Mrs. Jeffries Stands Corrected

When a publican is murdered in his own pub on opening day (his birthday to boot!), Scotland Yard Inspector Gerald Witherspoon is assigned to investigate; the problem is that there were a lot of people in the pub, a huge percentage of those people had reason to hate the publican, and everybody’s attention had been drawn away at the crucial moment, in order to watch a fight that was unfolding in the street outside. Mrs. Jeffries, housekeeper to the Inspector, and her fellow servants - Betsy the maid, Wiggins the footman, Smythe the coachman and Mrs. Goodge the cook - are ready to help with the investigation, but this time the Inspector is keeping the details of the crime to himself and following his own “inner voice” to solve the show more case. But if the Inspector follows his instincts, it’s sure that the culprit will go free and he himself will be back in the records room in disgrace in no time - and Mrs. Jeffries can’t let that happen…. The ninth book in the long-running Victorian cozy series holds several surprises, in particular the fact that the Inspector, hitherto an endearing, very kind but not too intelligent character, seems to finally be developing a detective’s sensibility and instinct! Very enjoyable, especially because the suspects in this case range through a good portion, if not the entirety, of the English social classes of the time, which the author does a good job of depicting without resorting to worn-out cliches. Recommended. show less

It's always a pleasure to visit the staff of Edmonston Gardens. Same structure, same characters, same level of enjoyment!