course the folks at Upper Edmonton Gardens are like old friends to me by now, but not only that, the plot is tight, and the mystery is one that keeps you guessing. A man that doesn't appear to have any enemies is found floating face down in the Thames. Mrs. Jeffries and the gang know its murder, and they just have to get the police and Inspector Witherspoon to figure this out too. I highly recommend this cozy series to those who love that genre, and suggest that you begin at book one and read all the way up the list. You are in for a treat.

As a long time fan of Mrs. Jeffries, I was delighted that her latest had come out. It's such fun to read about the workings in the household and try to see what will happen with Betsy and Smythe. It takes me back to an age when life was slower and that's fun, too. If you are a fan of the Mrs. Jeffries series, you'll love this one.

Inspector Gerald Witherspoon has had tough murder cases to solve in the past, but his most recent case is particularly hard. The victim, Michael Provost, seemed to have no enemies, greedy relatives, or business rivals. Witherspoon has few clues one of which is that Provost was asking a lot of questions about the disappearance of a friend of his. It's going to take everything Witherspoon has to solve this case. Luckily he has his faithful servants, led by housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, to help him (even if he doesn't know it!). "Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump" is the latest entry in Emily Brightwell's wonderful Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries cozy mystery series - a series that never fails to delight. The series is set in Victorian England and in this book Brightwell puts in a great historical element - Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries - that adds much to the plot of the book as it is believed that Michael Provost was imitating Holmes as he looked into the disappearance of his friend. I love the fact that while Witherspoon's staff helps him investigate the murder with each book he gets better and better at investigating the crimes. I was pleased to see Ruth Cannonberry have a larger role in this book. What makes this series work for me is that the characters, while familiar at this point in the series, continue to grow, rather than stagnate. Wiggins in particular had some great moments (I wanted to hug him by the end of the book). And Witherspoon has a wonderful confrontation with Inspector Nivens that will have readers cheering. The mystery itself is well plotted and readers will have a hard time figuring out who would want to kill someone as well liked as Provost. Brightwell does a good job of switching between Witherspoon (with Inspector Barnes) and the servants investigating the case and all of them discover important clues. There are plenty of suspects and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the killer is as Brightwell continues to be Agatha Christie-like in her plotting. "Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump" is a delightful cozy mystery.

When a dead body is found in the Thames, everyone is shocked to learn that it belongs to a quiet businessman. Nobody has anything but praise for the dead man, making this case a real challenge. Yet Inspector Gerald Witherspoon of Scotland Yard has a secret weapon: his trusted housekeeper, Mrs Jeffries. Together with other servants and neighbors, Mrs Jeffries unlocks the clues of the crime. The victim, Michael Provost, was trying to determine why his friend, a local pub owner, had recently disappeared. Did his snooping bring him too close to the answer? Complicating matters is the another Scotland Yard inspector, who believes Provost's death is an accident. This book is not only a great cozy, but a interesting look at Victorian times and the power of the world behind the upper class. Mrs Jeffries and her band of amateur sleuths are interesting characters, even when just sitting around the kitchen, drinking tea. And Mrs Jeffries own techniques for planting ideas in the inspector's brain are very witty indeed. Author Emily Brightwell has developed a charming series. She brings just the right amount of historical grace to the book, highlighting class differences and crime solving without the high tech devices modern readers have gotten so familiar with. She uses her characters to utmost advantage in solving the case, never letting a clue drop (as one can find in so many other mystery series). "Mrs Jeffries Holds the Trump" and the Victorian Mystery series are equal parts charm and mystery, making them just perfect.

Inspector Weatherspoon is considered the shining superstar of the Metropolitan Police Department of Scotland Yard, but few people know he gets help in solving tough cases. Led by his housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, his household staff uses their under the stairs contacts to gather information that is serendipitously fed to the Inspector. When mortician Dr. Bodworth sees the body of Michael Prescott on his table, he is shocked that the police assume an accident occurred. He visits Mrs. Jeffries to ask her to investigate; she and the staff gladly agree; while Prescott's attorney and housekeeper go to the police to argue he was murdered. They say Michael was investigating the disappearance of a friend who was publican and a bookie when he died. Inspector Weatherspoon gets the case and learns Prescott was writing to the police begging them to look into his friend's vanishing. No on in the Yard will admit to reading the letters and every clue leads to a wider puzzle, leaving the Inspector and his housekeeper to wonder if this is the one that got away. Very few writers can consistently provide an entertaining historical cozy as Emily Brightwell does with her Mrs. Jeffries tales. The current Victorian era case is interesting catching the reader's attention due in part to recurring characters, but also because the police are under suspicion by the physician and team Jeffries. Readers will appreciate this latter half ninetieth century whodunit as Ms. J, her staff and her employer provide the audience with a strong investigation and a deep look at Victorian England. Harriet Klausner