Mrs. Jeffries and the Merry Gentlemen
Emily Brightwell

Genre:
Mystery
Rating:

The holiday season brings a mix of merriment, mayhem, and murder. And it falls to Inspector Witherspoon—with a significant portion of help from the ever-watchful Mrs. Jeffries—to find the culprit…

THE BUSINESS OF DEATH

Orlando Edison is a stockbroker using London’s infatuation with foreign mining ventures to make a fortune. He has curried favor with the nation’s most respected aristocrats, even inviting three of the most influential investors in England—known as the Merry Gentlemen—to be part of his latest enterprise.

Despite his mysterious past, Edison is now welcomed in the highest circles and moves with ease among the rich and powerful. Yet a few days before Christmas, he is found sprawled across his doorstep, murdered. Charismatic and charming, Edison was kind to his servants and generous with his friends. Why would someone want him dead?

Inspector Witherspoon and his household are all looking forward to the festive season. Witherspoon is eager to spend time with his godchild. Wiggins, the footman, is infatuated with football and would rather cheer goals than chase down clues. And Mrs. Goodge longs to bake recipes from the latest cookbooks. But they all know their duty, and led by the intrepid Mrs. Jeffries, they plan to see justice served for the holidays….

Review

Everyone in Inspector Witherspoon’s household is preparing for Christmas. Unfortunately, the staff’s plans start to go awry when the Inspector is assigned to the murder of stockbroker Orlando Edison right before the holidays. The Inspector takes his new assignment in stride, but the household is disappointed. Usually everyone jumps at the chance to help the Inspector with his cases, but this time they are off their game. Their minds are wandering when they should be asking questions and important clues are being missed. Although the household would rather be celebrating the holidays, will they put their plans aside to do what it takes to help the Inspector solve this difficult case?

Mrs. Jeffries and the Merry Gentlemen is the latest in this long-running Victorian mystery series. New readers will have no trouble catching up on who’s who and should be able to dive right in and enjoy this book. If this is the first time you have read one of these books, the premise of the series may sound far-fetched. Scotland Yard Inspector Gerald Witherspoon solves murder cases with help of his housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, other staff members, and close friends of the household. The catch is Witherspoon doesn’t realize they are helping him! In the hands of Emily Brightwell, this unlikely premise works and the series is charming. The characters care about each other and love helping the Inspector and making sure murderers are brought to justice. The Victorian background is interesting and after a couple of books, the characters start to feel like family.

Although the premise of how the investigation is done remains the same throughout the series, each murder case is unique, which keeps each book fresh. Once it gets going, the case in this book is an interesting one. Orlando Edison, the victim, seems to be a nice person, so the Inspector and his “team” are finding it hard to discover who would murder someone like him. Most of the cases in this series take place among the upper classes and seeing the differences between their lives and the lives of their servants in Victorian London are an additional element that makes this series shine.

The book has an interesting plot, but it’s the characters that really make this series great. This time around, it’s refreshing to see how human the characters are when they are understandably dismayed by a murder case threatening to ruin their Christmas. This development adds an interesting twist to the investigation and gives a good reason to see a little more of the personal lives of the staff, such as new housemaid Phyllis and the young footman Wiggins, outside of the household or an investigation. The characters mature and grow throughout this series and it’s nice to see Phyllis gain some confidence as the series continues. The downside of this book for me was there wasn’t enough of Betsy! She is one of my favorite characters and although at the household meetings, she is clearly back to participating in the investigations now that her daughter is no longer a newborn, we didn’t get to see her in action questioning shopkeepers and housemaids and helping piece together the case. It seems more parts of the investigation that usual were related second-hand when the characters had their meeting instead of allowing the reader to see some of the questioning first hand, and detracted from the usual depth of the story.

I read a lot of mysteries and this is one of my favorite series. Some of most recent books in this series are a little better than this one, but it’s always a pleasure to spend time with these characters. Those who follow the series will enjoy catching up with the Inspector, Constable Barnes, Mrs. Jeffries, Mrs. Goodge, and the others. New readers who enjoy a light historical mystery, such as those by Kate Kingsbury, will enjoy meeting Mrs. Jeffries and the entire household this holiday season.

Reviewed by Christine