As Mrs. Jeffries, the staff, and their friends began to talk with their sources and chat up neighbors, they found out some remarkable things about the Andover family members and Marcella. Some things were funny, such as Percy’s attitude about working! Some things were sad, while others were irritating.

Bert Santorini, an ice delivery man in the East End of London, ends his day by meeting someone in an alley off the Commercial Road in Whitechapel, a notoriously bad neighborhood. He has survived by his wits thus far and the person he is waiting for will pay if anything happens to Bert. Unfortunately for Bert, he's met by an unknown assailant who shoots him dead. When the police inspect the scene of the crime, they discover a gun belonging to Inspector Nigel Nivens lying next to the body. When the sensational press get ahold of the story, right away, they accuse the police of covering up the crime to protect one of their own. Superintendent Barrows is unimpressed and puts Inspector Witherspoon on the job. Scared, Nivens turns to Mrs. Jeffries for help but she doesn't trust him. It doesn't look good for Nivens, all the evidence points to him and Mrs. Jeffries knows they need to see justice done, no matter who the murderer was. She doesn't think it was Inspector Nivens, as much as she dislikes him. To the people of the West End, Bert Santorini was a good member of the community but in Whitechapel, he was not well liked and everyone seems to have a motive for murder. Can Inspector Witherspoon and Mrs. Jeffries figure this one out in time to save Inspector Nivens or will he finally be found guilty of a crime he may not have committed? Join Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard and his resourceful housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries in Book 2, as they delve into a challenging case involving a vanished maid and a priceless brooch. The duo’s tireless determination drives them to uncover the truth when they discover the brooch on a deceased woman. The Ghost and Mrs. JeffriesMrs. Jeffries and her group are as well defined as necessary for their roles, right down to the little daughter of Betsy and Smythe. We learn new tidbits about most of the regulars. I did enjoy the emotions Witherspoon displays at times, especially regarding a certain hobby and his nightly sherry with Mrs. Jeffries. The Andovers and Marcella are not people I would care to know, but Daniel seemed to have potential. People can be surprising, however, and I had a change of heart about some of the characters by the end. Tregolls School - an academy in Truro has been interviewing candidates to take over Lara Jeffries after she announced she was leaving, two years into the role. Then there was a giant step for mankind. I do not know if this started with Mrs. Jeffries # 37 or #38 since I haven't read them, but there has been a transformation with #39. The writing is more mature, the plot wonderfully complicated, the clues strewn like mysterious confetti, and the emphasis is on the dastardly Inspector Nivens. The accusation of murder against him could have been used for revenge, but instead it became an instrument of honor among the sleuths. The plotting and pacing were neatly done, and the depth of how it was executed could never have fit into the earlier works. Olive Kettering was always eccentric, but recently her behavior had become downright peculiar. She'd joined an odd religious group, was estranged from her family, worked her servants mercilessly, and even insisted that there were people trying to harm her. After a perfectly decent woman is killed during a robbery, the Witherspoon household receives a surprising visit from a stranger named Blimpey Groggins. He claims his best buddy was convicted of the crime.

She added: “Tregolls is in great hands and will have a very experienced local headteacher in the role until a permanent headteacher is recruited. I leave knowing what a superb team Tregolls has in place, knowing what fantastic teachers are supporting the children, and that there exciting plans for the future.” It took no time at all for the magistrate to rule the death of Harlan Westover a suicide. But not everyone is convinced by the result of what may have been a slip-shod investigation. The first book Victorian-era mystery series “ The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries,” features Inspector Witherspoon and his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, who assists in solving crimes. When a doctor is found dead, Mrs. Jeffries investigates despite her employer’s discomfort with questioning suspects, using her wit to uncover the truth behind the murder. Mrs. Jeffries Dusts For Clues Most people, from his peers, subordinates, superiors at the police station to his informants and people he sent to prison, dislike Nivens. He is not a team player, does not know how to investigate properly, relies on informants or bribery, and comes from a wealthy, powerful family whose help he begged for too many times. This time they are not going to help; it is up to him to figure it out. Part of the trouble is that he knows he has burned too many bridges with peers, including Inspector Witherspoon, to have any reason to hope for help. Gerald Witherspoon and his secret weapon loves justice far more than seeing someone else suffer unless proven to be the bad guy.

Publication Order of Mrs. Jeffries Books

Inspector Nigel Nivens is in serious trouble – very serious trouble. If you’ve read the previous books, you know what a despicable piece of work he is. Now, there has been a heinous murder, and all of the evidence points to Nivens being the perpetrator. Nivens detests Inspector Witherspoon, yet now, not only his career but his life is in Witherspoon’s hands. LOVE IT! Set in Victorian London this is #41 in the series if you can believe it. Having followed Mrs. Jeffries from the beginning I have come to know the characters like old friends. Everyone is a likable individual and somehow the author has managed to keep them fresh and engaging in every story. The timid inspector Witherspoon knows he is in dire need of help when Dr. Bartholomew Slocum gets murdered at his surgery. He hasn't got a clue how to proceed. Though someone is thrilled at the misery of the good inspector. In 2020 nothing was predictable, so it's wonderful to be able to rely on Emily Brightwell bringing us another delightful Mrs. Jeffries book. In Mrs. Jeffries Demands Justice, Inspector Nigel Nivens is in trouble. If you've read other Mrs. Jeffries books, you know that he is not someone you'd want to defend. Nivens hates Inspector Witherspoon and is a crooked, deceitful inspector. But Mrs. Jeffries knows Nigel Nivens has been set up to take the fall for a murder he didn't commit. And though none of the Witherspoon household staff would be sorry to see Nivens in prison, they don't want a murderer to go free or an innocent man to take the fall.

For light reading to pass the holidays along, this latest "Jeffries" only surprised me in that it was a bit of a slog and not all that rewarding in the end considering the reader has to plough through so much minutiae not once but twice: during some staff meetings and then also via the sherry-filled conversations this 'housekeeper' conducts with the Witherspoon wimp ...who apparently on an inspector's Victorian salary can keep a staff of four or more in his household. I like to think I'm pretty willing to suspend disbelief and give something different a fair try, but the Inspector in this book was such a complete clueless twit that it was simply impossible to believe that he could POSSIBLY have gone from the records room at Scotland Yard to being an Inspector. In the new mystery adventure “ Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize,” the Mayfair Orchid and Exotic Plant Society’s friendly rivalry turns deadly when orchid hunter Hiram Filmore is found murdered. Inspector Witherspoon investigates while Mrs. Jeffries discovers a shared past among the suspects. Together, they dig up long-buried secrets to determine which gardening enthusiast harbored a lethal grudge. Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong Christmas is rapidly approaching and everyone at Inspector Witherspoon’s is hoping their Inspector won’t catch any cases before the holiday because they are all looking forward to the celebrations. Sadly, that isn’t to be the case. Inspector Witherspoon is filling in for someone else when he is called to the scene of the murder of very wealthy Harriet Andover.Over the next few days, a couple things were clear to the police. One, her husband and stepchildren don’t have a lot of respect or love for her. Two, most other people liked Harriet, including her staff. One of the family resentments stems from Harriet being the one with the purse strings. They depended on her for everything. And she was one day away from changing her will, of which they greatly benefited. Another thing that I appreciate about this series is that as it has progressed, Inspector Witherspoon has really grown more capable and become more confident in his abilities. It seems as if the clues "fed" to him are fewer than before, and he has truly become the inspector that Scotland Yard and his fellow constables believe him to be....and always have been. The plot in a nutshell: Mrs. Jeffries is the housekeeper for Inspector Gerald Witherspoon. Witherspoon received a promotion after helping solve a rash of horrible murders. He used to be a records clerk for Scotland Yard, but now is an inspector who investigates and solves major crimes. Behind the scenes, Witherspoon is assisted by his staff of servants, headed by Mrs. Jeffries. The assistance with his cases is done in secret, of course, because they don't want to hurt Witherspoon's feelings. But, he can be absent minded at times and most of the time his investigations just need a nudge in the right direction. While he isn't the best investigator, Witherspoon is a very kind and generous employer. So his servants don't mind sneaking about to help him solve complicated cases. In the end, he believes he solved the cases himself, and his staff knows that they helped him maintain his reputation as one of the greatest investigators at Scotland Yard. Even with the premise that Mrs. Jeffries is the brains behind the Inspector and leads him to what needs to be done to solve the cases, it just beggared belief that someone who doesn't even know what to do at a crime scene, or have the first clue what questions to even ask could pull off his job. Not to mention how unlikely it would be that the constables or other people involved in his work could possibly have any respect for him or take instructions from him. Well, Mr.Jeffries leads the dim witted Witherspoon to quite an obvious solution to poisoning of the thoroughly despicable Dr. Barthlomew Slocum. While Inspector displays his Victorian class prejudice, although devoid of evidence or any motive, Witherspoon decides that the murder is slocum’s cook , who apparently for some unknown reasons had left the employ of duke of Bedford to instead work for the doctor. It is now up to Mrs Jeffries to unearth the real identity of the killer.

Ultimately it wasn’t a mystery easy to guess, the clues were leading on many paths and pointing fingers everywhere. Plenty of red herrings helped cloak the genuine culprit. The road to solving it wasn’t paved with anything obvious. Sometimes it’s cheating not to give enough clues for the reader to really guess, and sometimes it’s overwhelming to have so many suspects in the pot and little of them explored, but the point of this story seems to be the path to investigating and the enjoyment of observing the process with the cast and crew, not the ultimate outcome itself. This is my go-to light cozy who-done-it so after a couple of really heavy reads and a bit of upheaval in real life “Mrs. Jeffries Aims to Win” it is.

Success!

In “ Mrs. Jeffries Speaks Her Mind,” eccentric Olive Kettering claimed someone wanted to harm her, but no one took her seriously. When she’s shot and killed, numerous suspects emerge, all wanting her dead. Mrs. Jeffries fearlessly speaks her mind in pursuit of justice, determined to solve the case and bring the killer to light. Mrs. Jeffries Forges Ahead