Product Description

While Inspector Witherspoon receives accolades and kudos for his Scotland Yard successes, his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, does a lion's share of the detection work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #468919 in Books
• Published on: 1993-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Though completely inept, Inspector Gerald Witherspoon has gained a reputation as Victorian-era Scotland Yard's shining star, thanks to his household staff, headed by Mrs. Jeffries, a policeman's widow. Mrs. Jeffries solves Witherspoon's mysteries without ever letting anyone, Witherspoon included, know she and the staff are involved. In this, romance writer Brightwell's ( Kindred Spirits ) first mystery, Mrs. Jeffries leads the dim-witted Witherspoon to the obvious solution to the poisoning of the thoroughly despicable Dr. Bartholomew Slocum. Displaying his Victorian class prejudice, despite a lack of motive or evidence, Witherspoon decides the murderer is Slocum's cook, who for unknown reasons left the employ of the Duke of Bedford to work for the doctor.It's up to Mrs. Jeffries to discover the true identity of the murderer. Unconvincing red herrings and cliches abound, and sharp readers will spot the murderer early on--he proves to be the least likely person. Brightwell makes Witherspoon almost overbearingly dumb and puts insufficient effort into the mystery itself, which quickly becomes tedious.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A Great Read!!!
I was so happy to find this series! Mrs. Jeffries is a delightful lady who runs the house for Inspector Witherspoon. He isn't very good at solving murders, but Mrs. Jeffries and her staff are, so they help him out by doing some behind the scenes investigating. Then they steer the inspector in the right direction without letting him know. The characters are wonderful and they grow with each book. This may not be the greatest mystery you have ever read, but it will still be one you can't wait to finish so you can start the next one. I love them!!!!

A very light Victorian mystery.
I read a lot of historical mysteries, and I love Victorian ones, so that is why I've begun the Emily Brightwell series about the clever Mrs. Jeffries. This book is written with a light hand, but the characters show promise. The bumbling Inspector Witherspoon, the street smart Smythe, the uppity cook Mrs. Goodge, and Betsey and Wiggins, as well as Mrs. Jeffries. These characters show a lot of promise, and I will continue to read this series. But readers don't expect a real Victorian flavour to these books. I found while reading the book that it was set in the Victorian age, but it very easily could have been any other era or place. Even the English cozy atmosphere that the writer tries to depict seems a bit contrived. For those who read the historical genre for atmosphere, they will find that as well as a sense of time and place is somewhat lacking in this series. Still a fun mystery (even though an easy one to figure out).

Great Series for Mystery Fans
I collected Emily Brightwell's Inspector Witherspoon and Mrs. Jeffries series ever since the first book came out and I just fell in love with the series. It's a combination of Victorian style and atmosphere with a hilarious tone and tons of fun. I could think of nothing more to do on a weekend than curling up on the couch with a hot mug of coffee and a blanket and just let your mind read the entire series. Each one of them is full of excitement and fun sleuthing by Mrs. Jeffries and her staff, Betsy, Smythe, Mrs. Goodge, and Wiggles(?) and the household dog Fred along with some of their friends are involved in solving cases that Inspector Witherspoon relunctantly but dutly solves. Including in the series, the ever hilarious Luty Belle Crookshank and her butler Hatchet especially with her wealthy, American attitude and her outspoken views versus his stiff upper lip Brtishiness and that adds up to some really wild exchanges between the two of them. The joy of this is that the Inspector has no clue that he has help from his devoted staff and their friends. Even the loyal Constable Barnes clued in to their sleuthing but supports them.