Mrs. Jeffries Sweeps the Chimney [Kindle Edition]

Emily Brightwell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Miss Marple of Victorian mystery. (Paperback Forum)

Product Description

A dead man dressed like a vicar is propped against a church wall, clutching the address of a dilapidated cottage that's abandoned--except for a human skeleton inside. Inspector Witherspoon's only prayer is to seek the counsel of his housekeeper and secret weapon, Mrs. Jeffries--who proves that a great crimesolver's work is never done.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 411 KB
• Print Length: 228 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0425193918
• Publisher: Berkley (January 6, 2004)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001LQYT5Y
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,911 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I was born in West Virginia, the middle sister to Nanette and Linda. My parents moved the family to Los Angeles in the early sixties, and I graduated from Pasadena High School. I attended California State University at Fullerton and earned a Degree in American Studies.
On a visit to England in 1975, I met my future husband, Richard. We were married in May 1976 and lived in a small village outside London. We came back to California in September 1977.
In 1988 I began my new career as a fiction writer. Although I was working in the shipping industry, and enjoyed my job, I wanted to fulfil my long-held desire to write!
I began by writing romances. I joined the Romance Writers of America - Orange County chapter. After my entry in the "unpublished authors" contest run by this chapter was announced as a finalist - I was delighted, but the New York editor who read my entry was scathing in her criticism. I was crushed for a day or so, but it hardened my resolve to continue writing. My very next proposal was the one that my agent sold to Silhouette. It was published under my pen name of Sarah Temple as KINDRED SPIRITS. I was thrilled - a published author!

I wrote two more Special Editions for Silhouette but I jumped at the chance to write a Victorian mystery series for Berkley - I've always had a keen interest in mysteries. I called my brother-in-law, Robert, who lives in London and he found old,original London newspapers from the 1880s and a host of books on Victorian households. These books and newspapers were priceless guides to my understanding of the real Victorian world of Inspector Witherspoon and Mrs. Jeffries.
I have also written some Young Adult novels,which are not currently in print - writing as Cheryl Lanham - my maiden name. These were such fun to write because teenagers are so emotional and it was great therapy to switch from the lives of a Victorian household involved in solving murders to the angst of a contemporary California teenager! By some strange quirk of events, the Young Adult books sold really well in Norway - translated into Norwegian, I hasten to add. Sales in the United States were not as dramatic and the series was cancelled.

I quit my part-time job in October 2010 so I could write mysteries full-time. I live in southern Orange County.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and refreshing, January 7, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mrs. Jeffries Sweeps the Chimney (Paperback)

Scotland Yard's Inspector Witherspoon is wealthy; lives in a luxurious townhouse in London, and his peers respect him and are in awe of his talent of always solving homicide cases assigned to him. People, including the inspector don't realize that his household staff, who care and love him and love being in on the chase, help him find the clues that will lead him to the killer.

His latest case is very perplexing. The Reverend Jasper Claypool who has been in India for ten years has returned to England only to be killed the very same day. None of his heirs claim they have heard from him and a note in the Vicar's handwriting leads them to an abandoned cottage where the body of a woman was been placed in the chimney ten years ago. Both Witherspoon and his house staff are convinced the two are related but to solve this case will take all the resources they can muster and then some.

MRS. JEFFRIES SWEEPS THE CHIMNEY is a delightful and refreshing amateur sleuth tale that relies on cerebral reasoning to solve the case. Witherspoon's staff acts like a tightly knit family who will go to any lengths to see their employer recognized as a hero in the eyes of his supervisors. Emily Brightwell can always be counted on to keep her audience entertained with her witty and upbeat mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspector Witherspoon's secret assets, August 25, 2004

By 

S. Saunders (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mrs. Jeffries Sweeps the Chimney (Paperback)

Behind many a great man there was a woman. Behind kindly - and clueless - Inspector Witherspoon is a household staff which would be a credit to any intelligence agency. But he doesn't know it.

His housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, a policeman's widow who learned a lot from her late mate's shop talk, marshals the investigative talents of cook Mrs. Goodge, coachman Smythe, housemaid Betsy, young Wiggins the footman - and the eccentric wealthy Lutybelle and her butler - to work the Inspector's cases and adroitly engineer results which reflect credit only on the Inspector. This case begins with the murder of a clergyman and moves on to the discovery of a woman's skeleton in an abandoned cottage. Working behind the scenes on Inspector Witherspoon's murder cases is becoming such good sport that Mrs. Jeffries worries that too many people know how much help the oblivious Inspector is getting from his household staff and friends. If word got out it would damage the Inspector's professional reputation as a crack crime-solving detective.

This is good fun reading. The plot thickens nicely as it goes along: a family factory, two very different sisters, the disposition of controlling interest in the family firm, mysterious assignations in a condemned and vacant house, tensions between half-brothers.

We glimpse young Wiggins' family background as he is summoned to his estranged and very ill grandfather's bedside. However, we learn nothing new about the Inspector's nascent romance with a lovely neighbor lady which began in some of the earlier books in the series.

I do enjoy whiling away a few hours with the latest Mrs. Jeffries novel. This is a strong entry in the series.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mrs Jeffries does it again, June 30, 2004

By 

L O'connor (richmond, surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mrs. Jeffries Sweeps the Chimney (Paperback)

Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard is a nice man, but not a particularly good detective. So his devoted housekeeper, Mrs Jeffries, and the rest of his equally devoted staff, help him to solve his crimes without him knowing. The information they gather is passed on to the Inspector via hints and suggestions from Mrs Jeffries, and he ends up thinking he has solved the cases himself. Once you can accept this wildly improbable premise, you can relax and enjoy the series. In this one,a clergyman has been shot dead and the skeleton of a young woman found in a chimney. Can the Inspector's devoted staff solve these crimes? Of course they can! Mrs Goodge the Cook, Betsy the maid, Wiggins the footman, Smythe the coachman, who is secretly engaged to Betsy (why secretly, I've no idea), and of course Mrs Jeffries herself, are all engaging characters, and their delight whenever there is a murder to solve is quite understandable, after all it's a lot more fun than housework. My favourite characters are feisty American widow Luty Belle Cruickshank, and her argumentative butler Hatchett, who help the Inspector's staff to solve their cases. Never mind the improbability of the premise, suspend disbelief and just enjoy the latest episode in this amusing series.