The Ghost and Mrs. Jeffries

Inspector Gerald Witherspoon is quite hopeful, when a woman is murdered in the course of a burglary, that the case will be handed over to Inspector Nevins, who is after all the authority on robbery at Scotland Yard. It does seem a rather cut-and-dried case, but Inspector Witherspoon’s housekeeper, Mrs. Hepzibah Jeffries, is unconvinced: after all, what burglar would take trinkets and leave behind more valuable jewelry, and what burglar would open the closed door of the woman’s bedroom in order to shoot her when all he or they needed to do was to vacate the otherwise-empty house? Sadly for the Inspector, Mrs. Jeffries’ analysis is once more proven correct, and he is stuck with trying to solve the case, but fortunately for him, Mrs. show more Jeffries and the rest of the household staff are able and willing to work on the case behind his back…. This is the third book (of more than 40!) in this cozy series and like the earlier ones, it is a quick and breezy read, with well-drawn characters, a nicely nuanced setting (Victorian London in the 1880s) and a little bit of proto-feminist thinking (from Mrs. Jeffries only) thrown in for good measure. The Inspector is growing on me, although he is sometimes portrayed as perhaps just a bit too thick, and Mrs. Jeffries and her cohorts are generally quite good companions. And this time they acquire a dog too! As light reading, recommended. show less

Abigail Hodges is a formidable woman, but she’s taken aback when she and her husband visit a medium who predicts a dark fate. Still she dismisses the prediction as stuff and nonsense and heads home alone. When a servant goes up to wake her for breakfast the next morning, she is dead – killed when she interrupted a burglar … or did she?

I enjoy this cozy mystery series set in Victorian London, and featuring Mrs Hepzibah Jeffries, housekeeper to Inspector Gerald Witherspoon, and her team of servants who all help solve the crimes. Of course the Inspector gets all the credit. It’s a fast read, full of colorful characters, and while I figured out the culprit long before even Mrs Jeffries, I still enjoyed watching her figure it out and show more gently coaxing the Inspector towards the correct solution to the mystery. show less

Three weeks have passed since Mrs. Jeffries and her staff helped Inspector Witherspoon solve a murder case and everyone is getting on edge. When Mrs. Jeffries reads in the newspaper that a robbery and murder happened in the Inspector's district they are chomping at the bit to get busy undercover. The case should go to the burglary expert, but he has the measles and Witherspoon gets the case. There are enough discrepancies at the scene to make Mrs. Jeffries suspect premeditated murder but a plethora of suspects who hated the victim and had unsubstantiated alibis. Plenty to keep her group out looking for facts. Witherspoon confides his daily discoveries to Mrs. Jeffries and she nudges him in different directions based on what she's show more learned. It's all very implausible, but fun to see how they pull it together. show less

The Ghost and Mrs. Jeffries (Mrs. Jeffries, #3)
by Emily Brightwell

This is a mystery based in London in 1889 give or take a year or two. The cover does not fit my brain's description of Mrs Jeffries at all. I don't picture her frumpy at all but slim, and very put together. (Just by the activity and various things mentioned in the book.)

Mrs Jeffries is the head of staff at the home of Inspector Witherspoon. She has a special friendship with him and he likes to get things of his chest in the evening and Mrs J is a good listener and boosts ego too. What he doesn't know is that she is gathering clues and her and her staff then secretly add to those clues and find a way for the Inspector to get them. They help the "Inspector" solve the show more crime!

This is a good book to get away from the news, bothers of the day, and enjoy a simple but entertaining story. It was easy to figure out who did it but the characters are so charming and appealing I certainly will read more of these stories.
I got this from Chirp. Narration good! show less

This was typical Mrs. Jeffries fare, although there may have been even less of the inspector's involvement than ever. A very fast read, with little interest in any of the characters outside of the below stairs crew.

over done

over done