Murder in Belgravia: A Mayfair 100 Mystery

by Lynn Brittney

England is in the mix in Europe best know at World War I.  Many of her young men have joined up and many have come home wounded an unable to continue to contribute to the day to day activity.  Some, like Peter Beech, have returned home wounded but able to go back to his job as Chief Inspector.  He has somehow managed to convince the Commissioner to allow him to set up a special, secret group to help him solve a rather tricky murder of one of London’s aristocrats.  It must be kept secret because two of his main investigators are women.  Caroline Allardyce is a highly skilled physician at the women’s hospital.  Victoria Ellingsham, a well-educated young woman in British law with a quick calculating mind, and Billy Rigsby, a former boxer who was wounded in the war also but is able to walk the beat as a regular patrolman.  Together this group will delve into the dark underground that is beginning to creep into the parlors of London’s higher society. 

A book is always more enjoyable for me if I make a ready connection with the characters.  Brittney has put together a very likeable group of characters that are not above being repulsed by what they encounter but emboldened to bring about change.   Backgrounds of characters are brought to the surface through light conversations not long, dry wordy paragraphs.  Several of the pivotal situations are tied up a bit too conveniently and tidy.  However, it made me a happy reader, so I don’t care.  There are a few anachronisms but again, I don’t care.  I completely enjoyed the story and am looking forward to another installment in the Mayfair 100 series.

I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for generously providing an Advanced Readers Copy for my honest review.

PUB:  Mirror Books

PUB DATE:  March 15, 2018

ISBN:  9781907324826

Genre:  Historical Mystery