Mrs. Jeffries and the Alms of the Angel
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
When a wealthy widow is murdered, Mrs. Jeffries investigates what happens when money can't buy your life in this all-new installment in the beloved Victorian Mystery series.
Margaret Starling wasn’t the sort of woman anyone expected to be murdered. She was on the advisory board of the London Angel Alms Society, she was an active member of St. Peter’s Church, and, best of all, she was always willing to lend a hand to a friend or a neighbor in need of advice. She was also a wealthy upper-class widow. But money alone won’t protect you when someone decides it’s high time you met your maker.
Margaret’s next-door neighbor considered her an odious busybody, the Reverend Reginald Pontefract wished she’d never set foot in St. Andrew’s, and half the advisory board of the London Angel Alms Society heartily hoped she’d come down with a case of the gout before the next quarterly meeting.
All in all, Margaret wasn’t as well regarded as she’d always thought she was. But Mrs. Jeffries and Inspector Witherspoon know that justice isn’t a popularity contest, and they won’t rest until they sift through the suspects to catch a sinister scrooge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Brightwell's diverting 38th Victorian mystery (after Mrs. Jeffries Delivers the Goods), a killer lures Margaret Starling, a wealthy widow known for her kindness and charitable acts with the Angel Alms Society, into the back garden of her London house. There he whacks Mrs. Starling over the head with a shovel. When Insp. Gerald Witherspoon, who has "solved more murders than anyone in the history of the Metropolitan Police," is called in, his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, and her sleuthing group of house staff and servants fan out across London in search of clues, unbeknownst to him. No one can imagine why anyone would want to harm Mrs. Starling, until Mrs. Jeffries and crew learn of her erratic behavior and her loud arguments with the local vicar, who's hiding a nasty secret. Meanwhile, Insp. Nigel Nivens of Scotland Yard, who's jealous of Witherspoon's success, tries to sabotage the investigation. Brightwell takes the reader back to a more simple time and place. Fans of light historicals will find plenty to like.