Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump
A Victorian Mystery
By Emily Brightwell Wheeler Publishing, Large Print Edition (2009)
ISBN 10: 1-59722-840-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-59722-840-4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Reviewed by Auggie Moore - January 11, 2010
The power behind the man is more often than not a woman. In the case of Inspector Gerald Witherspoon of Scotland Yard, that woman is his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries. In Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump, the story opens with the body of Michael Provost, the owner of a medical supply company whose body was found floating in the Thames, on the corner's table. The police originally thought that Provost's death was accidental, but it quickly becomes obvious that he was the victim of foul play. When the Inspector is called to the case, Mrs. Jeffries tags along and begins her own parallel investigation. Mrs. Jeffries has a knack for finding information, but what really takes skill is figuring out how to feed all the information that she discovers to the Inspector so that he thinks that he is the one who is uncovering all the important clues that he'll need to solve the crime.
In the process of investigating Provost's death, Mrs. Jeffries also manages to stumble upon a cold case that just might be related to Provost, but she'll have to use her investigative skills to figure out how the two cases are related - and to find the killer. As the plot unfolds, there doesn't appear to be any motive behind Provost's murder. Nonetheless, Mrs. Jeffries does manage to uncover a host of possible suspects and it is fun to watch her as she uses her innate talents to unravel what turns out to be a rather complicated mystery.
This is the first Mrs. Jeffries book that I've read, but it surely will not be the last. Mrs. Jeffries and her bevy of fellow domestics who like to dabble in sleuthing, are a blast, and the Inspector exhibits just the right amount of naivety without appearing totally incompetent. Best of all, Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump has a solid plot and the Victorian setting effortlessly enhances the overall mystery. Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump is a must read for all fans of Victorian era, cozy mysteries.
Related Reviews:
Mrs. Jeffries in the Nick of Time, by Emily Brightwell.
Francis Humphreys is murdered, alone in his room, while his house was full of guests. Yet no one admits to seeing anyone enter or leave his room either before or after the murder. The police quickly determine that every quest had a reason to murder the Humphreys, and it falls to the keen minded Mrs. Jefferies to unravel this knotty mystery.
The Twisted Root, by Anne Perry.
Set in Victorian England, this is a William Monk and Hester Latterly mystery in which the newly married duo track down a young woman who choose to disappear, rather then enter into what appears, to all around her, an ideal marriage.
