{"id":27830,"date":"2021-11-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=27830"},"modified":"2022-10-16T12:50:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T12:50:06","slug":"review-mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders-by-emily-brightwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/17\/review-mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders-by-emily-brightwell\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \ud83d\udd0d Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders by Emily Brightwell"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-27830\" data-postid=\"27830\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-27830 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders-emily-brightwell.jpg?resize=333%2C500\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\" title=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders by Emily Brightwell\" alt=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders by Emily Brightwell\">\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Harriet Andover had no intention of dying young like her silly siblings had. She intended to outlive them and outdo them as she always had. But Harriet discovers that the best intentions can lead to murder when she is strangled inside her mansion with a house full of holiday guests.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">As much as Inspector Witherspoon enjoys his job delivering justice, the last thing he wanted was a complicated murder case just a week before Christmas. He soon discovers that Harriet&#8217;s own husband and grown stepchildren are not overcome with grief and neither are most of her friends. And to put the icing on the Christmas cookies, the room where Harriet&#8217;s body was found was locked from the inside and she had the only key in her pocket.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Mrs. Jeffries and the household have no intention of letting their inspector down and learn that Harriet&#8217;s sister may have died from foul play as well. As the clues mount, this dedicated band of merry sleuths will not rest until they&#8217;ve delivered a stocking full of coal to a crafty killer.<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25881 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong><br \/>Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Nov 16, 2021<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Mrs. Jeffries Mysteries<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>40<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $13.99<\/p><hr \/><p><br \/><br \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s almost Christmas when Inspector Witherspoon is called to the scene of his latest murder case. Wealthy businesswoman Harriet Andover is found strangled in her locked study. It seems it must be a member of her household and uncovering motives is easy, but proving who committed this terrible crime turns out to be much harder. Fortunately, Witherspoon has the hard-working Constable Barnes working alongside him at the crime scene. In addition, although he is unaware of this, his household staff and a couple of close friends help him gather clues. <strong>Mrs. Jeffries,<\/strong> his housekeeper, is the leader of these unofficial investigations and is able to put all the evidence together to identify the killer and find ways to make sure Witherspoon has all the information needed to get justice for the victim.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book is part of a long-running series, but the author does a good job of including the necessary information about the main characters to bring readers who are new to the series up to speed. The reader is given the clues right along with Mrs. Jeffries and the Inspector, and will be able to figure out some, but probably not all, of the details of the case. I was pleased that all of the members of the household contribute equally to the case, without any one character dominating the book. Less satisfying is the fact that there seems to be less scenes showing the actual investigation. Things start coming together for Mrs. Jeffries and for Witherspoon, and the conclusion of the case makes sense with the clues that are given throughout the book.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The book takes place in Victorian England around Christmastime. However, except for a few passages about some of the decorations in the victim\u2019s house, I was disappointed that there weren\u2019t more details about holiday preparations and customs of the times. I think for a book coming out this time of year, this is a missed opportunity. There are two major developments not related to the case, that take place right at the end of the book. Without giving anything away, one is related to the personal life of a main character, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out in future books. The other is the return of Witherspoon\u2019s nemesis Inspector Nigel Nivens. This is rumored at the very beginning of the book, but more about this is revealed at the very end. After the events of the prior book, I thought we had seen the last of him, but unfortunately it looks like he\u2019ll be back to cause more trouble in the next book. In spite of this, I enjoyed the book and think fans of the series as well as fans of <em><strong>Victoria Thompson<\/strong> <\/em>or of <em><strong>Anne Perry\u2019s<\/strong><\/em> holiday mysteries will like it as well.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3HsClCg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders\/id1547582085?itsct=books_box_link&amp;itscg=30200&amp;ls=1&amp;at=11l88k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders-emily-brightwell\/1138574355?ean=9780593101094\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Emily_Brightwell_Mrs_Jeffries_and_the_Midwinter_Mu?id=PTESEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harriet Andover had no intention of dying young like her silly siblings had. She intended to outlive them and outdo them as she always had. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,89,128,48],"tags":[152,223,303,304,367,405],"class_list":["post-27830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-christine","category-penguin-group","category-reviews","tag-4-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-historical-cozy","tag-historical-mystery","tag-mystery","tag-recommended-reads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \ud83d\udd0d Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders by Emily Brightwell - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/17\/review-mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders-by-emily-brightwell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders by Emily Brightwell - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harriet Andover had no intention of dying young like her silly siblings had. 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She intended to outlive them and outdo them as she always had. 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She intended to outlive them and outdo them as she always had. But Harriet discovers that the best intentions can lead to murder when she is strangled inside her mansion with a house full of holiday guests.<br \/><br \/>As much as Inspector Witherspoon enjoys his job delivering justice, the last thing he wanted was a complicated murder case just a week before Christmas. He soon discovers that Harriet's own husband and grown stepchildren are not overcome with grief and neither are most of her friends. And to put the icing on the Christmas cookies, the room where Harriet's body was found was locked from the inside and she had the only key in her pocket.<br \/><br \/>Mrs. Jeffries and the household have no intention of letting their inspector down and learn that Harriet's sister may have died from foul play as well. As the clues mount, this dedicated band of merry sleuths will not rest until they've delivered a stocking full of coal to a crafty killer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong><br \/>Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Nov 16, 2021<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Mrs. Jeffries Mysteries<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>40<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $13.99<\/p><hr \/><p><br \/><br \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s almost Christmas when Inspector Witherspoon is called to the scene of his latest murder case. Wealthy businesswoman Harriet Andover is found strangled in her locked study. It seems it must be a member of her household and uncovering motives is easy, but proving who committed this terrible crime turns out to be much harder. Fortunately, Witherspoon has the hard-working Constable Barnes working alongside him at the crime scene. In addition, although he is unaware of this, his household staff and a couple of close friends help him gather clues. <strong>Mrs. Jeffries,<\/strong> his housekeeper, is the leader of these unofficial investigations and is able to put all the evidence together to identify the killer and find ways to make sure Witherspoon has all the information needed to get justice for the victim.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book is part of a long-running series, but the author does a good job of including the necessary information about the main characters to bring readers who are new to the series up to speed. The reader is given the clues right along with Mrs. Jeffries and the Inspector, and will be able to figure out some, but probably not all, of the details of the case. I was pleased that all of the members of the household contribute equally to the case, without any one character dominating the book. Less satisfying is the fact that there seems to be less scenes showing the actual investigation. Things start coming together for Mrs. Jeffries and for Witherspoon, and the conclusion of the case makes sense with the clues that are given throughout the book.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The book takes place in Victorian England around Christmastime. However, except for a few passages about some of the decorations in the victim\u2019s house, I was disappointed that there weren\u2019t more details about holiday preparations and customs of the times. I think for a book coming out this time of year, this is a missed opportunity. There are two major developments not related to the case, that take place right at the end of the book. Without giving anything away, one is related to the personal life of a main character, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out in future books. The other is the return of Witherspoon\u2019s nemesis Inspector Nigel Nivens. This is rumored at the very beginning of the book, but more about this is revealed at the very end. After the events of the prior book, I thought we had seen the last of him, but unfortunately it looks like he\u2019ll be back to cause more trouble in the next book. In spite of this, I enjoyed the book and think fans of the series as well as fans of <em><strong>Victoria Thompson<\/strong> <\/em>or of <em><strong>Anne Perry\u2019s<\/strong><\/em> holiday mysteries will like it as well.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3HsClCg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders\/id1547582085?itsct=books_box_link&amp;itscg=30200&amp;ls=1&amp;at=11l88k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders-emily-brightwell\/1138574355?ean=9780593101094\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/mrs-jeffries-and-the-midwinter-murders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Emily_Brightwell_Mrs_Jeffries_and_the_Midwinter_Mu?id=PTESEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27830"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29095,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27830\/revisions\/29095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}