Mrs. Jeffries on the Ball: A Victorian Mystery

I finally decided that I needed to do something about the stack of books I bought at the last library book sale (It is, indeed, a stack, tucked away in front of a fully stocked bookcase. I seem to need another bookcase!). That being said, on my last day off I picked up the book on the top of the stack (Mrs. Jeffries), and sat down to while away an hour or two.

I must say, I was less than impressed. But I'll cover that in a moment.

This book is part of The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries series, written by Emily Brightwell. It's a traditional "cozy" style mystery series set in Victorian London--in the 1880s, to be precise. Our protagonists are an unusual duo: a humble and mild-mannered Scotland Yard inspector named Mr. Witherspoon, and his housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries. While it is Inspector Witherspoon who does the official sleuthing, it is Mrs. Jeffries who helps him along clandestinely. The widow of a police officer, Mrs. Jeffries has considerable knowledge of murder investigations, and along with the other servants in the Witherspoon household, searches for information that she can push into the Inspector's way.

Mrs. Jeffries on the Ball is the fifth book in the series, and is set specifically during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, placing the book in late June of 1887. The plot revolves around the inner scandals and gossip of the Hyde Park Literary Society, which culminates in the death of one of its members at the Jubilee Ball. Suspicion falls on the victim's fellow club members as it is revealed that several had very good motives to wish her ill. Of course, it is up to the Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries to deduce the truth and prevent another murder from occuring.

Now, as I said earlier, there was a lot about this book that I didn't like. For one, I felt that the characters simply did not stand out. There is a fairly large cast of characters in this book, not including the murder suspects, and they were not memorable or well-characterized. At one point, I found myself flipping backwards because I couldn't tell the servants apart. For a book this far in to the series, that's not a good sign. I honestly felt that the members of the Literary Club were more well-developed, even though they were not recurring characters who would be showing up later.

The setting also felt completely incidental. The author claims to set the book in Victorian London, but there is honestly nothing to show that. I have always felt that the hallmark of ANY book is to treat the setting like a character; it must be developed, mentioned, and appear often. This is especially true for a historical novel. I feel it's important to at the very least mention a little background, or describe the places the characters visit. The book felt like it could have taken place virtually anywhere, with nothing really to anchor it in that time period.

There are also a fair number of unresolved side plots. Now, I understand that for books in a series, there are going to be ongoing elements that are addressed in later books. But what's also important is to make sure that the book can stand on its own. This means that a plot thread that will be finished in a later book at least *feels* like it either has some resolution, or that the characters will resolve it in the near future. For example, the servants have acquired a mysterious benefactor who leaves presents in their quarters. It is strongly hinted to be Smythe (who engages in numerous internal monologues about keeping secrets), who also has a myserious connection to Inspector Witherspoon's deceased aunt. This plotline remains unresolved at the conclusion of the novel, and shows little relevance to any of the novel's events. It just seems to take up space.

Now, I will say in the book's favor that the murder plot was nicely complicated, and the shifting finger of blame progressed in a very natural fashion. I thought the unraveling of the suspects' motives was well-plotted overall.

I'm not really inclined to read the rest of the books in the series to see if the earlier books had focused more on developing the characters. Overall, while the mystery portion was good, the rest of the supporting elements were too poorly developed, in my opinion, to make the book a worthwhile read.

I'll pass on this series, but if you like the cozy genre and are looking for a quick read, you might be interested.

In one sentence: A decently plotted "cozy" historical mystery that suffers from lackluster characterization and setting.

Good sleuthing!