What a Feast!
It's Christmas time and Stephen Whitfield is having a small dinner party. Tensions are running a bit high at the dinner especially since the woman Stephen had hoped to marry, Eliza Graham, seems a bit too friendly with Hugh Langford, the guest she brought to the dinner party. Rosalind Murray, Stephen's sister-in-law, is none too happy about the attention Stephen is paying to Eliza. Maria and Basil Farringdon think Stephen is a bit of a snob and Maria gives Stephen a bottle of Bordeaux that is much more expensive than the port he gave them for Christmas. While all the guests seem to dislike Stephen, it's still a shock when someone poisons the Bordeaux and Stephen dies. Inspector Gerald Witherspoon is given the case to investigate since his record of solving murders is unblemished. What he doesn't realize is that his household staff, led by housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, has been working behind the scenes to help him solve his cases. But this case is far more complex than anything else they've worked on and it begins to look like they may not be able to solve this one.

Emily Brightwell's Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries series gets better and better with each book and "Mrs. Jeffries and the Feast of St. Stephen" is the best of a wonderful group of books. The setting is Victorian England and Brightwell does a great job of capturing the time period and bringing little bits of trivia into the books (in this book Christmas trees are a novelty). The characters are all wonderfully written including Inspector Witherspoon, who is getting better at solving mysteries but still needs his household staff to help him even if he doesn't know it; Constable Barnes who knows what it going on and is happy to have help; Mrs. Jeffries; Mrs. Goodge, the cook; footman Wiggins, maid Betsy; coachman Smythe; eccentric American Luty; and her faithful butler and sparring partner Hatchet. Those who read [[ASIN:0425215830 Mrs. Jeffries and the Best Laid Plans]] will be eager to find out how Betsy and Smythe resolve the problems in their relationship after he "left her at the altar" and Brightwell doesn't disappoint in that plot line. I've read all 23 books in the series and am always amazed at how much I still learn about these characters in each book. In this book I learned some things about Mrs. Goodge and Hatchet that added more to their character. The mystery is extremely well written and plotted and just like the inspector and his staff, I was completely baffled as to who the killer was and was shocked when the identity was finally revealed. Many cozy mystery books have blurbs on the cover comparing the author to Agatha Christie, but Emily Brightwell lives up to that comparison - the solution to the murder was truly Christie-like.

One of the themes in the Mrs. Jeffries mysteries is how Witherspoon's staff has become like a family to each other and Witherspoon (there's a very touching and funny scene towards the end of the book that shows how much Witherspoon cares for them). At this point, Witherspoon and Mrs. Jeffries and the rest of the staff also feel like family to me - I love my visits into their world and can't wait to visit it again.

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