Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong
Emily Brightwell     
December 2021 Releases

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Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery
Series: A Victorian Mystery
Book: 35

Mrs. Jeffries is back in the New York Times bestselling Victorian Mytery series, perfect for fans of Downton Abbey.

Thomas Mundy checks in to London’s Wrexley Hotel, but he never checks out. The maid finds him on the floor of his room, bludgeoned to death by his own walking stick. Inspector Witherspoon is soon on the case and learns Mundy had a reputation for being polite, charming, and diligent—an unlikely victim for such a violent crime.
 
But Mrs. Jeffries and the household staff uncover that Mundy was less an amiable businessman and more a duplicitous con man with enemies on both sides of the Atlantic. Now Witherspoon and his staff must determine who on their lengthy list of suspects had the motive to put Mundy in the red.
 
A Mrs. Jeffries Mystery
 
She keeps house for Inspector Witherspoon . . . and keeps him on his toes. Everyone’s awed by his Scotland Yard successes—but they don’t know about his secret weapon. No matter how messy the murder or how dirty the deed, Mrs. Jeffries’ polished detection skills are up to the task . . . proving that behind every great man there’s a woman—and that a crimesolver’s work is never done.

Scotland Yard Inspector Witherspoon and his loyal constable, Barnes, are once again called onto the scene of a murder. The victim is Thomas Mundy, killed in his hotel room with his own walking stick. At first, there is no apparent motive, because Mundy seems to be a well-liked, charming businessman. However, when Witherspoon’s housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries and the rest of the household staff do some digging, they learn Mundy was actually a con man with plenty of people who would have liked to see him dead. It’s up to Mrs. Jeffries and team to give the Inspector the clues he needs to solve the crime, but some tension between two of the staff members seems to be getting in the way of the crime-solving, so Mrs. Jeffries must also deal with that so everyone can get back to doing what they do best – working together to bring a murderer to justice.

The Mrs. Jeffries Victorian mystery series is one of my favorites. I love the characters and the way Inspector Witherspoon’s staff has become a family, always looking out for each other. If you’ve not read a book in this series before, it may seem strange that Witherspoon doesn’t realize his staff and a couple of close friends are working together to solve the cases to which he is assigned, all without his knowledge. However, this unusual premise seems believable in the hands of Emily Brightwell and the result is a charming cozy mystery series with characters you care about.

Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong has the investigation into Mundy‘s murder as the main plot and then the problems between the footman Wiggins and the housemaid Phyllis as the sub-plot. The case itself becomes more and more interesting as the true nature of the victim is revealed and more and more suspects are uncovered. I was surprised by the solution and enjoyed seeing Mrs. Jeffries and the household in action. Everyone pitches in to solve the case, as usual, but the focus is often on Wiggins and Phyllis. The young man and woman are very competitive toward each other in this book and are able to discover some vital clues to help solve the case. Much of the book also deals with the tension between the characters and the affect it has on the entire household. The cause of the uncharacteristic behavior of the two is determined and part of the problem is taken care of, but it looks like there could be ongoing complications that will continue in future books. All in all, this is a solid installment in this delightful series. New readers shouldn’t be put off by the fact this is a long-running series. Anyone who enjoys the Victorian novels of Victoria Thompson or the modern British cozy mysteries by Hazel Holt will be charmed by Mrs. Jeffries.

~ Christine