Synopses & Reviews
THE BUSINESS OF DEATH Orlando Edison is a stockbroker using Londons infatuation with foreign mining ventures to make a fortune. He has curried favor with the nations most respected aristocrats, even inviting three influential investorsknown as the Merry Gentlemento be part of his latest enterprise. Edison is welcomed in the highest circles and moves with ease among the rich and powerful. But a few days before Christmas, he is found murdered.
Inspector Witherspoon and his household are looking forward to the festive season. But they all know their duty, and led by the intrepid Mrs. Jeffries, they plan to see justice served for the holidays . . .
A Mrs. Jeffries Mystery
She keeps house for Inspector Witherspoon . . . and keeps him on his toes. Everyones awed by his Scotland Yard successesbut they dont 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 theres a womanand that a crimesolvers work is never done.
Review
“It’s murder most English all the way!”
Review
“A winning series.”--
The Paperback ForumReview
Praise for the Mrs. Jeffries mysteries:
“[A] winning combination in Witherspoon and Jeffries. Its murder most English all the way!”—The Literary Times
“Fascinating murder mystery...wit and style...a winning series. Mrs. Jeffries is the Miss Marple of Victorian Mystery.” —The Paperback Forum
“One historical mystery series that never gets boring or dull.”—Midwest Book Review
Review
Praise for the Mrs. Jeffries Mysteries: “Enjoyable…Cozy fans will be well satisfied.”—Publishers Weekly “Full of humor, suspense, adventure, and touches of romance…Delightful.” —Rendezvous “A winning series.”—The Paperback Forum “Its murder most English all the way!”—The Literary Times
Synopsis
A two-story killer. Train enthusiast Francis Humphreys took his last breath while relatives and neighbors visited downstairs. But if everyone was downstairs, who could have stolen into Uncle Francis?s study, killed him, and escaped? Mrs. Jeffries will have to lend her downstairs common sense to this upstairs murder mystery.
Synopsis
The eccentric Olive Kettering swore someone was trying to harm her. Too bad no one listened, though plenty wanted her dead. When Olive is shot and killed, Mrs. Jeffries has no problem speaking her mind to see justice served.
Synopsis
Ring in the season with another Mrs. Jeffries tale of holiday homicide.
Under a bundle of mistletoe, art collector Daniel McCourt lies with his throat slit, a bloody sword next to his body. Inspector Witherspoon is determined to solve the case-preferably before the eggnog is ladled out on Christmas Eve-but of course he will require assistance from the always sharp-witted housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, who has a few of her own theories on why McCourt had to die by the sword.
Synopsis
Arlette Montrose Banfield angered many marriageable women when she snagged the handsome Lewis Banfield-but were they angry enough to poison her? Mrs. Jeffries doesn't mind getting her hands dirty to uncover the greed behind her murder.
Synopsis
The week before Christmas, Inspector Gerald Witherspoon's staff prepares for the long-awaited wedding of Betsy and Smythe. But when a middle-aged spinster is killed in what looks like a random crime, the Inspector suspects otherwise. With uncooperative witnesses, sulking relatives, and a second Christmas wedding, a simple investigation seems as unlikely as catching St. Nick at work.
Synopsis
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.
When the general office manager of Sutcliffe Manufacturing is murdered, no one is really surprised. Ronald Dearman was anything but a dear man. The tyrannical bully had more than enough enemies to go around. But who hated him enough to walk into his office and put a bullet between his eyes?
For once, Inspector Gerald Witherspoon doesn't get the case; it's given to another inspector. Then someone from Mrs. Jeffries' past—someone she'd hoped to never see again—shows up and begs for her help. Now Mrs. Jeffries must step into the fray and stop a terrible miscarriage of justice…
Synopsis
KISS OF DEATH Moments after a high tea is interrupted by a fire in the servants’ hall, art collector Daniel McCourt is found sprawled on the floor of his study under a bundle of mistletoe, his throat slit by the bloody sword lying next to his body. Could the killer be a disgruntled lover, sending a message by murdering McCourt under the mistletoe? Could it be one of his fellow collectors, pointedly using one of McCourt’s own acquisitions to kill him? Inspector Witherspoon is determined to solve the case—preferably before Christmas Eve—but of course he will need some assistance from the always sharp-witted Mrs. Jeffries, who has her own theories on why McCourt had to die by the sword… A Mrs. Jeffries Mystery
Synopsis
A two-story killer. Train enthusiast Francis Humphreys took his last breath while relatives and neighbors visited downstairs. But if everyone was downstairs, who could have stolen into Uncle Francis?s study, killed him, and escaped? Mrs. Jeffries will have to lend her downstairs common sense to this upstairs murder mystery.
Synopsis
OLD SINS CAST LONG SHADOWS
Normally dead bodies in a graveyard are buriedbut not this one. When a woman is found strangled in a North London cemetery with an old newspaper clipping clutched in her hand, Inspector Witherspoon is surprised to find that he and the victim have crossed paths before.
Alice Robinson was a respectable widow who ran a quiet Islington lodging house. None of her lodgers have any apparent motive to murder their landlady. But nagging suspicions are lodging in the Inspectors mindonly he knows that Alice Robinson” is not her real name. Now hell need the help of Mrs. Jeffries to revisit an old case that has haunted him for years and to get the real story.
About the Author
Emily Brightwell is the author of 33 Inspector Witherspoon and Mrs. Jeffries books (Mrs. Jeffries Pleads the Fifth, Mrs. Jeffries Sallies Forth, Mrs. Jeffries Turns the Tide).