Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump

Inspector Gerald Witherspoon has had tough murder cases to solve in the past, but his most recent case is particularly hard. The victim, Michael Provost, seemed to have no enemies, greedy relatives, or business rivals. Witherspoon has few clues one of which is that Provost was asking a lot of questions about the disappearance of a friend of his. It's going to take everything Witherspoon has to solve this case. Luckily he has his faithful servants, led by housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, to help him (even if he doesn't know it!).

"Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump" is the latest entry in Emily Brightwell's wonderful Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries cozy mystery series - a series that never fails to delight. The series is set in Victorian England and in show more this book Brightwell puts in a great historical element - Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries - that adds much to the plot of the book as it is believed that Michael Provost was imitating Holmes as he looked into the disappearance of his friend. I love the fact that while Witherspoon's staff helps him investigate the murder with each book he gets better and better at investigating the crimes. I was pleased to see Ruth Cannonberry have a larger role in this book. What makes this series work for me is that the characters, while familiar at this point in the series, continue to grow, rather than stagnate. Wiggins in particular had some great moments (I wanted to hug him by the end of the book). And Witherspoon has a wonderful confrontation with Inspector Nivens that will have readers cheering. The mystery itself is well plotted and readers will have a hard time figuring out who would want to kill someone as well liked as Provost. Brightwell does a good job of switching between Witherspoon (with Inspector Barnes) and the servants investigating the case and all of them discover important clues. There are plenty of suspects and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the killer is as Brightwell continues to be Agatha Christie-like in her plotting.

"Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump" is a delightful cozy mystery. show less

Incredibly the Mrs. Jeffries series just keeps on getting better. This is something like the 24 book in the series, and it just kept me turning pages. So often a long-running series gets stale, and the writing seems to get more brief, but not with Emily Brightwell. This is one of the best books in this series. Of course the folks at Upper Edmonton Gardens are like old friends to me by now, but not only that, the plot is tight, and the mystery is one that keeps you guessing. A man that doesn't appear to have any enemies is found floating face down in the Thames. Mrs. Jeffries and the gang know its murder, and they just have to get the police and Inspector Witherspoon to figure this out too. I highly recommend this cozy series to those show more who love that genre, and suggest that you begin at book one and read all the way up the list. You are in for a treat. show less

Dr. Bosworth is certain that his friend Michael Provost, pulled lifeless from the Thames, could not have fallen in accidentally and could not have killed himself, but he has a hard time convincing the police of that. He talks to Mrs. Jeffries about it, and she tries to think of a way to get the information to Inspector Witherspoon, but it is only when Provost’s solicitor insists to the Chief Inspector that the death be investigated that the police take any action. Unfortunately for Inspector Witherspoon, there is very little information to go on, especially as the man’s household insists that he wrote letters to the police about his own “investigation” into the disappearance of a friend of his, letters that nobody seems to have show more seen…. There were a few little problems with this book, notably that one character is misnamed (that is, the Inspector talks with one suspect and then with another suspect and both are called by the same name), a mistake that could have been corrected by a proofreader, and some words that are run-on now (tonight, household) are separated (to night, house hold), some of which is correct for the period but not all - and those spellings are not consistent throughout the book. Minor quibbles, yes, but such things detract from the whole unfortunately. Meantime, a subplot involving Wiggins starts nicely but sort of peters out before too long; a bit more attention could have been paid there. However, the romance between the Inspector and Ruth Cannonberry seems to be progressing nicely, so there’s that. Not one of my favourites in this series, still mildly recommended though. Two and a half stars. show less

A Victorian "cozy" set in London.

Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard is called upon to investigate a case of drowning, which in actuality is a case of murder. The medical examiner reports that the body he examined was coshed on the head and that there are hand shaped bruise marks on the corpse's shoulders and arms....

The murdered man was on a quest to find out what became of a long-time friend who had recently disappeared. The victim had recently joined a "Men's Club" whereupon he set about making inquiries of his fellow whist players, who for some reason were always in need of a "fourth".

Apparently, Inspector Witherspoon isn't much of a "creative" thinker/detective, for unbeknownst to him, his household (lead by Mrs. Jefferies) show more tends to do much of his investigation for him, whereupon Mrs Jefferies takes their information and gently feeds it to the Inspector during their afternoon tea or over their after dinner sherry.

Cleverly written but a bit trite.... show less

Housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries and her employer, Inspector Gerald Witherspoon, investigate the drowning of the owner of a medical supply company, a man without greedy relatives or business rivals but a flair for amateur sleuthing that may have caused his murder.