Customer Reviews

Mrs. Jeffries Pleads Her Case

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His peers admire him; his subordinates emulate him; His superiors think that he is the perfect policeman in Scotland Yard. Very few people have any inkling that his servants, who adore him, use their connections and their wits to help Inspector Witherspoon solve his homicide cases. The housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries uses guile and flattery to subtly direct the investigation. Aside from helping their employer, his servants like working behind the scenes to see justice done and know they had a part in making it happen.

Mr. Westover's death was originally ruled a suicide but Inspector Witherspoon's superior wants him to take another look at the case because the victim's landlady knows he was not the suicidal type. When the inspector begins his own investigation, he discovers that the victim was in a locked room with the key outside the door. He also learns that he was very angry just before he was shot and it was had something to do with work. Using information subtly given to him by Mrs. Jefferies he begins to get an inkling as to who committed the murder.

MRS. JEFFRIES PLEADS HER CASE is a charming, upbeat British police procedural cozy. Readers might guess early on why Westover was killed but they won't be able to deduce who the perpetrator is because many of the suspects had means and opportunity to perform the deed. Emily Brightwell, the author of this long running series, has written another fine work that fans Of British cosies will just love.

Harriet Klausner

I truly enjoy this series, and the biggest part of that is the liking that I have for the characters. The staff at Upper Edmonton Gardens are truly wonderful, and I think of them as old friends by this time. In this mystery Mrs. Jeffries and her crew are sussing out an apparent suicide. Their Inspector Witherspoon and themselves all think that it wasn't a suicide, but a carefully plotted murder. As they are all digging further they uncover all kind of unsavory things, such as marital discord, fraud and yes, murder. This is a wonderful series with truly believable characters. A Victorian cozy series that is worth reading!

I had not read any of the "Mrs. Jeffries" mysteries but now I,m hooked.
Around the late 1800's Mrs. J is the Inspector,s housekeeper. Unfortunately for the Inspector, he isn't quite as swift as he should
be solving his cases so Mrs. J nudges him here and there to get the
cases solved with the help of all of the other servants in the household.
She finds out what his latest case is and gives her helpers different
chores to do then when she has a glass of wine with him before he eats
his dinner, she casually gets in, "have you ever thought of this; well,
of course you have then he begins to think he has and eventually solves
the case. Needless to say, the poor inspector has no idea that his
own housekeeper and her gang are the ones respondsible for actually
solving the case. I just hope Brightwell keeps on writing these
stories as I hate to get to the last one and not a new one in sight!

This is the first book I have read in this series by this author and loved it. It was a quick read started it yesterday evening and did not want to put it down. I am going to start reading the other books in this series. Mrs Jeffries and the other staff that helps the inspector and very intriguing. I am wanting to learn more about them and see where this goes.

I have now read at least five Mrs. Jeffries mysteries. I bought seven from Amazon recently.

Having the group of household help helping, unbeknownst to the Inspector with the solving of the crime makes for a clever read and a unique approach. The characters are defined by speech and roles they play both in the household (and some as neighbors) and in their detective work. Don't walk, run to Amazon.com to buy your copies.

Patricia Walworth Wood

All the Mrs. Jeffries series books are great! Got my book in record time from this vendor.