Murder Comes to Call

Jessica Ellicott

Oct 2020 · A Beryl and Edwina Mystery Book 4 · Kensington Books

About this ebook

The lean years following World War I can lead to desperate acts—even in the quiet English village of Walmsley Parva. When a series of burglaries seems to culminate in murder, brash American Beryl Helliwell and proper Brit Edwina Davenport are eager to solve the case . . .

World-renowned adventuress Beryl Helliwell cited for “reckless” motoring? Why, the very idea! Constable Gibbs just has it in for her. The solution? Charm the magistrate, of course. But days after Beryl's appearance before the bench, she and Edwina pay a visit to the magistrate only to find his home ransacked and the man himself lying dead at the bottom of a grand staircase.

Given the state of the house, his death appears to be connected to a rash of robberies in the village. Declan O’Shea, the handsome helper Beryl hired to assist their aged gardener Simpkins, falls under suspicion after having had his own run-in with the magistrate—but mostly, Beryl believes, because he’s Irish.

While unofficially looking into the magistrate's murder, the ladies are hired in their official capacity as private inquiry agents to find census reports that have gone missing. Is someone trying to hide something from the census takers—and could that theft have anything to do with the magistrate’s death? Beryl and Edwina are once again in fine form as they engage in a little reckless sleuthing to bring these assorted mysteries to a speedy conclusion. . . .

Ratings and reviews

1921 Walmsley Parva. There have been a spate of burglaries in the village with the prime suspect according to Constable Doris Gibbs is the new Irish under-gardener Declan O'Shea of Edwina and Beryl. But then they come across the dead body of the magistrate in his ransacked house. When they are employed to investiage a theft they are pleased to get an official case whereby they then can unofficially investigate the death and the other burglaries. So they join forces with Constable Gibbs. A well-written enjoyable cozy historical mystery with a cast of interesting people. A good addition to the series.

England, cosy-mystery, murder-investigation, private-investigators, theft, 1920s, friendship***** Edwina is a fibre addict and avid knitter in addition to having a rather British reserve much of the time and owning a rather large home and gardens. Beryl has traveled the the world and has little sense of propriety as she is an American. The women had been at finishing school together and now, years later, are Private Enquiry Agents and have some financial backing from their elderly gardener. There have been burglaries in the village, a burglary with a death probably included in it, and a somewhat contentious constable inclined to listen to local gossip and blame Edwina's new undergardener simply because he is Irish and new to the village. And then there is the rather unusual circumstance surrounding the theft of the census documents. I think that it is a dandy cosy (or is that just because I share Edwina's addictions?). This is the first I have read in the series and I think that it stands alone, but I am curious about non-mystery goings on before this one. I loved it! I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

About the author

Jessica Ellicott is the author of Murder in an English Village, the first book in the Beryl & Edwina Mystery series. She loves fountain pens, Mini Coopers, and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.